Page 25 of Cruel Bratva King
I sucked in deep breaths and tried to appear calm. I wasn’t going to let her notice how conflicted and angry I was at myself.
This is nothing I can’t control.
Lilianna swiped her tongue across her lips, and I was taken back to two hours ago when I was kissing her ravenously and sucking her velvety lips like they were soft, red-velvet cakes dipped in whatever cakes were dipped in.
Her moans and screams became a memory that riled up my testosterone to a point where it couldn’t be controlled. I couldn’t hide from the truth. I wanted Lilianna more than I’d ever wanted anything or anyone.
I wasn’t mad because I couldn’t have her. I’d already made plans to make her mine come tomorrow morning. I was mad because feelings like things were mere weaknesses, according to my father. They made you vulnerable and visible, and in a world like ours, it meant you could be betrayed or killed.
“Did you hear me?” Lilianna’s yell brought me back to the present. “I’m not going to marry you.”
Fuck, it doesn’t help that she has a smart mouth.All it did was make me want to punish her in ways that would leave her trembling and screaming my name.
“The choice is not yours to make,” I said simply. “I’ve decided, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Oh, but there’s a lot I can do.” She flashed a smile at me, she intended it to be wicked, but it ended up so beautiful I almost smiled back. “I could scream that I was kidnapped, and I can refuse to say my vows.”
“You won’t try it.”
“You have no idea.”
She left me no choice but to go low. “Your friend, what’s her name again? Eva?”
Her eyes bulged, and her mouth fell open. “Don’t you ever hurt Eva.”
I wasn’t going to hurt Eva. I’d had my men keep track of her to make sure she didn’t go to the police since I took Lilianna this morning. I wasn’t a spineless coward who would hurt a woman for no reason, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t use one as bait, though. “Whether I hurt her or not is up to you.”
“Are you threatening me?”
I leaned back on the couch. “I don’t make threats, Lilianna. I give choices. Whichever one you decide is up to you.”
She held my gaze for a moment before standing up and going back upstairs without another word.
Nikolai came into the living room just as she was leaving. His gaze remained on the stairs until we could no longer hear the stomping of her feet. “Are you sure you made the right choice, brother?” He sat on the same couch Lilianna had been sitting on. “She looks like a feisty one.”
“She is.” And that was the more reason why I liked her. Her fierceness, even in the face of danger, was attractive.
“I came as soon as I heard the news that you were marrying her.” He scrunched his face in concern. “Did you forget your deal with the Italians?”
“There was no deal. They made an offer that I’m going to turn down for obvious reasons.”
Nikolai didn’t look impressed by my decision. “What do you intend to do with the Italians after? Giovanni won’t sit still when he hears.”
“He doesn’t have to because I plan on telling him myself.”
“Are you in love with her?”
“She’s carrying myrebenok.I cannot allow my child to be born as a bastard. They must have their full right as my blood.” I breathed. “Death may come for me at any time, and I must secure the child’s future before it is born.”
I also wanted Lilianna. She was pregnant, and I couldn’t bear the thought of her with a man that wasn’t me. It was only right for me to marry her and make her mine. But I wasn’t going to tell him that.
Nikolai let out a deep breath. “What do we do now?”
“Invite Giovanni for dinner. I’ll break the news to him tonight. Tell him to come with his daughter.”
Later that evening, I sat at my white marble dining table with Lilianna and the two unpleasant Italians, Giovanni and his daughter Giulia.
Neither of them knew why I’d invited them to dinner. Giovanni feasted on the roasted turkey on the table, talking a bunch of bullshit I didn’t care to listen to. Merely sitting at the table and sharing a meal with him was enough to make me lose my appetite.