The Carrero Contract - Selling Your Soul (Mafia Romance) novel Chapter 188

They lead us to a large, carved, ugly wooden door depicting nude women mid-orgy, and I eye roll at the crassness. Suits Santagato to a T. Mico slides in front of us quickly, knocks on it several times in a coded bang while we wait silently and patiently. Tension making the air so thick I can almost cut it with a knife. I have to still my trembling body, clinging onto him for dear life, focusing on his warm hand encasing mine snugly as a form of grounding and I repeat the mantra ‘he will always protect me’ inside my head.

It’s opened immediately and two men move aside as we are let into a dark, smoky room where several men are sitting at a long table. I cannot count how many there are, eyes scanning the crowded scene quickly as my focus tries to adjust rapidly. I swallow my breath, my heart plummets and I just let him take the lead.

Alexi walks us in behind two of his men and Mico. I can tell at a glance which ones are the bosses, by their suits and grim expressions, while all the rest of the men in black coats and heavy builds are obviously security. I catch sight of the enemy for the first time and instantly want to strangle the bitch to death as her eyes meet mine and she throws a smug little smirk our way.

Sat halfway down the table and flanked by two men in grey suits, she looks cocky and arrogant, homed in on us as we move in and get ushered to two empty seats at the head of the table.

She’s older than I expected, maybe late forties, early fifties, dyed brown hair piled on her head messily, no doubt trying to look sexy. She has way too much makeup on to appear more attractive, but she is missing the natural beauty that's needed to really pull off her look. Her clothes are tailored, an attempt at sharp businesswoman, but she just looks dowdy and out of place.

She’s haggard and tired looking and I can’t stop glaring at her with as much venom as I can muster. She lacks that air of command that these ageing men and scary bosses have. Alexi has more presence in his pinkie toe than her entire entourage. She is a major disappointment to what I had built up in my head.

“Interesting. Bringing along your little toy to a sit-down, Alexi. So like you to send a message in everything you do.” She smirks to herself, so self-assured in the fact she thinks she knows why I’m here, and it gives me a moment to throw a devious smile her way. Knowing she has no clue why my presence here is so important or what I am to him now. She is about to get a rude awakening that will wipe that idiotic arsehole look off her fake face.

Alexi ignores her, it’s like she didn’t even address him at all and just looks to where he is guiding me. He leads us to our seats, in his own time, and pulls my chair out for me, patiently waiting while I slide in and he finally lets my hand go before pushing it in for me again as I connect. Deliberately slow and controlled, making it clear no one rushes him or gets any sort of interaction until he decides. It’s a power play on his part and as the room falls completely silent, I realise how effective it is.

It’s odd being sat at the top of these men, looking down the long narrow expanse of table littered with glasses and elbows. The other men in the room nod our way and give mumbled greetings, nods, showing their respect, and it’s pretty obvious, even to me, that despite it being a five-family treaty, they treat Alexi like the Godfather. Head of the table says it all. They have been waiting for him and placing him here gives him the authority in this meeting.

He sits after I’m settled and leans back in his chair before fixing his gaze on the woman who caused us so much grief. Precise in his manner, smoothing his jacket out and moves his water glass to the side out of his way. Making it obvious he isn’t in any way bothered by her presence.

“What did I miss?” Alexi throws it out there and turns his attention to Santagato with a shoulder rotate, easing out his muscle, like two dudes catching up after the gym.

I cringe when I see that man, sitting directly to my right, and try not to look at him too obviously, hoping no one really notices me tucked in here. Santagato is still a letch and a dangerous man I want no interaction with. He may not have made an attempt on my life, but he is still one hell of a bastard.

Apart from her, I’m the only other woman in the room and it makes me wholly uncomfortable. The symbolism in that is overwhelming. These men do not bring their women to this shit. Alexi has to be breaking some sort of rule, surely.

“Just our lady here bigging herself up and trying to convince us we should allow her to take her father’s place in the treaty to govern New York.” Santagato sneers at that, obviously not impressed.

Alexi laughs, that deep sadistic chuckle, as though it’s highly amusing to him, and rocks back in his chair a little more. Fixing her with a penetrative gaze that could shatter glass. I hold my breath and posture, still as a statue and just watch, unable to do much else. So tense I literally feel rigid. Alexi seems right at home though, surrounded by these suits and taking over his chair like he owns it.

“Your father never had a place in this treaty so there is no place to take, Marianne.” He fixes her with a penetrative gaze, and she has the audacity to laugh right back. Smug in herself and no clue who she is dealing with. She has no concept of who he can be and that is worrying. I might start the timer on how long it takes before she finds out.

“We both know that’s just a technicality. We were supposed to be a part of this until your families wiped them all out.” She raises a haughty brow and I glance at Alexi quickly, the amused chuckle, the small shake of his head. Not bothered by her retort.

“You take no responsibility for his actions then? The reason we had to. He placed hits on our families' most vulnerable, like a coward!” Another boss steps in, enraged at the nerve of the woman, bursting forward onto the table and slamming his hands down in rage. I sit back and watch as the men around the table mutter their complaints at her flawed logic loudly. Getting agitated verbally and Alexi raises his palm to hush them all into immediate silence. They do as instructed, a deathly silent wave falling over us instantly which again confirms he is boss in this today.

“Is that the legacy you wish to carry on?” he asks her smoothly, taking control once more.

Marianne looks around them all and smiles like a Cheshire cat. Unfazed at their grumbles and I can see her mistake. She assumes these fat rich men have gone soft in all the years of living in a peaceful city. She thinks she can swoop in with a little intimidation and just take up a place left vacant by her father.

Why? Because she thinks Alexi is the only one to be reckoned with and she thinks she has his number. He didn’t retaliate so maybe he has gone soft. I can see it in her eyes. The far too confident brain of a stupid woman who has become power drunk on her achievements so far. She has no idea who she is fucking with or that the only thing holding him back is his family.

“I want to carry on where my father left off. I have way more capability to rule than he ever did.”

She thinks this sit-down is like a little business negotiation where she puts her demands, and all is forgiven and forgotten. She showed her muscle and her reach by targeting women that had no real value and now thinks she has earned a place in the group of New York’s most powerful. She thinks she can leave here today with a position on their board and a chunk of New York in her pocket.

As if it was that easy.

Woman thinks the crime lords have got rich, fat and lazy over the years and want to avoid bloodshed at all costs. You can tell she has never existed among the underbelly of these people or seen how disposable life is when someone gets in their way. She was raised spoiled, wealthy and entitled, and has a superiority that will be her undoing. She is no crime lord at all. Just a cocky bitch with a few hired guns and a lot of money. No match for my man and I can already see the cogs turning in his head as he sizes her up.

He is gifted at reading people in situations like this, and I can tell he is relaxing by the second with what faces him. A fly on his windscreen and easy to squish. I relax too, a little reassured this will not be the bloodfest I envisioned and lean towards him to feel his body heat through my dress, to slow my racing heart and find that much-needed security of being near him.

“So, what do you bring to the table, aside from murdering women and children?” Alexi cuts through all the bullshit of this play nice conversation and she fixes her attention on him with a sly little look.

“Oh, little Alessandro Carrero. You seem to be the main man nowadays. You know, I wasn’t surprised to hear you had grown through the ranks until you took control as head of the board. Even at thirteen, when you shot my fiancée, you showed promise as a ruthless leader. What happened to you, huh? Where is that formidable killer I heard so much about? Seems to me that was all pissing in the wind to scare off folks trying to move into this city. Was that your first and last killing, little boy?” She deflects with sarcasm, trying to show the upper hand and humiliate him. Eyes narrowed and prick side on show.

Oh, I swear to God. Shoot her Alexi. Right in the face, in fact, do it somewhere that makes her die slowly so I can take the time to stick the bird at her and watch her squirm in agony.

I haven’t hated anyone this much in a long time but damn, I fucking hate this cow. Her attitude when she doesn’t even know him. I wriggle in my seat as volcanic temper simmers inside me and try so hard to be as still and panther-like as he is. All that perfect cool control he has is breathtaking. He just fixes her with that deadpan look that used to drive me nuts.

“You’ll have to try harder than that if you want to get a rise out of me. Your manipulation skills leave a lot to be desired. I guess age is not always an indicator of skills or competence, old lady.” Alexi, smooth and smug, sweeps in and shuts her down with a controlled tone, a putdown and a laid-back manoeuvre; he casually lounges in his chair, so he looks bored as hell with minimum effort. The man who stood in my hospital room and scared the bejesus out of me is here in all his glory, owning this scenario, manipulating it subtly. She just shrugs, trying to deliver the same level of iciness, but cannot hide the way her hand trembles as she reaches for water to moisten her dry throat. Annoyed that he just rebuffed her cattiness effortlessly and made her look foolish.

I already know Alexi would never sate his thirst and show a hint of weakness or fear. A dry throat definitely signals apprehension and nerves. Amateur move girly, even I know that.

“If I had anything to worry about, I would be dead already. It’s obvious things have slipped since my father’s day.” She smiles bitchily, a wobble in her voice and I guess his manner is unnerving her. That icy, penetrating gaze that pierces your soul as he pulls you apart, and does so in such stealth stillness, it freaks everyone out.

He truly is the King when it comes to this stuff.

“Cute.” He just smiles devilishly and seems wholly amused at her attempts to better him. Marianne takes another drink, lifts a brow to signal she isn’t affected, but her body language is dissolving and it’s obvious she is starting to waiver. I think she expected an easier negotiation and straight down to business, as her ballsy attitude has a shelf life. It was all a front in a bid to appear in control until the real man of the hour swept in and showed her how a boss acts. No one can prepare you for a showdown with Alexi and it’s obvious she wasn’t expecting the thirteen-year-old kid she remembers to be this predator before her.

Good looks, impeccable DNA and a sexy wardrobe throw you off a little at first, but five seconds talking to his demon side and you know your number's up. He wears intimidation like a cloak and its aura is strong.

Alexi’s lap lights up under the table and draws my eye. I realise he has his cell phone sitting just out of sight and he glances down so subtly it’s practically unnoticed. I side squint at his face unsure what his message says but I catch Santagato throwing him a sideways glance too before he looks down to where his hand is under the table. I guess he has texted him.

The hackles on my neck rise as, out of the corner of my eye, I notice Mico is throwing some shady looks to the man on his left after he looks at his own phone, and the overwhelming sense of foreboding hits me hard. Tiny hints and signals from Alexi’s men that most would miss but I know their language from watching them protect the club. Something is stirring.

The one Mico is eyeing up I don’t recognise, and a strange atmosphere seems to emanate from Alexi almost instantly. Something changing in the surrounding air.

“Is that all you have to say? You’re awfully quiet, are you trying to scramble a comeback?” Smug bitch raises a brow, and I really want to throw my glass at her.

“Not at all. Just a bad cell phone reception day.” Alexi jokes and she looks confused at that response. As am I. I turn to him questioningly as he sits up a little straighter, places his phone on the table in front of him carefully, and locks eyes on her menacingly.

“Just awaiting a signal ... much like this one,” Alexi smirks, nods in a hardly noticeable way that would look like nothing to anyone else, and suddenly everything erupts. One tilt of his chin and men leap into instant action.

In the blink of an eye, the men on either side of her are yanked backwards violently, by the men in suits behind that I thought were with her. Clear plastic bags pulled over their heads and zip tied around their throats in the most grotesque, frightening fashion; so fast it’s like a dance that has been rehearsed to precision, stealthily done. It’s speedy and efficient, and she lets out a scream as the man behind her grabs her wrists and pins her to the table in a full body hold that disables her from helping her men.

I literally recoil in panic, nearly swallowing my tongue as my heart rips out of my chest and I’m hit with a cold wave of fear.

The other men at the table react in many ways. Some gasp and lurch back in their chairs, shocked, some sit steadfast, unfazed by this brutal scene, but it’s Santagato and Alexi who draw my eye as the fear and panic course through me, strangling me into frozen terror. My heart almost self-combusting, it’s hammering so fast, but I hold firm like I told him I would. Unable to do anything else.

Keep your shit together, breathe.

They nod at each other, a clear signal of partnered planning as two men in front of my eyes suffocate to death slowly in the most terrifying and traumatising few minutes. Bodies twitching and writhing while being held still by muscular men with zero expression. The wide-eyed terror and gasping, godawful sounds as the bags deflate, fog up and cling to their faces, sucking into the cavernous space made by gaping mouths and the whole table shudders with the kicks of their feet trying to get them loose.

I swallow instant tears, choke on panic and cling to the table until my knuckles turn white. Labouring breaths as I try to keep my head together. It’s excruciating to watch and nothing at all like in the movies.

My skin pales all over as life and blood drains away, yet I’m rooted to the spot watching this horrific scene, knowing instinctively I shouldn’t show any weakness to what I’m witnessing.

No one else moves or speaks until the gasping and thrashing subsides and two bodies slump forward heavily and facepalm the desk. They are dumped unceremoniously now that life has been stolen away.

It’s awful and I feel like I’m sat in some daymare, grasping Alexi’s leg under the table to try to keep myself calm as the woman’s wails turn raspy, tears streaming down her face. Her composure gone and skin white as mine must be.

“Why? Why?” She screams again as she is released and grabs at the man on her right, but try as she might to rouse him, it’s obvious he's dead. Pulling at him, pawing at the bag on his head to get it off with fumbling fingers as she realises, she's too late. It’s pathetic and traumatising and my eyes bite with tears, emotion swirling at what I just witnessed.

Alexi stays steadfast, slides a hand over mine to offer gentle touch and remind me he's still with me. I inhale heavily to calm my own shuddering limbs and pull myself together as quietly as I can. Shock overtaking.

“You really should know better than to move into my city and come after my wife. Did you really think I would ever let someone threaten mine and not fucking react?” Those last few biting words of cruelty and Alexi’s devilish, sadistic tone, that can still put the fear of God into me, shuts up the hysterical banshee across from me. She looks up, tears pouring down her sodden, blotchy face, makeup running, skin white and almost translucent with the fear of knowing this is the end for her. Her badly played plan coming back to bite her in the arse as she clings to a limp body that offers no help anymore. Breaking in front of me.

That revelation caught her attention, and the ripple of head turns around us highlight she isn’t the only one shocked by this news. Everyone seated looks our way except Santagato, who smiles like an evil psycho and turns his chair until he faces her. Revelling in this gruesome scene with an unhinged smile on his face. It’s clear it’s no surprise to him that Alexi married me, and now I know who Alexi was on the phone to last night working this all out.

“Your …” she gasps, failing to say the words, choking on them as though chewing sawdust. The heavy silence as it sinks in with everyone around the table what that means, is deafening.

I clutch my hands into balled fists so firmly my nails dig into my palms, but I just can’t stand this anymore. I’m fighting so hard to be gracious and poised while inside I’m terrified and on the verge of an all-out panic attack. The only thing keeping me sane is Alexi’s hand on my thigh now I have moved my fingers out of his.

“Yes … my wife. Guess your intel wasn’t all that. And yes, I know who it was, and we won’t be hearing from Lucie anymore. I took care of that problem already.”

I gasp at that, the vision of that fat little gimp from the club spinning into my brain and I gawp at Alexi’s profile in utter shock.

Lucie was a Carrero, well sort of. Married in and supposedly trusted, but even I know that won’t save anyone who betrays them. I don’t even have to wonder what happened to him. Lucie is probably fish food in concrete boots as we speak, as there is no way in hell the Carreros would let that shit slide. Now I know why he was sullen when returning last night. One of their own turned on them and for him that’s a low blow.

Marianne looks defeated. She doesn’t deny who was feeding her information on which girl to target and it all makes sense. The jealous little prick thought we were screwing before we ever were. He hated my position in the club over his and I can see why he would run off to sell his intel to anyone who would take me out of the picture.

Complete wanker.

That’s how she invaded the security and paid off people in the club. How they knew the fire escape led from the office and how to get me alone. Little prick, I hope Alexi made him suffer when he found out. And I hope it was slow.

I now know why his father wanted to see him, and last night they took an hour to talk. No doubt planning, dealing with their own and his betrayal. All skeletons falling out of the cupboard one after the other.

Jesus Christ.

“You and I are going to get very well-acquainted Marianne. See Alexi here, he did me the honour of saving my son from a man who made an attempt on his life. It seems only fair I deal with the woman who made an attempt on Alexi’s wife. An eye for an eye. Well within the code. A debt repaid on my terms.” Santagato breaks into my swirling thoughts and I snap my focus to him, that sadistic look in his eye that penetrates hers and I can tell he is looking forward to whatever he has planned. Alexi’s manipulation of that shooting paying off in a way he never meant. Tying up loose ends without getting his hands dirty.

It’s all coming together so effortlessly, like he said it would.

Her face drops completely and the last desperate look around the room at what I had assumed were her men, sees no one stepping in to help her. In fact, several men relinquish their guns on the table and file out of the room silently, showing their decision to walk away, knowing what will happen to them if they do not. No ounce of fight in the ones who are not her blood, and no one stops them from leaving. I guess they'd already agreed not to intervene before this went down; it would explain why I’m now seeing Carrero and Santagato men behind everyone one of them within this room. Just in case they tried. This really was a hastily planned meeting, and they tried to cover all bases.

She begins to sob desperately and try as I might to muster any kind of empathy for her, I cannot. She brought this on herself when she came after people they cared about. When she came after me.

“Any opposition to Santagato clearing his debt to me in this way, raise hands now. This is not my choice to make. I don’t lord over another family head.” Alexi asks the room and there is a tense silence as the men look from one to the other, yet no one moves to raise a hand. A murmur of low chatter as some whisper to one another, a wave of unease that travels around us as they come to a decision on what affects them all. It’s a treaty, and I guess with an important decision like this, he likes them to think they helped even if it’s clear it’s already decided.

The tension is killing me, my insides are crumbling to dust as my heart rate elevates once more and I shit myself on so many levels. Even being beside Alexi is doing nothing to alleviate my growing fear while he's in Mafia King mode, cold and cruel and I can’t stand it. We need to get out of here before I throw up or pass out. I’ve had enough and as hard as I’m trying to keep myself in check I’m sweating, terrified of witnessing more than I have already and watching whatever heinous acts they subject this woman to.

I have seen a lot in my lifetime, but watching a woman being raped and tortured cuts too close to the bone and I just can’t. I start trembling again, praying Alexi would never expect me to watch this. He loves me; he knows it would leave its mark on me. Even if she deserves to die.

I’m frantically holding myself together with every ounce of strength I can muster and on the verge of crying.

“No ... No … NOOO!” Marianne screams at all of us and jumps up to do a runner. Her fear overtaking and survival mode kicking in. She is blocked by men all around her, forced back into a seat brutally with no care to the fact she is female, and duct taped down for good measure. She thrashes and fights but it’s futile. They manhandle her roughly and one delivers a backhanded slap across her face to quieten her. The noise reverberating around the room and through me so I shudder at it.

I bite on my lip to quell the emotions. Sit painfully still and concentrate on breathing. It’s a brutal reminder of what worth women have in this world. How sadistic and cruel these men are, and how lucky I am to have someone to make sure this is never me again. Alexi doesn’t even blink. She made her bed and he has no qualms about what happens to her.

With another nod from Alexi her mouth is duct taped too, to shut up the god-awful squawking to bring some quiet back to this echoey space. It’s clinical, like something out of a gangster movie and I feel faint as my blood soars in my ears and crashes around my brain. I haven’t been this scared in a long time, and I have to keep looking to him to remind myself I’m safe. This isn’t happening to me. No one is going to touch me.

Alexi gets up, walks behind me, trailing a gentle fingertip across my back as he does so, another calming measure because he can sense I’m flailing and circles the room until he gets to her side of the table. Walks up, parting the men out of his way so he has a clear path to her, and ends up by her side; leaning down so his mouth comes level with her ear, he looks right at me. That emotionless dark look of a human devoid of all remorse and emotion that makes my heart stop beating. A reminder of who he is, staring me in the face.

What they don’t know is, it’s also his way of giving me a focus and keeping me sane, diffusing my fear and taking control of this room while his bride is in it. He knows I won’t be able to stand watching them tear her apart.

He places a palm on either side of her deliberately and slowly, so he can hold his weight up and leans down menacingly. Towering over her, caging her in and calmly holds his pose, not breaking a sweat or any outward signs of tension.

“You see her right there?” He nods my way. It’s loud enough for everyone to hear him in the now silent room, husky and low with that cruel tone that brings out goosebumps and makes my hair stand on end instantly. My body tingling with anxiety at the appearance of Devil Carrero. Someone I hoped to never face again.

I can’t look away from him, even if he is a stranger like this. Eyes locked on mine, so cool and devoid of everything, and I have to keep reminding myself that this is okay. This is who he can be. It means nothing to me because it’s not who he is for me. I have nothing to fear from this version of him. It’s a very well-played ruse and he is still inside there. I will never have to be afraid of any version of him, even here. If anything were to happen, he would come for me, shield me and never let any of them touch me. I know it in my heart. This is just one of his many faces and means nothing in our relationship anymore.

This is his mask, and he wears it like a second skin because he has to. He’s the reason his family can live happy safe lives, this is his duty and who he has to be. This is not MY Lexi; this is THE Alexi Carrero and as soon as he's done, I will find my parts of him and get the fuck out of here.

I just keep chanting it in my head as the tear-sodden woman nods, her body shaking so visibly she is practically vibrating, and the stench of human urine fills the air. I gag, my heart ripping to shreds at witnessing such extreme human fear. Alexi looks down, moves his feet with a hint of disgust and returns to his intimidating pose, avoiding what puddle she just left on the floor.

I can smell the fear coming from her, can feel her heart pulsating through mine in unison, her adrenaline spiking to almost heart-stopping levels. She knows this is the end of the road. I can’t imagine what that feels like right now and sat here looking at it, I’m torn about what I feel.

“She’s the reason this is how it ends for you, should she deem it so. You fucked with the wrong girl. That’s my queen and touching a hair on her head gets you killed. Your life hangs on whatever she agrees to, so maybe it’s her you should start begging.” He straightens up a little to look at me from a better viewpoint, and I can feel eyes burning into me from all directions. Men sitting up to take an interest in the woman who stole the heart of their emotionless leader and whom he now rests so much importance on. Eating into me and questioning the worth of the sassy redhead who runs his club. There’s a mutter of unease and I can feel it right down to my toes, the assumption I’m some fake imposter who is turning Alexi soft.

Alexi just publicly made it known that touching me, ever, is a fate worse than death and informed even his closest allies that I’m forever out of bounds. He marked me as his queen. The guy who used to hide us from the world. It’s another move on his part to make sure I’m always safe and no one can claim they didn’t know. No one can deny knowing I’m his wife now, protected under his family name and marked as the shortest route to death should they ever touch me. They know me by sight.

“London? Yay or nay to seeing the end of this reign of terror and letting someone else deal with it? It’s our shout as to how this goes. My insult on my family to pass off.” Alexi addresses me and I blanch at what he’s asking. Shocked to be singled out in this room of psychos, but I get it. It’s a show of leadership. Some other head wants to take care of his problem to settle a debt and he won’t lose face by admitting his family have tied his hands. It’s insanely clever. We pretend to relinquish something we want to do to let Santagato off with what he owes. Tying it all up nicely.

He wants my permission to give Santagato the go ahead. He wants the men in this room to acknowledge my importance in the decision to make her someone else’s problem. Even though she affected a lot of them, somehow me being a wife gives him trumps on her being his problem. He is the only one with a genuine reason to sentence her to death, according to their code. It’s almost laughable and so juvenile. His hands are cuffed, so he is handing her off to someone who now has a reason to do it instead. It’s Mafia politics at their finest.

A mistress is worthless, a wife is law.

I hesitate, aware of everyone looking my way, his words filtering through my head at a hundred miles an hour and I remember the one thing he asked me to promise.

“I need you to be my girl, the one who keeps her shit together and shows them how strong a queen she is.”

It’s running through my mind as the force of eyes eating into me, dig and pressure me into an almost hysterical level of anxiety, but I breathe slowly and do my best to maintain my poise and stillness. I have honed this act for a lifetime and my acting ability does not fail me now.

I can do this. I can pull this off and not show any weakness. I have learned from the best at how to be outwardly cold, and now I need to show my mentor I can be worthy to stand by his side in this part of his world. I may only have to do this once and forever be sheltered and safe from any future threats. This is symbolic. He wants me to take my place and show his peers I’m not to be crossed. That I’m as ruthless as he is, and they should respect me. He is crowning me, just like he said he would. I doubt he will ever put me in this position again for the rest of my life after this. Once will be enough. I know what I have to do.

I take a slow, steady and deliberate inhale to bring my voice to a calm level, and I look him straight in the eye, using him as a source of grounding and locking a solid, steadfast expression on my face.

As long as he is with me, I shouldn’t be afraid.

“Let him kill the bitch, I’m bored already and want to go get some lunch. I’m starving.” My voice is husky and strong, and it doesn’t even sound like it comes from me for a moment. Such is the alien nature of that cold tone and commanding voice I omit. Genuine boredom in the haughty, emotionless delivery. It startles me, it’s so convincing, but Alexi smiles sadistically, amused by my deliverance, looking proud, and finally straightens up completely. He also got my hint that I don’t want to stick around for this and see more than I have to. I drew a line for him, and that subtle nod tells me he understood.

“Guess we’re done here. She’s all yours, Santagato. Do what you want with her and enjoy the rest of your day. I have lunch plans with my wife.” Curt and polite, so not like someone sentencing a person to death, and I lift my chin and toss back my hair hoping to look as equally unbothered.

The fear in the woman’s eyes cuts me to the core, but I force myself not to look away, aware I’m on show, and these men are sizing me up for my worth by Alexi’s side. They see their cold and cruel leader picking himself a mate; I need to show I haven’t softened him or give them a reason to doubt who he still is. Love hasn’t changed the fact he’s a badass and worthy of his title, and they need to see that.

This is a reaffirmation that Alexi is still who he always was and my appearance in his life and kingdom only makes him stay strong to the evil he can be. They all rely on his calculating mind and emotionless decisions to keep the balance in this city. If I showed myself as something that ruined that, they would make sure I was eliminated. Alexi is important, more so than I ever factored before.

“Here, here.” A lone voice from an elderly man is accompanied by a table thump, then another, and another, and soon all the men are thumping agreement to my command, and her fate is sealed. The room changing in atmosphere and noise levels as whispers turn to chatter and riotous energy surrounds us. Like a mob awaiting a hanging, they are all getting excited at what they get to do to this lowly woman in their midst.

It’s disgusting, and I don’t doubt there will be many who stay to witness her demise. That’s who these people are. I never really had a say. Her fate had only one ending.

Alexi walks back around until he stands behind me, keeping space between my back and his position, just a gentle reminder my love is still in there, aware of getting too close to me in this way. I sit stiffly, aware of his presence and feel instantly calmer knowing he is close again even if it’s behind me and making me antsy.

“Let this be the end of it. Her family name dies with her, and from here on in, any of her relatives show up in this state, we end it on arrival. Agreed?” Alexi throws out the question to the room and gets a chorus of a unanimous yes. No hesitations, no chatter, almost a jolly roar of agreement as they poise awaiting their bloody show. Worked up on entertaining violence coming their way. I shudder inwardly.

He taps my shoulder, indicating I should get up, and I do so as gracefully as I can. Quickly because every cell and nerve ending is itching to run the hell out of here, and I avoid looking at their prisoner once more. Santagato’s eyes follow me as I do so, and he nods right in my direction. Catching me unawares, standing as we get ready to depart.

“Mrs Carrero.” It’s a friendly nod and smile and it’s again followed by a chorus from the men surrounding us. All standing and showing their respect with nods and murmured goodbyes as we leave. Showing respect for his wife and then repeat it to him. It’s overwhelming to suddenly be treated as something of worth among the men who treated me as an object to be used only months ago.

“We’re leaving.” Alexi takes my hand and pulls me out of the seating area, men moving to let us out and Mico re-joins us as we reach the door. Bringing back our circle of security to flank us, and I instantly relax in this haven of black Carrero suits who are a sign that we're going, and this is done. I try to push that bitch out of my head even though a tiny hint of remorse is swirling in my brain, I remind myself she deserves it. My life or hers. It’s that simple.

I don’t turn and look back at the pitiful woman, pushing her out of my head and conscience once and for all and vow never to think of her again. Filing her with Rick and anyone else in my past whoever hurt me. They are not important anymore.

She is getting what she deserves, and I don’t doubt Santagato will exact revenge for killing his mistress before he delivers the fatal blow. She took something from him too, and it seems like he was just looking for the excuse to punish her for it. I wouldn’t want to fall into his possession to be tortured and murdered. I know how these men can be and I will, thankfully, never be on the receiving end again.