Two weeks went by. I’d spent every day with Ivan going over business dealings and my inheritance. He reiterated over and over again that this was all for our family.
At his house, doctors would file in and out. He would take pill after pill and wave off my questions about his health. Sometimes, though, I’d catch a doctor’s eye and they’d share a little more information than Ivan wanted.
“Sir, your bloodwork is good,” one said. “Your last test was good too, but we should be taking memory tests daily with your medications. You can’t continue taking these the way you are.”
He’d glare them into submission. All I learned from the revolving door of doctors was that he was participating in a study and the medication was holding off the onset of his dementia for the time being.
It didn’t seem to matter to him. The man was only focused on one thing and that was continuing his bloodline. He’d say over and over, one day I’d have a son, one day his great grandchildren would have all this.
All this was billions and billions of dollars. I focused on the accounts and the amount of zeros for a long second when he first showed me. “All for the family, no?” he said and chuckled like he knew I was surprised.
I didn’t disclose that I never wanted kids. I didn’t want to bring a life into a world so dark and cruel. He didn’t need to know, though. I didn’t owe him anything.
Every day, I woke up in that new penthouse and stared at the ceiling, thinking of how I would change it all. I had the contacts, I had the training, I now had the resources. I just had to implement.
One day, I called Dante and went to work out with him. We trained hard, me constantly fighting for what could be my life against Dante’s hard advances. I didn’t hold back with him because I knew this training had saved me once before with Boris. I’d need it again.
When I landed a kick to his side that brought him to his knees in one of the gym’s rinks, he wheezed out a laugh. “Enough, Little One. You’re vicious today.”
I sighed and fell down beside him to rest, taking in rapid breaths. “Thanks for sparring with me.”
“No skin off my back.” He hesitated. “Except that your boy keeps asking about you.”
“I don’t have a boy.” I took a large breath in, trying to center myself now he’d brought up Rome.
“You do and you always will. That guy might have buried his chain, but he also tied it around you somehow. You’re linked together forever.”
“Not by choice,” I grumbled, picking at a small piece of plastic that had peeled off the mat.
“You fixing to put him out of his misery any time soon?”
“I don’t have a way of doing that now. We can’t be together, Dante.”
Dante started stretching and I followed suit. Like always, he seemed to think over my words before he replied. “There’s always a way to make things work if you want to.”
“I don’t,” I shot back, probably much too fast for him to believe me. My body heated thinking about Rome, though. I felt his touch, I heard his voice, and I dreamt of his smell even when I knew I shouldn’t. “I can’t trust him. He’ll never put me first. And I can’t put him first now either. Don’t you think that’s necessary if you’re going to be in a relationship in the mob?”
“I think it might be impossible if you’re in the mob, Little One.” He held his arm across his chest and his muscles flexed as he stretched. I did the same, my body completely in sync with his, as it usually was here within the gym. “You think anyone puts their untouchable first?”
“Probably not. Still, I can’t do that. And I can’t risk my place in the bratva for a lover. I’ve got bigger plans. We all should have bigger plans.”
“To do good things?” he joked. He motioned for me to lie down and my body was so used to following his in this space that I didn’t even question it.
“Something better than what we’ve done, at least.” On my back, I stared up at him as he brought my leg to my chest slowly and stretched me. “Are you okay with just doing this?”
He chuckled, and with his chest on my leg I felt the movement through my body. “I’m okay right here, Katie.” He waggled his eyebrows.
Dante had a hippy vibe to his military trained personality. Somehow, he maintained an attitude that almost came off as lazy and he joked as if there was not a worry in the world. His centered spirit calmed you and his drive to be the best pushed you. I loved that about him.
His laugh was contagious too. The man had caramel skin with tattoos snaking around it and such light green eyes that when I’d first seen him, I’d wondered if they were contacts.
To any woman, he was a sizzling, off the charts catch.
To me, he was just Dante.
We could laugh at the position we were in and call it a day without ever thinking twice about it.
Except today.
Because the laugh caught in my throat when I heard the voice I dreamt about growl, “Get the fuck off her.”
The sparkle in Dante’s eyes didn’t die as I jumped and he turned his head toward Rome’s voice.
Slowly, Dante pulled my leg back with him and tapped my other one. The sync I had with him was suddenly gone. He tapped it again and said, “Have to stretch your other leg, Katie.”
I turned to see Rome burning a hole of rage into both of us. I didn’t lift my leg immediately and I could admit that it was almost in fear.
I didn’t belong to him. I didn’t answer to him. I wasn’t with him. That was the concrete truth. I was proud that I had been able to tell him we couldn’t be together and I’d stuck to it by not calling him or reaching out in any way.
But as people buzzed around the grey-toned gym, punching bags and sparring in the other rinks, I found that my body wasn’t at all tired from my workout.
I had been ready to go to him immediately, ready to listen to what I knew he wanted. He didn’t want Dante stretching any part of me. And I knew if I let Dante finish, there might be hell to pay.
Or maybe he’d walk away from me altogether. He could decide I wasn’t worth all the fuss. And that thought sparked a fear in me that I wasn’t ready for.
Still, I told myself, it would be for the best. I lifted my leg slowly, painfully, almost unwillingly. My mind had different thoughts from my body about what was right, and my body fought me tooth and nail.
Dante pushed down on my calf and brought my upper leg all the way to my chest. He leaned his body into it, watching me the whole time. “Okay, Little One?”
I took a breath as I stared at Rome, as I watched his strong jaw tick and his tattooed neck flex. His hands fisted and I knew just from the color his face was turning that we were far from over and I was far from okay. “I’ll get there, Dante.”
He nodded and slowly released my leg. Then he stood and walked right up to Rome. They matched each other, chest to chest. A stare down of epic proportions ensued. I knew exactly what the silent conversation was about. Rome claimed me as his, forever and always. He didn’t like sharing in any sense of the word. But Dante had my back and we’d bonded over the years of training. I liked to think our friendship was valuable to him, that he would protect me if he thought I needed it.
“Dante,” I murmured and put my hand to his chest. “This isn’t the place.”
“The place for what, Little One?” He kept his green eyes on Rome. “There’s no misunderstanding, right, Rome?”
“Only if you want one, brother. We’re all family here, right?”
I scoffed at his assessment and crossed my arms, ready to put him in his place. “Yes, Rome. You two are just like brothers to me.”
Black fire licked across my skin as his gaze burned up my body. He let the words roll from him, slow and low. “There’ll be nothing brotherly in the way I punish you for that statement, Katalina.”
My body had cooled from my workout but it heated right back up again. I didn’t need to goad him anymore. I was taking sick pleasure in it and I knew I wouldn’t be able to indulge, that I shouldn’t indulge. So I spun around and headed to my gym bag. “I’ll see you later, Dante. Text me your schedule.”
I heard Dante go his own way but I didn’t look back. If I did, I’d stumble on the image of the monster in the gorgeous man I was trying so hard to avoid.
As I knelt to grab my bag from a hall locker, I heard Rome approach. I kept my head down, hoping he would give up and leave.
“Care to talk?”
I growled as I ripped out my top and stuffed my arms into the long sleeves. “Rome, I don’t want to see you, let alone talk to you.”
He hummed. “You didn’t stay late at New Reign the other night. I haven’t seen you since.”
“Yes,” I nodded, “That’s the point.”
“What point, woman?”
“I meant what I said. We don’t have self-restraint, which means I’m restricting our relationship to a need-to-see basis, and I only need to see you when I meet with the Armanellis.”
He grunted. “If you say so.” He rubbed his hand over his five o’clock shadow, like was considering whether he should continue. “Fuck it. Since we’re here, I have a few things to say. First and foremost, Dante and you are done training together.”
My eyes bulged as I zipped up my shirt over my sports bra. I stood and glared at him, then poked him in the shoulder. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“No smile on my fucking face, Kate-Bait.”
“You have some audacity, seriously,” I fumed. “You think you can control who I spend my time with?”
“I can and I will. That’s over.” He didn’t even stutter as he said it. The man was more straight to the point than even I liked and I was blunter than most.
“You’re insane. That fact that you’re even here right now…Are you following me?” I practically screeched, too pissed off at him to keep my voice down. “You don’t get to barge into my workouts just to be a possessive asshole.”
He crossed his massive arms over his chest, and I tried my best not to look but my mouth watered at his cut-off shirt, his arms flecked with droplets of sweat. “Does it look like I’m following you?”
He must have come here for a workout. I saw his tennis shoes, his gym shorts, and the outline of his abs under his shirt. He looked like a sculpted Italian god, and I wanted to lick the sweat from his skin.
I took a giant step back. “If we bump into each other, I expect you to walk the other way.”
He smirked at my feet retreating, and the boyish twinkle in his eye made my heart twist. Would we have been something different had we met outside the mob? Would we have loved like a normal couple?
“I’m never going to walk away from what’s mine, woman. You might be playing cat and mouse with me right now, but make no mistake: I’m going to catch you.”
Then Rome ate up the space between us, fast as a streak of lightning in the dark, and his hand caught my arm. He swooped down to pick up my bag and yanked me along with him toward the exit.
“Maksim’s outside.” I stumbled along. “We can’t go anywhere together and I don’t need you two fighting.”
“Then, tell him to fuck off when we see him.” He continued toward the door.
I ripped my arm from his grip. I wasn’t stupid enough to think I could get free of him without him letting go. “Rome, this isn’t the plan.”
“I’ve never had a plan with you. You’ve blown up every organized structure since the day I met you.” He glared at me like I was the enemy.
In a way, to him, I was.
“So, what? You want me to follow you out of here and what? Announce we have some fucked up relationship we need to figure out?” I folded my arms across my chest, because if I didn’t, I might just reach out to him.
His face was filled with anger, but also hurt. I knew he wanted me in the same way I wanted him. We couldn’t ignore the fact that we’d grown up around one another, that we knew each other better than most. And my heart ached at realizing I’d probably never find another that could connect with me like he could.
I had too many issues for someone normal to deal with. Rome smoothed over the jagged pieces of me and I sanded down the rough edges of him. His monster calmed my beast. Walking away from that wasn’t easy.
“I need something, Katalina. Don’t give me nothing.”
“It’s not healthy,” I whispered, all of my nonchalant act gone. I was holding on to my heart here while it gravitated toward him. I was gripping my body as it fought me to go to him. I didn’t have much strength left.
“If not your address, and if not you coming with me, give me your number.”
I took a deep breath as I considered his compromise. I scrunched my eyes shut, knowing I was doing the wrong thing, that I would be complicating everything, but I stuck out my hand anyway. He dropped his phone into it and I tapped in my number.
No bonds, no ties to your addiction, was how you overcame it.
Yet Rome was too strong of a drug.
I didn’t know if he’d end up being fatal to me or helping me through the world.
I just knew I couldn’t live without him.
I threw the phone back at him like it was a grenade, ready to explode in my hands.
His gaze licked up and down my body one last time before he took a step backward. “Answer when I contact you, Katalina.”
“And if I don’t?” I sucked in a breath as he strode up to me.
He wrapped his arm around my waist to pull me close and whisper in my ear. “I’ll find you. And you don’t want the monster to come looking.”
