My heart aches for him despite his monstrous deeds. Luca has been angry and bitter since we were kids, and now, I understand why there’s always that constant grudge in his gaze.
I inch closer so that I’m not far from him. “So what do you plan to do?”
“Force him to give us a share.”
“He won’t agree to that.”
“He will if he wants you alive.”
“Are you serious? This is his business, and he wouldn’t choose me over it.”
“In that case, he’ll have your corpse. Maybe then he’ll understand what it means to lose family.” He pauses. “My uncle said that hiding you from Lazlo was our secret weapon. He was right.”
“Was…my mother forced into it?”
“At first, I think. Then the man who married her betrayed the family and refused to hand you over.”
“My stepfather was one of you?”
“Of course. So was your fake grandmother and the man who took you from Italy to the States. Your parents tried to smuggle you out, but my uncle found the man who was supposed to fetch you from the cottage that day, tortured him for the code word, then killed him and took you. We did a good job of hiding you from Lazlo until one of the fucker guards spilled the truth about you to Adrian under torture.”
My head swims from the load of information and my legs barely carry me. “My…grandma was fake?”
“Yes. If she had been real, Lazlo would’ve found you. He searched the whole damn world for your mother.”
Oh. So he did search for Mom.
“Let me talk to him, Luca.”
He narrows his eyes. “About what?”
“About letting you have the shares.”
“It wouldn’t make a difference.”
“You just said it would.”
“Only if your life is threatened, Duchess.”
“He will erase your family from the face of the earth if you hurt me.”
“If this plan doesn’t succeed, he might as well do it, anyway. I’m at a point where I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.”
“But—” My protest is interrupted when a sound comes from outside.
Luca leaps up from his position on the couch and yanks me in front of him, using me as a shield while he jams the gun into my temple. The door barges open and my breath catches when I make eye contact with Adrian’s intense gray ones.
Kolya, Yan, Boris, and a few of his other guards are with him. All of them have their guns out.
My heart beats fast as Adrian’s entire demeanor sharpens and his body turns in my direction.
“You’re not supposed to be here.” Luca’s tone is light, but I can feel his body tightening behind me. “Now drop your weapons before I kill her.”
“You need me, Luca,” I say in a low voice.
“Not if my life depends on it, Duchess,” he tells me, then addresses Adrian. “Your weapons, Volkov.”
My husband’s gaze meets mine again for a brief second before he motions at his guards to drop their guns. As they do, Luca drags me to a back door while still using me as a human shield.
I stumble a few times, but Luca’s firm hold on me keeps me upright while we cross the distance.
It’s so dark outside that I can barely see my hands, but I keep staring at the door until I can make out the shadow of Adrian and the others.
It’d be a lie to say I’m not scared, especially knowing Luca’s impulsiveness, but the fact that Adrian is here gives me a small relief.
Pebbles crunch beneath my feet and when the sound of waves hits my ears, I notice that Luca has taken us to the edge of a cliff.
I suck in a deep breath as I stare at the water below violently hitting the rocks.
Just like that night.
My body trembles and tears spring to my eyes. The thought of repeating that experience paralyzes me, causing the world to close in on me until all I can hear is the pounding pulse in my ears.
“Lia.”
My head snaps up to find Adrian a small distance away from me and some of my fear lessens.
“Breathe, Lenochka. I’m here.”
“Adrian…” I shake my head. “I didn’t mean to that time… I don’t want to now…”
“Nothing will happen to you.”
“Yes, it will if you don’t stay away.” Luca presses the weapon harder against my temple.
Something glints in the darkness in Adrian’s hand and my eyes widen as I recognize the gun.
Luca seems to have noticed it, too, because he pulls me back in one swift movement.
I shriek as a bullet is fired.
Bang!
35
Lia
Patterns work in a strange way.
I didn’t think I believed in them, but my view completely changed after I met someone who considered them a religion.
If it weren’t for those patterns, Adrian wouldn’t have found me. He wouldn’t have inserted himself in my life and refused to leave.
Thanks to the patterns, my life completely changed. Not all of it was good or bearable. At some point, I hated the change, but one thing’s for certain. If it weren’t for that change, I wouldn’t have found the man who not only saved me, but also gave my life meaning. He gave me Jeremy and didn’t allow me to run away from him or myself.
And now, we’re at that point where we’ve reached a crossroads, one that only leads in one direction.
It’s been two days since Luca went all kamikaze. Adrian shot him and grabbed me, yanking me away from the edge at the last second as Luca fell off the cliff.
They found his body down the river the next day. I cried when I heard the news because even though he was pathologically manipulative, his childhood wasn’t the best, and he only did what he did so that he and his family could survive.
My father was livid when he came to visit me the night of the incident. After he made sure I was all right, he promised to find the rest of the Rozettis and wipe them off the face of the earth. My attempts to sway him didn’t matter, because he’d already made up his mind.
Adrian agreed with him, too, for my safety.
He’s been so busy the past two days that I’ve barely caught a glimpse of him. The night of the incident, he drove me home before going back to the cliff. He spent yesterday in long meetings with my father and then with the brotherhood.
I waited for him to return, but he never did. Looks like tonight will be the same.
Sighing, I cover Jeremy, then put on my coat and opt to go for a walk in the garden. I stare at the guest house, contemplating whether or not I should go to Winter, but eventually decide against it.
She goes to sleep early and I’d rather not bother her with my gloomy thoughts.
When I told Adrian not to touch me unless he’s ready to open up, I didn’t think he’d take it literally.
But whatever, I’m not the one in the wrong. I thought I could have him without feelings before, that I could love him enough for the both of us, but it was so exhausting and painful. So painful that I thought death was better.
So even if I could put up with it for a while, I need to have some sort of hope that he will one day have feelings for me, no matter how far in the future that might be. I’m ready to wait if I know it will happen.