“You are a Verducci.” She spoke softly. “You come from a family on the other side of the country who’s also the enemy of the Capparelli family, who are our allies here. If I were to choose you, I would be fighting both my family and my allies to do it, which would be challenging enough to navigate, but we have a bigger threat looming. We can’t afford to be divided right now, not with Jovan and his people circling. They already have a target painted on my chest, Dante. If—”
“You have done everything right.”
She stopped short and turned to face him. “What?”
“You have done everything right,” he repeated slowly. “You have been the model heir. Your people love you. Even the Capparellis were willing to work with you instead of starting a conflict when the shit happened three months ago. They’re still willing to work with you, because Romeo married your sister instead of setting something on fire when the wedding didn’t go as planned.”
She made a face. “I’m pretty sure he all but jumped at the opportunity, honestly. He wanted Lorelei initially. I’m the one who offered myself up instead.” She sighed. “For all the good it did. He got what he wanted in the end.”
Dante had done his research on all the Romanov women during the time he spent in New York. Lorelei might be the youngest, but he had a feeling she could hold her own against Romeo. Anya would have been an even better choice, but she was a lesbian, and with her knife skills and cold ruthlessness, no one was interested in forcing her to do anything. If he misjudged Lorelei and being with Romeo damaged her, he’d cut the motherfucker down. No one hurt Rose, not even by proxy. Not any longer. “The fact remains, if you were a man, this conflict with Jovan wouldn’t be happening.”
She blinked. “You can’t be serious.”
“You know it. I know it. They’ve had a problem with you from the moment your father decided not to marry you off to one of your cousins.”
“Dante.” Rose rolled her eyes. “They’re like third cousin five times removed or something at this point. We’re hardly related. You make it sound incestuous.”
“My point is that your father chose to let you stand on your own instead of bringing in another Romanov to marry you and appease Jovan. This was always going to happen. They were just waiting for a moment to remove you and send a message.”
She crossed her arms over her chest. “That moment came when you kidnapped me.”
“That moment came when you decided to marry an Italian.”
She jerked. “What? You can’t know that.”
Dante shrugged. “The Mad Wolf booked his plane ticket for the day before your wedding. It’s just coincidence that I got to you first.” Matteo had passed on that little tidbit before Dante got on the plane back here. It was surprisingly but also confirmed what he’d suspected from his and Rose’s many conversations. Jovan was never going to let her live, not without someone forcing him.
Her mouth worked, but no words emerged. Rose stumbled back a step and sank onto the couch. “You’re lying.”
“I have no reason to lie, and it’s easily verifiable.”
She shook her head slowly as if trying to clear a ringing in her ears. “Did you know? On the day of the wedding, did you know?”
If he said he did, if he told her that he’d taken her to save her life, it would rewrite everything that happened between them in a soft light. He’d be the hero who swept in and saved her from certain death. He’d also be a fucking liar.
“No.” No lies between them. No masks. Never again. “You’re mine, Rose, and I wasn’t about to let you marry that motherfucker.”
Her smile was faint but present. “That’s weirdly reassuring. I’d hate to have been wrong about you.”
“I’m not a good man. No one in this life is. If they tell you that, they’re lying, and that I won’t do. We’re starting fresh, and that means only honesty between us, no matter how fucked up.” He finally gave in to the pull of her presence and crossed to sit on the couch next to her. “I will kill the Mad Wolf for you.”
“I’m afraid that will only make things worse.” She slouched and laid her head on his shoulder. Dante’s heart gave a strange little lurch, and he froze. Rose continued, oblivious. “We have to make ourselves too strong to fuck with.”
“You’re the heir to one of the most stable dynasties in the States. How do you make that stronger?”
“I don’t know.” She sighed, settling in more firmly against him. “I just don’t fucking know.”
There was one last element of business to take care of before he could ask her the question that had lingered since she didn’t shoot him in the parking lot last week. Dante leaned back against the couch, taking Rose with him, and wrapped an arm around her. “My father ordered me to kill your youngest sister.”
“What?” She started to jump up, but he tightened his grip on her, holding her in place. Rose elbowed him in the stomach. “You’ve got to be kidding me. Is this why I’m here?”
“Use your fucking head.”
She stopped fighting, though only so she could twist and glare at him. “Excuse me?”
“What strategic value would I have in telling you if that was what I planned?” When she just glared harder, he resisted the urge to give her a shake. “Think, amata. If I’m the enemy you’ve painted me, I have no fucking reason to tell you. Not a single one.”
She pressed her lips together and finally cursed. “Okay, that makes sense, but why drop it on me like this?” She shook her head again, harder this time. “I still don’t understand why your uncle sent you here to begin with. There’s no strategic value in you fucking with me and my family. It’s not like the Verduccis are going to make the jump to expanding territory over here, and we don’t even deal in the same areas of influence.”
Irritation rose, but not at her. They were all logical questions, but logic and his uncle weren’t on the same page. They were hardly in the same universe. “He wanted to kill two birds with one stone.”
“I understand holding a grudge, but it’s still strange that he chose to target us instead of the Capparellis.”
Dante stroked his fingers over her bare shoulder, part of him thrilled that she allowed the casual touch. She even leaned into it. “You weren’t supposed to find out who I was. I’m sure he had some kind of plan for once things had progressed past a certain point.” Likely to order Dante to kill Rose and frame the Capparellis. “I would have died tragically in the fallout, of course. I’m good, but not even I can take on both Romanovs and Capparellis without support.”
“He’s not going to be happy you’re disobeying orders,” she finally said. “Or you still being alive when this is all finished.”
He shrugged. “He’s going to have bigger things to worry about before too long.” When she shot him a curious look, he allowed himself a smile. “My cousin is an ambitious man. War with the Romanovs isn’t profitable. It’s better to pursue peace in the face of combined interests.”
“You’re still a Verducci, Dante. Neither of us can change that.” She searched his face. “If I choose you, I put my sister in danger. I put my family in danger.”