Page 43 of Love Me (Touch of Death 3)
I want to kill him, cut him a hundred times, and watch the life slowly bleed from his worthless body. “He wants me.”
Sasha’s eyes narrow. “They took her. Why not just take you if that’s what he wants?”
I inhale a deep breath that hurts a lot. “Because he wants me to come to him willingly. As his wife.”
“How is it willing when he took Miss Gabriella?” Lorenzo asks on a growl.
I glance at the bear of a man, his face twisted in rage. This is the second time he’s lost Gabriella to Enrique, and the pain is written into every hard line of his face.
“He doesn’t care for semantics, only mind games.”
“What are you going to do?” he asks.
“I’m going to give him what he wants.”
My gaze shifts to Sasha, but he immediately looks away from me before pushing to his feet. “Adelina, a word?”
He walks straight past me, and I know I’m about to have a fight. I follow him out of the kitchen and down the corridor to the office. Once inside, he slams the door and pushes me up against it. A breath hisses through my teeth as my abused body rebels.
“We are going to formulate a plan. One that does not involve Enrique Bianchi getting anywhere near you.”
“I have a plan, but I have to go to him.”
Sasha’s eyes slam shut, his brows tugging together tightly. “No,” he growls.
“Sasha—”
“This almost cost us everything, malyshka.”
I shake my head. “I can’t outrun him. I don’t want to.”
When he opens his eyes, I see the iron clad shutters that have dropped over his emotions.
“I tried to take him alone last time. It was stupid. I wasn’t ready.”
His silence is worse than his objections.
“I have a plan. I’m going to do to him what we planned to do to you. But you’re going to help me.”
“You’re going to pretend you’re in love with him?” he says on an incredulous snort.
I narrow my eyes. “I never pretended with you and no. Enrique would never believe I was in love with him. However, he believed that I would seek a power alliance with him, a marriage of bloodlines.” Sasha’s fingers dig into my hips harder, his jaw ticcing slightly. “I’ll go back to him, and tell him I killed you,” I say in a rush before Sasha explodes. “Have Una contact me through Enrique, threaten me. Make it look real.”
“And then what?”
“I go to Enrique, play the good, dutiful wife, and we wait for the perfect moment. Then you kill him.”
“It could take weeks.”
“I know.”
He closes the tiny space between us until his breaths rush over my lips. “Weeks of you pretending, letting him touch you. Fuck you,” he spits.
I inwardly flinch at the harsh words and the images they conjure. I shut it down quickly, refusing to venture down that path. I don’t know what to say to him. I’m caught between love and loyalty and simple survival at this point because this is no longer about revenge. I’ve accepted Sasha’s part in Daddy’s death, but really, he was just a tool, a weapon operated by a master, and the man paying for that privilege was Enrique. That man has picked my life apart, and I refuse to be his pawn anymore. I refuse to let my sister be his victim. What else can I do?
“I won’t let him do anything.”
He drops his head forward on a hard breath. “You know as well as I do that he doesn’t care if you’re willing.”
“Sasha, he has Gabi! I’m running out of options here. We don’t have time to debate this.”
“It’s not up for debate,” he almost growls.
“What do you suggest?”
His silence is the only answer I get.
“You won’t find him, not before he kills Gabi. Her life is tied to mine right now. You know it, I know it. I once asked you to advise me from a strategic standpoint.” More silence, and I see the trace of fear breaking through that stony veneer. Reaching up, I cup his cheek and pull his gaze to mine. “This isn’t the same as before, Sasha. I’m not looking for revenge. I know you’ll deliver all the retribution he’s due. I just want my sister back, alive. And then, I want you. That’s it. I’m not sacrificing you. I’m doing what I have to so we can have a future.” I’m practically begging because I don’t want to lose him.
We have crossed what feels like an ocean of obstacles, and yet we’re still here. I still love him. He still loves me, and I know I can’t do this without him. Yet I’m not asking for permission. If he asks me to choose between him and Gabriella, then he simply isn’t the man I think he is.
“I’ve already lost my father. I won’t lose my sister.” I know it’s a low blow, but I’m desperate.
