Page 101 of Sinful Wrath

“She seems to be slotting into the family well,” the man says.

“Yeah, I know Bianca and Zara really like her.”

“Won’t that make it a little tricky?”

“Make what tricky?”

“Aren’t you still trying to make Lucia call off the wedding? You said you don’t want to tie yourself to the mafia brat?—”

I stumble backwards, bracing my hand against the wall as his words sink in.

Mikhail wants me to call off the wedding?

The thought hits me like a ton of bricks, and I fight the urge to vomit.

I stagger back toward my room, and the moment I lock the door, my knees give out.

This doesn’t make any sense. I thought last night confirmed for both of us that we’re more than ready to commit to one another.

He said he was falling for me too…

I frown as realization dawns on me.

He said itafterme. After I confessed my feelings, he might have believed there was no chance I was going to walk away from the marriage and decided to just suck it up and tell me what I wanted to hear.

“I’m such an idiot.” I bury my face in my hands and sob.

I poured my heart out to him last night, and now he’s gone and thrown it back in my face.

Was he really hoping that I would choose to walk away?Is that why he locked me up? Did hewantme to hate him so I would turn around and call the whole thing off?

If that was his plan, then me telling him the truth about my past has only given him ammunition to use against me.

I know the best course of action is just to confront him about what I heard, but I’m not sure I can handle having him confirm it all.

The thought of being nothing more than a pawn in his game makes my chest ache so badly I can hardly breathe.

It was too good to be true.

I let myself become blinded by the affection he showed me, and never once did I question his motives. Now look where it’s gotten me.

I’ve been around guys like Mikhail my entire life. I know all too well how they sweettalk their way into a girl's panties, using pleasure as a weapon to get information out of them.

So, why should Mikhail Koslov be any different?

I should have known better.

I wipe my eyes on my sleeve, trying to calm my racing heart.

Ultimately, there is nothing I can do about it now. There is no way in hell that my father is ever going to let me walk away from this marriage.

So, regardless of how Mikhail might feel about me, this wedding is going ahead one way or another.

24

MIKHAIL

HavingKatya Petrova show up dead two days before my wedding is a real inconvenience. I was hoping I could go to Alexei with some pivotal information but instead, I have a butchered corpse on my hands.