Page 28 of Sweet Deception

As we walked through the dim corridor, I felt dozens of eyes on me. Behind iron bars, men of different ages and ethnicities watched in silence, some with dead stares, others with curiosity.

And then we stopped.

My breath hitched.

Through the bars of the cell, I saw them.

Matteo. Vincenzo. Salvatore.

Their bodies were thin, their skin stretched over sharp bones. Their faces, once so familiar, so full of life were hollowed by suffering.

Matteo was the first to notice me. His head snapped up, disbelief flashing across his sunken features.

“Matteo,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes.

He shot to his feet, rushing to the bars. “Anna?”

A sob broke from my throat as I grabbed his hands through the iron. He spoke rapidly in Italian, his voice hoarse, frantic.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said. “You shouldn’t have come.”

Vincenzo and Salvatore stood behind him, their gazes dark, unreadable. My cousins. My family.

And I had left them to suffer.

Matteo’s grip on my hands tightened. “Did he force you?”

I swallowed hard. “I married him willingly.”

His expression twisted with grief. “No, Anna. You don’t understand...”

A sharp voice cut through our reunion.

“Enough.”

I turned to see Gleb standing a few feet away, watching with detached amusement.

I sucked in a trembling breath and turned back to Matteo. “I swear to you, I will get you out.”

He shook his head, as if he didn’t believe me. Maybe he didn’t.

But I meant it.

I would find a way.

Even if it killed me

A thick, suffocating silence stretched between us.

Matteo’s fingers tightened around mine, as if he could anchor me there with him, keep me from slipping away. I wanted to hold on. I wanted to stay. But the weight of Gleb’s presence pressed against my back like a cold blade.

“Step away from the bars,” he ordered, his voice calm, yet laced with warning.

I didn’t move.

Matteo’s dark eyes flicked to Gleb, then back to me. “Anna, don’t trust him.”

As if I ever had.