Page 26 of Love Me (Touch of Death 3)
He reaches for his gun but pauses when he realizes that my gun is already trained on him.
“Sasha Ivanov,” he says, holding his hands in the air. His eyes narrow, and a map of scars pull at the skin on his face. “You’re fast.”
I say nothing.
“Whatever you are being paid, I will double it.”
“You know it doesn’t work like that.” I tilt my head to the side. “Adelina Ricci-Bianchi sends her regards.” I could have told him the truth, that Nero sent me, but I want him to know that Adelina is not the wilting flower they think she is before he dies.
I pull the trigger and the bullet tears through his skull. Wide eyes stare right at me as the life in them diminishes. The body hits the floor. It’s messy, and I have no means of clean up, but it’s unlikely the police will ever see this. The mob tries to handle their own affairs. Fonzo may be dead, but I fear that the bounty on Adelina’s head will only get bigger and bigger.
I force the thoughts from my mind. It’s not my problem. I did a job I was paid for. This will all be over soon, and I can go back to New York.
9
Adelina
It’s pitch black, and something is pressing down on me, pinning me to the ground. I fight against it, panic consuming me.
“Keep fighting, principessa.”
I freeze, and a horrible cackle echoes around me. The sound of my clothes shredding has my heart leaping into a sprint as adrenaline floods my veins. No, no, no. My legs are wrenched apart, and vomit rises in my throat. “I like it when you fight. Scream for me a little.”
He slams into me, and what feels like a soul-deep pain consumes me. “Scream. Scream!”
And I do.
I wake, my throat raw and my body slick with sweat. A dream. Just a dream. Sitting up, I check the time. It’s nearly midnight. Sasha should be back by now. Climbing out of bed, I walk down the dark hallway until I reach his bedroom door. Light spills beneath it, signaling that he has indeed returned, and is still awake.
Steeling myself, I step forward and rap my knuckles over the wood. The door is yanked open, and Sasha stands there, all six foot plus of a honed killer. Shirtless, honed killer. My eyes rake over every chiseled muscle of his torso, pausing on each and every scar that mars his skin. Several gunshots, stab wounds, cuts. Some older and fading to silver while others look relatively new.
My mouth opens and closes before I force myself to look at his face. His unyielding gaze awaits me.
“Adelina.” He leaves the door open and turns away.
I follow him into the room, studying his back. Two guns are laid out on the desk in the corner, stripped down and laid out systematically.
“Is Sergio dead?”
“Of course.” He spares me only a brief glance as he picks up the barrel of a weapon and cleans it.
I fidget, and he continues what he’s doing. “You’re sweating.”
“I uh, had a bad dream.”
He stills and places the heavy metal back down. “You’re scared,” he says.
I can barely look at him, and it annoys me. I gnaw on my bottom lip, trying to get a grip on myself. “I’d be foolish not to be. With Sergio dead, they’re definitely coming for me.” And by they, I mean Enrique.
It’s only a matter of time before he crawls out of the woodwork, and I need Sasha beside me when it happens. I need his affection, at the very least, that engrained drive to protect. I need Sasha to kill Enrique for me. Then, when he’s slain my enemies, I’ll end him.
I sense Sasha move closer. The heat of his body reaches me, though he’s nearly a foot away. He looms over me like a shadow, blocking out everything that isn’t him.
“War is never safe, or easy, Adelina.”
I slowly lift my head, meeting those eyes that are so beautiful, yet so cold. Like the frost that clings to a meadow on a winters day. I remember what it felt like to look into those eyes and get lost, to feel so warm and safe in that endless fortress of ice. “I never wanted a war.”
“And yet here you are, the poster child for Nero’s fight.”
I grit my teeth. “I asked Nero for help.”
“Why?”
I sigh. “I had enough of losing, of always being the victim. And…” I decide to show him a slither of honesty. “It was the only way I could be with you,” I whisper, allowing past and present to mix and blur until I feel a twinge of that affection I felt for him so deeply.
“Adelina—”
“You were supposed to be my future.” I truly believed that at one point, and the entire time, everything we had was built on the most heinous betrayal.
