“You’re making a mistake,” I whispered.
“No, the only mistake I made was trusting anyone to do for me what I could have done myself. Had I been sitting in the room making decisions with all of you, I like to think we wouldn’t be where we are. If Cleopatra ruled an empire, so can I.”
“That bratva isn’t the empire you want.”
“It’s the only one I have. I was only this family’s tool. Did you love me for that or in spite of it?” I took a step toward her, but she held up her hand. “No! You don’t get to come to me now. Not after this.” She waved toward the hall. “You couldn’t hold back killing Mario. You couldn’t let me make that decision. And you want me to keep standing by your side as if it’s okay, Rome. It’s not.”
“I won’t apologize.”
“You can’t even see why he would have been an asset alive. That in and of itself is a problem.”
“I don’t need to think rationally about him, Katalina.” I walked into the hand she hand between us, I held it to my chest. We both stared at it as I said, “He hurt you. He should have been six feet under the first day he even thought to.”
“You can’t unleash your monster any time you like based on how you feel about some girl, Rome.” She wanted to hurt me, but her hand had curled around my shirt, like she was holding on, like I was a lifeline.
“You’re not some girl, Katalina,” I whispered. “You’re my fucking world. You’re the queen of this family and now the bratva too. You’re the one thing I hate to care for but still do. I can’t cage the animal in me that’s willing to fight for you, wouldn’t be able to even if I tried.”
“Then we can’t work.”
Rage at her words flowed through me. I wanted to strangle some sense into her, but our emotions were vibrating off the walls and I was sure the tiles would shake and fall off soon. “We can if you stop this. Don’t put yourself in a position where I’ll have to fight to keep you alive day in and day out. A bratva queen is always in danger.”
“Good thing I’m not an Armanelli queen then, right? You’re only their monster, not mine.” She dropped her hand, turned and swung open the bathroom door. This time I let her.
“You stay with the bratva, you leave this family behind, Cleo.” I let the words fall from my lips as a warning, but they were filled with anguish too.
She froze mid stride before she turned and looked at me. Her eyes glistened like stars shining on metal in the night. “I leave you behind too, Rome. You aren’t just the family. One day you’ll see that. One day, you’ll get why I’m doing all this. We’re more than what everyone has made us out to be, huh?”
I could chase her, but I knew if I did it would only be to rip her apart for what she was putting me through.
We were destroying each other, and one of us had to stop. We couldn’t keep fighting, especially when neither of us was willing to give an inch. If we continued this, we’d both end up dead. She was too important to more than just me now. She was an heiress. A Russian Princess.
The monster in me lay down and surrendered to its queen.
6
Katie
The sickness rolling around in my stomach didn’t subside as I left Rome without looking back. I was destroying the bridge that connected us, burning it up and watching it disintegrate into ashes. The dizziness that overcame me had me leaning against a wall.
My adrenaline was subsiding. I’d watched a man close to me murdered by the one man I thought loved me. We were causing more destruction instead of building a foundation.
I pushed off the wall and righted myself before I walked back out. “Bastian!” His dark head of hair snapped toward me, and he nodded as I walked over. “We need to talk.”
“That we do.” He didn’t raise his voice, but his words were measured. He didn’t relax when he looked at me now. I wasn’t just his friend anymore, he didn’t have power over me like he did the family, and suddenly I realized the fear my shift had brought.
I glanced around at all the faces who’d once joked around me, who’d come in for hugs and kisses on the cheek. They all looked at me with caution now. The men cleaning up Mario didn’t try to say hello, Dante didn’t pick me up off the ground in a bear hug, and Cade didn’t throw out a smart remark. They were all coiled to react instead, like we’d never been family at all.
“It’s probably best to do this with everyone,” I said. “I can bring Ivan in too. I’m voting for transparency rather than secrets and deals behind doors.”
“Should I call the Stonewoods too, then?” Bastian chuckled as if what I was saying was a joke.
I stood taller. “Bastian, we’ve had men like your father leading since the beginning of time. And”—I motioned toward him—“do you think his secrets did him any good?”
“Katie.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “More hands in the cookie jar make for a mess, no?”
“Allies are better prepared to go to war with you when they know what they’re going to war for, right? We build this based on trust. Dante and Cade want to hear what we have to say, huh?”
Dante didn’t say a word, but the smirk on his face told me all I needed to know.