I glance at Alexei, and he nods, receiving the silent message. As Yuri and I walk to the front door, Alexei and Demitri follow after us. We step out of the house and walk to where the truck is waiting.
I sweep my hand in the air, and it has Franco opening the doors to the trailer, then I gesture for Yuri to go ahead with the inspection.
I stand with Alexei and Demitri and watch as Yuri checks a couple of aircon units filled with weapons.
Seemingly happy, he nods. “Good.” I wait for him to talk with his righthand man, and once he joins us again, he says, “I’m glad to see your father managed to get the flash grenades. Thank you.”
“Of course.” I gesture for Yuri to walk.
As we head back to the house, Yuri takes care of the payment on his phone, then he chuckles. “You make me a poor man, Lucian.”
I let out a burst of laughter. “I doubt that’s possible.”
The truck’s engine starts, and glancing over my shoulder, I watch as two of Yuri’s men steer the metal beast down my driveway.
Thank God for the training my father gave me before I went to St. Monarch’s, or I’d be fucked right now.
The meeting lasts for another hour, and then the men depart. Tino hangs back, and once it’s just us and Alexei and Demitri, he says, “I trust you’ll plan the wedding?”
Fucking asshole. He won’t even give his only daughter a wedding.
“I’ll have my aunt take care of everything. You don’t have to worry about a damn thing.”
Tino doesn’t miss the aggression in my tone, and it makes the corner of his mouth curve up. “Soon, you’ll be my son-in-law,” he taunts me.
I take a deep breath so I don’t lose my patience, and then I meet Tino’s arrogant gaze with my own. “Don’t make the mistake of thinking it gives you power over me.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” he sneers. Without asking anything about Elena, he walks to the front door. “Good doing business with you.”
I watch him leave, then shake my head. “Some people make it hard not to kill them.”
Alexei lets out a chuckle.
Needing to check on Elena, I say, “Make yourselves at home.” Turning my attention to Franco, I ask, “Where is she?”
“Near the cliff,” he advises me.
I walk out onto the veranda and glance over the property as I make my way to the edge of the backyard. When I reach Leo, I nod at him. “Fall back.”
He moves away until he’s out of hearing distance, and then my eyes lock on Elena. She’s standing with her arms wrapped around her, just staring at the ocean.
“The meeting’s over,” I inform her.
She ignores me flat out, not taking her eyes off the horizon.
“You’re angry?” I ask.
She lets out a flabbergasted huff, and then she turns her head to pin me with a glare. “You think?”
I tilt my head. “I thought you’d be relieved. You don’t have to marry Dante.”
Elena turns to fully face me, fisting her hands. It actually looks like she wants to do me bodily harm. I’ve never seen her angry, and honestly, it’s refreshing.
“You lied to me,” she bites the words out.
“I did no such thing.”
She lets out an offended gasp. “You said you’d kill Dante! I opened up to you… for what?”
“First, I’m going to kill Dante, just not today. Second, you opened up to me because I care, and you have no one else who gives a shit about you.”
Slowly she shakes her head as if she’s struck with dumbfounded amazement by my words. “You know nothing about me. How the hell can you claim to care about me?”
I take a step closer to her. “I know more than you think.”
“Like what? That I was held a captive by my own father? That Dante could do whatever he wanted to me?” She takes a shuddering breath. “That tells you nothing about me.”
I take another step closer, and it brings us within inches of each other. “It tells me you’re a little bird with broken wings, flailing while surrounded by predators.”
Elena’s features tighten, and then a breath rushes over her lips, her cheeks staining pink as her anger grows. “You think I’m weak?”
When I lift a hand to reach for her, she slaps it away, and then she spits fire at me. “I’ve survived Dante for twenty-one years. I never gave up! Every time he beat me or forced himself on me, I got back up.”
Elena shakes her head at me, and then she begins to walk away.
“Do not walk away from me when we’re talking,” I snap at her.
She swings back at me. “Screw you, Lucian. You think you’re better than Dante? Than my father?” She stalks back to me, her eyes sparkling with rage, and God, she’s never looked more beautiful. “You’re the same as them. All I’ve ever wanted was my freedom, and you took it away from me. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I’ll be your wife. Ring or no ring. Vows or no vows. I’m nothing more than your prisoner.” A breath shudders out of her. “If you think I have broken wings, it’s because you’re the one who broke them when you arranged a marriage between us.”