So when she got greedy and messy.
She was killed.
My dad didn’t talk about that night, but the rumors said that her guilt was too great, that she was too wounded, and that at the end, it was Phoenix, her older brother, who had pulled the trigger so my dad wouldn’t have to.
Because no matter how much you love someone, a rat is a rat, and you exterminate rats regardless of how much you like to keep company.
I sighed as the driver came around to open my door. Breaker slid out behind me, typing away on his phone like I didn’t just have my legs spread for him a few hours ago like we didn’t have a moment in the car.
What the hell was wrong with him?
I took two steps and stopped, and he ran into my back. “Vi? What’s up? Your own personal werewolf needs something to drink.”
“We have company,” I whispered in horror as both Phoenix and Andrei got out of the black Denali and stared us down.
“Fuck,” Breaker said, radiating instant tension from behind me. “Whatever happens just know—”
“What do you mean, whatever happens?” I hissed. “They’re family.”
He was being crazy, right?
A side effect of his exhaustion?
Of being a werewolf? I joked to myself to keep from panicking.
Because those two together did not mean happy endings or beginnings. We all knew that.
“Innocent little Violet Abandonato,” Breaker sighed. “With her fuck-me heels, white dresses, and incredible smile—you know nothing.”
Hurt knifed through me, so sharp it must have shown on my face, but he ignored it, shoving me behind him and approaching both men with confidence in his swagger.
Breaker had always been strikingly beautiful, too pretty for words.
But right now, he seemed like someone else, someone meant for pain, someone who was suffering, or someone who maybe just did a good job handing it out.
I rarely saw that side.
I thought he was protecting me.
Now I wondered if he was just hiding.
“Gentleman.” Breaker shoved his hands into his black slacks. “Something you need?”
“More like…” Another person got out of the car. “Someone.”
What the hell was going on?
“Violet.” Nikolai Blazik, the smartest doctor in the world and the “doctor” for the Russian mafia, gave me a cold smile. “It seems like your number has unfortunately been called up, both of you, in the SUV, now.”
“No.” Breaker took a step toward him but was held back by Andrei.
“Yes.” Nikolai’s blue eyes fell a bit as he looked between us. “I’m sorry, but we can’t forget that night happened, and because of that night, she’s officially betrothed.”
“The fuck she is!” Breaker roared. “It wasn’t even him!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Nikolai snapped right back. “An agreement in blood is an agreement till death, and unless you want the world to know your secret…”
“What secret?” I asked in a shaky voice. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Never!” he snapped. “That would be more of a death sentence, and you know it!”
Nikolai shrugged. “That’s your choice then?”
“It was my choice then, it’s my choice now,” Breaker ground out. “Protect her at all costs even if that means I protect her from me.”
I let out a little gasp. “Stop being ridiculous. You would never hurt me!”
Andrei and Phoenix shared a look I couldn’t decipher before Andrei stepped forward. “You have my word, you’ll be safe, we just have a few things to discuss.”
“Safe…” I gulped. “Where?”
“Besides,” he added with a casual shrug, “it will be quick. It’s just an alliance. We’ve drawn up the contracts, and once the ceremony is done, you can come back and visit. We’ll let everyone know you’re headed to Seattle for a few months to continue studying beneath Nikolai for pre-med. It’s the perfect cover…” He nodded to Phoenix, who opened up a black file and held it out to her.
“Your fiancé.”
“I don’t understand.” My hands shook as I accepted the folder. “I’m not marrying anyone!”
“You have no choice,” Phoenix said in a sad voice. “We gave you close to a year, but the minute you walked out of that club…” He eyed Breaker briefly before saying. “You leave now to make preparations.”
“But—”
“Now and then in a week, we’ll host a going away party for the Abandonato Princess,” Phoenix said in a voice that meant no arguing, and I stood there, black folder in hand, wondering how my life had spun so out of control, and so incredibly fast.
It was supposed to be that one time.
It was supposed to be okay now.
I was supposed to be safe.
Shaking, I stared down at the blurry photo, which was strange in and of itself. Why would the face be blurred out? My stomach dropped to my knees as I read the small amount of information in front of me.
Valerian Petrov.
Twenty years old.
That was it.
I knew nothing else except for the way his kiss tasted, and how rough his hands were as they pressed me into the bed.