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Chapter 4

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It was two in the morning on Thirteenth Street in Brooklyn.

I dropped my tool bag beside a 24-hour hot dog stand and ordered a hot dog and a black coffee.

Acid burned in my stomach. It had been happening more often lately.

I took a bite of the cheap hot dog, but it was dry and hard to swallow.

A Maybach pulled up to the curb.

Vincent got out. He wasn't wearing his jacket, just a white dress shirt.

He walked over, stopped beside me, and lit a cigar.

The silver lighter in his hand was the one I'd given him years ago. An "S" was scratched into the metal.

I'd carved it there with the tip of my knife back when we were still hiding in that basement.

He'd ruined my life, yet here he was, still pretending to be the devoted lover.

"You've punished me enough." His voice was rough. "You've suffered these past few months. It's too dangerous out here. Come home with me."

I took a sip of coffee, trying to settle my stomach.

"Since when does the Don eat hot dogs from a street stand?"

I stared down at my paper cup.

"Stay out too late, and your wife might start wondering where you are."

Vincent stubbed out the cigar.

"I've never touched her. She's just for show." There was an almost desperate edge to his voice. "Selina, I wait for you at the safe house every day. I can't sleep without you."

He reached out to touch me.

My stomach turned.

"Spare me the devoted-lover act, Mr. Moretti." I tossed the rest of my hot dog into the trash.

"You just want a killing machine with no weaknesses—one that does whatever it's told. Well, I quit. Now get out of my way."

I picked up my bag and turned to leave.

"How much longer do you think you can hold out?"

Vincent grabbed my wrist hard enough to hurt and tried to drag me toward the car.

"All of New York is under my control. I'm taking you with me tonight."

"Let go." My hand slid toward the gun tucked into the back of my waistband.

Then engines roared at the end of the street.

Four armored Escalades tore down the road and boxed in Vincent's Maybach.

The doors flew open.

About a dozen men in black tactical vests jumped out, each with a double-headed eagle on his chest. They quickly sealed off the street, submachine guns in hand.

Vincent froze.

The rear door of the middle SUV opened. A pair of combat boots stepped straight into a puddle.

A tall man in a tailored black coat climbed out without an umbrella. Rain streamed over the sharp angles of his face.

Nikolai Volkov. Head of the Russian Bratva.

He ignored the armed men around us. He paid no attention to Vincent or the gun Vincent held. His eyes were fixed on me.

Nikolai walked straight over and stopped in front of me. His gaze swept over my rain-soaked hair before shifting to Vincent.

Then he looked back at me.

"Wifey, is he bothering you?"
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  • The Don Betrayed Me, So I Chose His Rival   Chapter 10

    Five months later.I was living at Nikolai's estate in Westchester County, just north of New York City.Heavy snow blanketed the grounds.Dozens of guards patrolled the estate through the storm, Caucasian Shepherds at their sides.A fire crackled in the study, keeping out the bitter cold.I sat behind the large mahogany desk, reviewing an arms deal the Bratva had just closed in Europe.My baby bump was clearly visible beneath my loose cashmere sweater, and I moved much more slowly these days.My body felt heavy, but my mind was sharp.I liked having power of my own.It was far more reliable than depending on any man to give me what I needed.Nikolai walked in.He'd just returned from an East Coast underworld council, bringing the winter cold in with him.He stood by the fire until he'd warmed up, then came over to the desk.He took the pen from my hand and closed the folder in front of me."The doctor says you need to rest. Too many numbers will give you a headache."He stepped behind

  • The Don Betrayed Me, So I Chose His Rival   Chapter 9

    A week later, I was at a private hospital in Brooklyn.The entire hospital had been bought out, and armed Russian guards stood at both ends of the hall.I'd changed out of my bloodstained clothes. Fresh bandages covered my shoulder and shin.The ultrasound showed that the baby was unharmed.Ivan came by with an update."He's awake. The doctor says the bullet tore through his intestines. He'll live, but the damage is permanent. He'll need lifelong nutritional support."Ivan glanced at me."He says he wants to see you one last time."I didn't want to, but Vincent had taken a bullet for me.I decided to see him once, say what needed to be said, and end things for good.I opened the door to his room.The smell of disinfectant hit me immediately.Vincent lay in the bed.He was so thin I barely recognized him. His face was gray, and tubes ran in and out of his body.The once-proud, untouchable Don couldn't even sit up by himself anymore.The family had finished its purge.Everything Vincent

  • The Don Betrayed Me, So I Chose His Rival   Chapter 8

    The cartel gunmen didn't even have time to raise their weapons.A hail of bullets tore through them, spraying blood across the peeling walls.Nikolai stepped out of the armored SUV, a compact assault rifle in his hands. Smoke still curled from the barrel.A fully armed Bratva strike team poured in behind him and blocked every exit.At almost the same time, the back door burst open.Vincent charged in with the few men he had left.Mud covered his face, and his suit was torn to shreds.The moment the shooting started, Bianca wrapped an arm around my throat.She jammed the revolver against my temple and dragged me in front of her as a shield."Back! All of you, stay back!"Her voice cracked with panic. "Come any closer, and I'll kill her!"Every gun in the room turned toward Bianca.Nikolai kept walking.He stepped over the bodies without a word, his eyes locked on her.His expression was ice-cold. He looked at Bianca like she was already dead."Stay back! I'll shoot—I mean it!" Bianca wa

  • The Don Betrayed Me, So I Chose His Rival   Chapter 7

    For the past two weeks, I'd been getting tired more easily.Even the smell of cigar smoke made my stomach turn.So I drove alone to an underground clinic in Queens.The blood test didn't take long.The elderly doctor slid the results across the desk."You're eight weeks pregnant."I stared at the words.For a few seconds, my mind went completely blank. My hand drifted to my flat stomach.I'd killed more people than I could count. My hands had been covered in blood for years.I'd never imagined someone like me could carry a new life.Part of me was scared. But beneath the fear was something stronger—an excitement I couldn't put into words.The doctor looked at my scars."You've suffered too many injuries in the past. This is a high-risk pregnancy. No more knives, no more guns."I looked at the tiny shape on the ultrasound.Nikolai's child.I carefully folded the ultrasound printout and slipped it into an inner pocket.By the time I left the clinic, it was already dark.Two streetlights

  • The Don Betrayed Me, So I Chose His Rival   Chapter 6

    I was at an exclusive indoor golf club in Midtown Manhattan.It was the Bratva's main money-laundering hub, guarded by two heavily armed Russians at the entrance.I sat behind the desk in the third-floor office, going over last month's accounts.Two weeks had passed since that rainy night on Thirteenth Street. Most of my wounds had healed. Only my ribs still ached.Then something slammed into the wall outside. A second later, the mahogany office door flew open.Vincent stormed in.My pen froze above the page.My life had finally started to settle down, and here he was causing trouble again.Seeing him this angry and desperate only annoyed me.The man really had no idea what boundaries were.Several battered Italian men followed him inside, while Nikolai's guards kept their submachine guns trained on them.I didn't even look up. I calmly finished signing the statement.Ivan Petrov's cold voice came from the doorway. "Let her finish signing."The guards obeyed and stepped back into the h

  • The Don Betrayed Me, So I Chose His Rival   Chapter 5

    Nikolai's words brought the whole street to a standstill.Vincent tightened his grip on his gun. The cut I'd made earlier was still bleeding, blood trickling between his fingers."Nikolai, this is Moretti family business."Vincent glared at him."Let her go. She's mine."Nikolai ignored him.He took off his black coat and draped it over my soaked shoulders.The heavy fabric wrapped around my shivering body, carrying the faint scent of fir.Warmth slowly returned to my frozen skin.For once, I let myself enjoy it. I didn't push him away.Nikolai slipped a leather-gloved arm around me and pulled me against him.Vincent immediately raised his gun.Click.A dozen Russians chambered rounds in their assault rifles at once.Red laser dots covered Vincent's chest and forehead.If he pulled that trigger, he and his Maybach would be torn apart in seconds."Yours?"Nikolai finally turned to him. He looked at Vincent like he was a joke."You Italians only know how to keep a hound on a chain. She's

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