9. Lucia

CHAPTER 9

Lucia

I was expecting the living room to explode into chaos as soon as Ivan walked out. Surprisingly, we all descended into silence instead. It takes a long moment before any one of us speaks. Of course, the first person to do so is my sister.

"What the hell was that?" she asks her husband.

He groans softly but doesn't seem to have a reply for her. Adrian does, though.

"That, Aurora, was a madman."

My lips twitch at that. I glance over to him and he still looks furious. He looks angrier than everyone in this room put together, which is odd. Adrian's always so calm. He'll make jokes, deflect, and do anything really to ensure no one can guess at his emotions. Right now, though, his mask is clearly off.

"You knew," I say in a low tone. "You both knew he was coming here for me."

"We suspected," Nico corrects. "Yesterday, Adrian's spies reported that Volkov was in the market for a wife."

"In the market," I repeat in a dull tone. "I feel like I'm being bid on at an auction."

Honestly, I'm not sure I know how to feel about this entire situation. I'm more shocked overall that the man I slept with a month ago turned out to be some sort of Russian criminal mastermind.

In actuality, I shouldn't be too shocked. I do have a way of picking them. I seem to attract danger wherever I go.

"Don't. This entire thing is stupid," my sister says to me. "You're not getting married to that old man. That makes no sense."

She seems a little hysterical about the whole thing. I try to look at things through her lens. Some middle-aged guy walks in and demands to marry her little sister. Of course she's not going to take that lying down.

But Ivan's age is the least worrying thing about this entire situation to me.

Nico seems to be thinking, that calculative glint that's never too far off in his eyes. Aurora gets to her feet to stand in front of her husband with her arms crossed.

"Tell me we can refuse," she demands.

Nico arches an eyebrow. "Sebastian might have been a bastard, mi vida , but he was still a part of this family. He held a seat at the table. Whatever deal he made is valid."

"I don't care. Lucia's not marrying him."

My sister's a lioness when it comes to fighting for the people she cares about. I don't even need to say anything; I know she'll fight tooth and nail to keep this marriage from happening. Which is well and good because no way in hell am I marrying Ivan.

He's insane if he thinks that's going to happen.

"She's not going to marry him," Nico assures his wife. He finally looks at me, an apology swirling in the depths of his blue eyes. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you what was going on, Luce. I've been trying to figure out a way out of this mess."

"I have the perfect solution," Adrian drawls, settling down on the couch beside me. "We kill him."

Nico frowns. "Murder's not the solution to everything, Rossi. And you know as well as I do that we can't kill him."

"Why the hell not?" Aurora questions.

Aw. Would you look at that? Her husband must be rubbing off on her. Before she married him, her moral compass was much more rigid.

"Because, mi vida , the man controls a shit ton of power within the Bratva. We need to proceed with caution. Find out his weaknesses, and maybe then we can come to an agreement. I need to talk to Lukas. He'll be able to advise us on the best path to take."

I have no clue who Lukas is.

"Lukas is one of their own. He practically eats out of Volkov's palm and you think he'll be able to provide us some objective advice?" Adrian argues.

"He can at least give us an idea of what to do. What do you prefer, Adrian? War with the Bratva? It'll be a bloodbath. That's not happening on my watch," Nico grits out.

My sister's eyes narrow. "So you're saying if you don't find weaknesses and or a way out of this, you'll let my sister marry that man?"

A muscle ticks in Nico's jaw and he very slowly shakes his head.

"No, of course not. Lucia's not marrying him," he states, a note of finality in his voice. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep that from happening."

"Thank you so much, mom and dad," I say sarcastically. "It's good to know you're both very capable of making decisions that affect me and concern my life."

Adrian pokes my side. "What? You want to marry Volkov?"

"Hell no."

Later that day, Aurora enters my room. She hasn't stopped looking worried since Ivan showed up, and I hate that this is stressing her out so much. She's mothered me all her life and takes personal responsibility for me, which means she won't be able to relax until this issue is solved.

She doesn't say anything to me once she enters, instead just pacing the length of my room. Her brown hair is in a messy bun and she's wearing a loose-fitting yellow dress that stops just above her knees.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" I ask, staring at her from my position on my bed.

Alejandro's awake at all hours of the night so she and Nico take every opportunity to crash during the day. I'm guessing they won't be able to do that anymore considering Ivan's ultimatum. I feel bad about it. But I shouldn't because I had nothing to do with any of it in the first place.

Screw Sebastian for making that stupid deal in the first place. I already had beef with him for what he did to Nico and Aurora. It's a good thing he's dead.

Screw Ivan as well. I have no idea what he's been inhaling that's making him delusional enough to think I'm actually going to marry him.

"Shh, I'm thinking," my sister says, waving a hand in my general direction. Finally, she comes to a stop and snaps her fingers. "I've got an idea. You should leave. Go to Brazil. I'm sure Zia Emille wouldn't mind having some company for a little while."

I arch an eyebrow. "Why is your first thought always for me to run away in these situations?"

"Because it's safer," she states like it's obvious.

"I'm not going anywhere, Rory. Plus, our aunt deserves not to be relegated to a hideout anytime shit goes wrong in our lives."

I spent a couple of weeks hiding out with her last year. I'm not doing that again.

"Okay, fine, but at least leave Chicago. Go to New York. I'm sure Nico can send some men to keep you safe while you're there. Staying here is a bad idea."

"I'm not going anywhere, sorella . I'm staying put and seeing this through."

"That man is trying to force you into a marriage, Lucia."

"He's not going to succeed," I assure her. "Nico won't let him."

"While I have the utmost faith in my husband, something about that man bothers me."

"Who, Ivan?" I ask, his name slipping out way too easily.

My eyes flutter shut at my stupid mistake. One that Aurora does not miss.

"Ivan?" she asks tightly. "Why are you saying his name like he's your friend or something? The man is obviously a psychopath."

"Let's be honest, Rory—in this line of work, they're all psychopaths."

She doesn't argue with me on that, instead coming to sit at my side on the bed.

"He's in his forties, so maybe that's why he's suddenly eager to get married. But does that really justify him trying to pressure you into it?"

Well, my dear sister, it's probably because I slept with said man in his forties. I really am the author of my own misfortune.

"No, you're right," I state. "It's totally weird. He's really good-looking, though."

Aurora rolls her eyes. "That is so not the point, Lucia."

"You think so too, don't you?" I ask on a laugh.

"Well, I have eyes," she mutters. "But again, not the point! The man is dangerous. And a creep."

She really does not like him. Not that I blame her. My sister takes my hand in hers, her expression earnest.

"You have your whole life ahead of you, Lucia. There's a reason I made the decision for us to leave the outfit all those years ago. This, what's going on right now, is my worst fear that has come to life. I hate that you've been put in this position."

"It's not all that different from what you went through with Nico last year," I point out.

My sister and her husband might have been in love with each other since they knew what love is, but it took them both a pretty long time to come to that realization. Their marriage started out fake, nothing more than an arrangement my sister agreed to in order to keep me safe.

"Don't even compare what I have with Nico to this. Nico's not twenty years older than me," she whispers shouts.

Again with the age. Her prejudice is pretty clear. She might as well be wearing a fat neon sign with the words "I don't like age gap relationships" written on it. I, on the other hand, have never much cared. Since I turned eighteen, I've always dated the men I wanted to, regardless of their ages.

One of my boyfriends was ten years older than me. Older men have always been my type. It's why I was so okay with sleeping with Ivan a month ago.

"Okay, fine. The two situations are nowhere near comparable," I mutter.

"I'm not letting you marry that man. You have your career and your life in New York and I'll do anything to make sure you can go back to that," my sister promises.

I freeze at that, my heart falling still, but I quickly recover before she can notice. I hate lying to my sister, I really do. She still has no idea that I have no life back in New York. This is all I have now. I plan to tell her everything eventually. I just don't want her to think of me as a failure.

"You're absolutely right, Rory. And I love you so much for caring," I tell her. "How about we both try to take a nap before that baby of yours wakes up from his?" I suggest.

We both lie down, staring up at the ceiling in the room, which is decorated with stars. They glow at night. I had it done when I was 12. I was glad to see that they were still here when I walked into my childhood bedroom. It's comforting.

"Why do you think he chose you?" Aurora asks me after a couple of minutes pass. "It's entirely random and I've been trying to wrap my head around it, but it makes no sense for him to suddenly decide he wants to marry a woman he's never even met."

I shrug, hating the lies as they leave my lips.

"It's like you said, sorella . The man is insane."

I know exactly why Ivan chose me. Although I don't understand why or how one night of fun turned into him wanting to spend the rest of his life with me.

The night before his forty-eight hours deadline is up, I get a text from an unknown number.

Krasavitsa.

The single Russian word has my heart racing. I finally looked it up a while ago. It means beautiful. Which is kind of sweet.

I shake my head to dispel such thoughts because I should absolutely not be thinking of Ivan Volkov as sweet.

Me: What do you want?

Ivan: A date.

My mouth drops open at his audacity. And yet intrigue flows through me.

Me: Are you being serious right now? Why the hell would I want to go out with you?

Ivan: I'll make it worth your while, milaya. Plus, I know you have things you'd like to know. Or maybe you want to yell at me. Come out with me tonight, I'll let you get everything off your chest.

Me: Not happening, Ivan.

Then, before I can consider the consequences of my actions, I send another message.

Me: Plus, there's no way in hell I'd be able to get out of this house. I'm being watched like a hawk.

It isn't until I press send that I realize I unwittingly admitted to wanting to go out with him. I groan, running a hand through my hair. I did not mean to do that.

He replies a mere second later.

Ivan: You're not a princess locked up in a castle, Lucia. I'm sure it's well within your capabilities to get out of your home. Let me know once you're able to manage it. I'll send a car to pick you up.

Sexy, confident asshole.

Unfortunately, he's also right. I practically wrote the handbook on sneaking in and out of this compound undetected. My fifteen-year-old self was a menace. After thinking things over for a couple of minutes, I decide it's in my best interests to meet up with him. I do have a couple of things to get off my chest.

And maybe I can stop this war before any of my family members have to suffer for it. So I get to my feet and hurriedly get dressed.

After ensuring that my sister is busy with her baby and Nico's in some closed-door meeting with the heads of the outfit, I find my way out of the house.

I know all the blind spots and it's almost too easy to stay out of the guards' sight. There's an opening in the fence at the back of the compound, near the empty stables. I make use of that in getting out of the house.

Once I'm through, I send Ivan a text with the location for the pick-up. There's no need to saddle Nico with the responsibility of getting me out of this mess.

I'll just do it myself.