Dragusha Revenge ✓Completed✓

Mira

HE'S NOT that sweet boy anymore-I know that. He's no longer my friend. But he held me as I cried-that was real. The way he told me about his burn felt like a secret just for me. And the way we felt together-sexually-I've never experienced anything like it. I shouldn't care about him.

He's the last man I should feel anything for. I refuse to believe he'll cut off my finger. God, he can't-the shock of seeing my finger could kill Dad-for real. Aleksio doesn't know it, and I can't tell him, but Dad gets violently ill at the sight of blood. And that's the kind of shock that's dangerous to his heart. Nobody knows about Dad's aversion to blood. It's a secret he guards even from his closest associates. A secret he asked Mom and me never to divulge. A mafioso can't have an aversion to blood-no way. It makes him look weak in the world of the Albanian clans, and it's especially bad for the supposedly fierce leader of the vicious Black Lion clan. My guess is that he's been around blood plenty of times in his life, but that he never looks directly at it-he pretends. That's how he hides it. But if he opens a box with my bloody finger in it?

The shock would be too much for his heart. The shock would kill him. But the film clip could kill him, too. No-we'll find the key code. It's out there somewhere. Their guy tracked down the director already. Nobody can see that clip. Except maybe me..

What would it be like to watch us like that? I flash on the way he looked down at me when I had him in my mouth, like I was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. Like we were connected in this crazy, wrong way. Aleksio, sitting over me in all his brutal glory, my sweet friend Aleksio grown into a dangerous man. Moving up Aleksio's legs felt wrong and good. I liked that I had no choice. It made it hotter. How twisted is that? All my life I've been trying to get out from under the thumb of men like him, and suddenly I'm crawling up his legs, begging to be used. But that's the thing about having no choice-you do it no matter what. You do it if you hate it, and you do it if it's a twisted thing you find out that you enjoy.

It took me by surprise when he grabbed my hair, taking control so violently. My whole body came to attention. His cock tasted of man and secrets and everything forbidden. All I wanted was for him to push me harder, and he did. God, the way he talked to me. The names. The intensity of his breath. The way we spun out of control. His roughness a forbidden gift. Aleksio always went too far.

The roughness felt...familiar. I know you, I thought. And then he turned it into something ugly with the camera and the gun I sigh and twirl my fork. He doesn't have his suit jacket on; just a loose tie over his white button-down shirt. All that white in contrast with his chocolaty hair that's a little too long. He went on a run earlier, and he apparently shaved after; his cheeks are smooth and clear, making him look deceptively innocent. Angelic. "We're showing it to him as soon as he wakes up."

"It'll kill him." He stabs his fork into the greens. "You should pray we find the key, then." "It's just a matter of time." He cuts a bit of frittata and holds it up, examining it. "How does a spoiled princess who does international shopping as an extreme sport know about anatomization keys or whatever?"

My pulse races. Aleksio is exactly the kind of person we don't want knowing about my real life. I shrug. "Are you telling me you never picked up any useless information in life?" If he realizes I'm answering a question with a question, he doesn't show it. I take another bite of the best meal I've eaten all year, not that Aleksio seems to care. Little Vik comes out. Whatever he has to say, it's bad. Aleksio sees it, too. "What?" He shakes his head. Aleksio stands and pulls his brother away. I sense trouble, chaos. Doors slam inside the house. Guys moving out. I stare at Aleksio's phone, still on the table. His phone. I look from Aleksio and Viktor to the phone and back to Aleksio. I could grab it and delete the video... this is my chance.

He may have backed it up, but I have a feeling he didn't, considering how busy he's been. He'll be angry. And it's a gamble, but I don't believe Aleksio will take my finger in the end. I won't believe it. I snatch the phone. I find the file, hit delete, confirm delete. Just like that it's gone. I set it back down and pick up my fork. Aleksio comes back and grabs his phone and suit jacket. He swings it on and fixes his shirt cuffs. Blood whooshes in my ears. I hope I made the right choice.

"What's going on Ligne is dead." My jaw drops. "Frankie? Frankie Ligne?" Aleksio nods. "Are you sure?" "Most certainly dead, yes," Viktor says. "He's just a sweet old man. Why would you-" "We didn't kill him," Viktor spits. "Who?" "Bloody Lazarus," he growls. "Why would Lazarus kill somebody from his own organization? My father's confidant..."

Viktor gives me a jaded look. Like, really? Two of the Russians come out, all suited up and holstered. It can't be true. "Lazarus wouldn't kill Ligne. They're on the same side." "Take it up with the witnesses Viktor rounded up," Aleksio says. "In other news, we got the key to the code." "We can read the files now?" "Yeah," he says. "If we had the right files. The illegal adoptions were hidden in the basement in the maintenance record files."

"That whole raid and you took the wrong files?" Tito comes out, Glock in hand Wait! What are you doing? You're not going back to the Worland..." "Until Daddy wakes up, it's what we have." Of course. He'll do anything to find his brother, and when he does, he'll love him barbarically and unconditionally. Aleksio's love is the dangerous kind of love that breaks all the rules. It's him killing and kidnapping as he goes after his brother. It's him pulling my hair and shoving his cock in my mouth. I shouldn't think it's beautiful. He turns and leaves with his guys, through the patio door, through the house. The front door slams. Car doors slam. I stand there alone, stupidly wistful.