Page 99 of Unchained

Colten laughs behind me, and Levi’s eyes snap to him.

“Then go to Vegas, Levi. See what happens.” I shrug, taking a step forward. “If you want Vegas, then you go speak to Mikhail Volkov and see whether you come out with your head still attached to your shoulders. I’d place my wager on them using it as a basketball.”

He stomps to me, closing the distance, squaring up to me like he’s some sort of threat. “I’ll tell your father you’re defying him,” he says under his breath.

“Could you brush your teeth before you make the call?”

His hand flies towards my neck, and I grab his wrist, twisting it until he’s crying out in agony. That’s Colt’s favorite place to grab, and only he is allowed to do it. So I press my gun to his throat.

Goosebumps erupt over my skin when Colten steps behind me.

“Go to touch me again, and you’ll lose both hands, Levi. I took this meeting on my father's orders, but let me make it clear: I never wanted to work with you, and I will not be backing your expansion in Vegas, nor Arizona. And you won’t tell my father a word, because if you do, I’ll tell him you tried to touch his only daughter, and not only will you lose your contracts with him, you’ll die,” I hiss.

I push him back towards his buddies.

He lets out a wicked laugh. “You think you’re better than us now because you’re married into Enzo’s organization. You think they won’t chew you up and spit you out too like they do with everyone when they become not useful? You’re just pussy to them. Pussy with a vicious temper. And from what I’ve heard, you don’t even put out.”

“Fuck this,” Colten mutters behind me. I don’t have a chance to stop him; he’s already grabbed Levi by the throat and thrown him into the wall behind.

Colt’s fist cracks against his jaw, over and over. “You’re on my fucking land, talking to my wife. No one speaks to her like that. Not you. Not your friends. Not even my family,” he spits.

He drags him by the scruff of the neck and lifts him into the air. Holy shit, this is hot. “Let me make this very simple for you. Under no circumstances do you sell your drugs here. Arizona is ours.”

He drops Levi to the floor. “To clarify, we are not open to expansion opportunities here in New Falls. Unless you come to us with a solid offer, we ain’t even open to discussions.”

Levi claws at his neck, coughing. “You’re going to regret this.”

Colten spits on the floor beside him. “Nah. I don’t think I will. You’re lucky I ain’t emptying my gun in your chest.”

We filter out of the door in silence and head to the Rolls. Colten stays behind to talk to his guys.

“What the fuck was that?” Dom whispers beside me.

“I think that was Colten saying no.”

And I thoroughly enjoyed witnessing Colt lay into Levi like that.

“Dad is going to lose his shit. This doesn’t look good for you. It’s going to seem like you’re siding with them over him.”

I close my eyes and take a breath. “I’ll go home. I’ll speak to him. I never wanted to destroy the Sterlings. I always wanted an alliance. I need Dad to understand that.”

Dom rests his hand on my shoulder. “I’m coming with you, G. I’m not letting you speak to him alone.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. Those few days away in Greece, I was free. The second I landed back home in America, it went to shit, and the weight of the world was on my back again.

I need to make it stop. I want to go back to being the woman I was while I was there. “Dad isn’t going to kill me. He’s trying to punish me to see how I behave. It’s always a test.”

“And you’re failing it, G.” Dom doesn’t bother mincing his words.

I rest my back against the Rolls, watching Colten as he speaks to his guys. I think about the way I’ve never known what safe feels like until I let him take control.

I might not be capable of love, or the kind of love they describe for most people.

But I know myself enough to know there has to be another way. One that doesn’t involve me screwing over the only person other than my brothers who made me feel.

CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX

Colten