Chapter Three
“I don’t know what you mean,” Sofia blurted, but she did.
Maxim knew she just lied through her teeth because the barest hint of a smile appeared on his lips. How could the beautiful, dark-haired, and gray-eyed monster look so good in an expensive suit?
If Sofia looked closer, she could see the black stars hidden under the collar of his shirt. More tattoos covered the backs of his hands.
Sofia had grown up around men like Maxim all her life and yet a part of her whispered that there could be no other man like him. Maxim leaned in close to her ear as if to divulge a secret. She could have pulled away and told him to keep his distance, but she did neither of those things.
“Your house is on the verge of ruin, Sofia. An alliance with me would save everything you hold dear. I am still in need of a bride,” the demented devil whispered.
How dare he? The reminder that this cold-hearted bastard only wanted a wife, and it didn’t matter who he married, made Sofia remember she was way out of her league with this man.
“Step away from me,” she said in a firm voice.
To her shock, he did, but the sinister smile hadn’t left his lips. Damn it. The arrogant jerk just had to remind her of the promise she had made to her sister.
“Maxim, thank you for coming,” Lorenzo interrupted. He strode toward them with Aldo by his side. “I see you have met Sofia. I hope she didn’t prove to be too much of a disappointment.”
Sofia stared daggers at her father. Then his hurtful words finally sank in. Her father had expected Maxim to come to the service.
Did Lorenzo personally invite him here so he could meet her? If Maxim couldn’t marry Aurora, then he would have to settle for Sofia?
Sofia still hadn’t had the opportunity to grieve her sister, and her detestable father had already made a deal with the devil. Anger stirred inside her, foreign and hot. Her chest tightened. It hurt to breathe.
Sofia turned away from their conversation and took the empty seat facing her sister’s coffin. An empty coffin.
Right after the shooting and once Aldo had secured Sofia in the car, he had called two associates. He ordered them to retrieve Aurora’s body before the police arrived. It was gone by the time they arrived.
It sickened Sofia to think whoever killed Aurora kept her corpse captive to torment Sofia and her family.
Someone else joined Sofia in the empty row of seats. Aunt Elena was her mother’s sister. She was the Director of Finance in the company.
“He’s not so bad-looking, you know,” she said. “You could have done with worse. At least it is not Maxim’s psychotic brother you will be marrying.”
“Can we not talk about Maxim Semenov right now? Leave me to grieve my sister,” Sofia answered angrily.
“Sofia,” Elena said, reaching for one of Sofia’s hands. Her touch didn’t bring Sofia any comfort.
Like Aurora and most of the women in the familia, Elena had learned the lesson of hiding her emotions early. Aurora often said Sofia took after their mother, who’d been spirited and fierce until her death. Sofia wouldn’t know because she had few memories of her.
“The women in this family have certain responsibilities we cannot simply turn our back on. We learn early that there are times we have to make sacrifices for the familia,” Elena said.
“You were happily married to Uncle Flynn for three decades,” Sofia argued.
“I married your Uncle Flynn because the familia needed ties to the Irish Mafia,” Elena said.
Sofia finally saw the hardness in Elena’s eyes. The truth. Sofia always believed at the very least, one woman in this family had been given the ability to choose their husband freely.
Of course, it had not been that way for Aunt Elena. Her parents’ match had been arranged as well. Over time, her parents had grown to respect each other.
Those few years Sofia’s mother had been alive, her father loved her. At least, that was what Sofia believed.
“I cannot marry that monster, Aunt Elena,” Sofia whispered. “I’m not as strong as Aurora.”
“You can and you will,” Elena said. She tightened her grip on Sofia’s hand. “Sofia, your days of thinking only about yourself have ended. You have strayed from the familia far too long. It is good you finally came back to us.”
Sofia debated running the moment Aldo had taken her safely back to the house. Only the promise she made to Aurora kept her here. This house had never felt like home to Sofia, merely a prison holding her back from her dreams.