Alexander POVWatching Anya relax makes me relax. I was worried she’d want to leave early, but the food is almost ready, and it looked like she was having fun.“How did you and Viktor meet?” she asks Rosemarie.Oh, Fuck. I spoke too soon.“I kidnapped her,” Viktor mutters from the grill.Anya laughs, “Funny.” She glances at Rosemarie again. “So, how did you meet?”“No, really. Viktor kidnapped me a week before my eighteenth birthday.”Anya’s mouth drops open, then her eyes flit to Isabella. “But I thought you saved people from sex slavery?”Jesus Christ.Before I can jump in, Viktor says, “I waited until Rosemarie was twenty-one. Give me credit.”Rosemarie places her hand on Anya’s arm. “He was the perfect gentleman. He basically saved my life by kidnapping me. Then he let me go and had to save me again. Now he’s stuck with me for life.”“Oh,” the word pops from Anya, then she gives Isabella an apologetic look. “I’m sorry. The words came out before I could censor them.”“It’s okay.” I

Alexander Vittorio POVI’m still angry as fuck at that idiot who tried to make a move on my woman, then insulted her in front of me.The memory of burying two bullets in Bernie's gut and ordering Peter to let him bleed out before disposing of the body is the only thing keeping me calm.It’s been a fucking week, and Anya is taking her sweet time packing. We’ve already put Vincent to bed, and my boy is in dreamland, yet it doesn’t look like we’ll be going to bed soon.I glare at the box of linen, then mutter, “Why do you like to make me suffer?”She gives me a surprised look. “What do you mean? I haven’t done anything.”I give the box another glare. “You’re taking forever to pack. Are you doing it on purpose?”She climbs to her feet and lifts her chin. “Don’t take your foul mood out on me.”Instantly I school my face into that of a saint. “I’m sorry, moya malen'kaya lyubov'. It’s just as soon as I have you and Vincent safely in my place, I can go to the Philippines to take care of busin

Alexander Vittorio POVMy heart is beating out of my chest as I stop the G-Wagon in front of Anya’s house.“This house?” Mama asks, her eyes wide as she glances around the neighborhood.“Yes. I’ve already installed a state-of-the-art security system, and you’ll have a guard with you twenty-four-seven.”Mama pats my cheek. “You take such good care of me.”“Let’s go.”We climb out of the vehicle, and I wrap an arm around my mother’s shoulders as I walk her to the open front door, where Anya is already waiting.My woman looks nervous as fuck, and there’s fear darkening her eyes.I give her a comforting smile, and as we reach her, I switch from Russian to English. “Mama, this is Anya.”My mother stares at the woman whose supposed death broke me.“So beautiful,” Mama says. She glances at Anya up and down. “And healthy.”“Ahh…thank you.” Anya takes a cautious step closer. “It’s such a pleasure meeting you.”Mama stares at Anya until my woman gives me a panicked look.I move closer to Anya a

Rocky Ace de Luna POVMichael Cortez and Simon Portes. Those two delinquents had made a mistake. A serious mistake. As I dragged them down the dark alley, I wondered if they’d gotten that message left.About two months ago, they mugged some old lady three blocks away. They’d been lucky I wasn’t anywhere near that spot. If I were, I would have beaten the shit out of them. Then this would never have happened tonight. Aryana would have locked the place up and gone home, without worrying about a couple of assholes trying to earn their stripes.Cortez and Portes had been desperate to get into the Gregorio family. They thought they deserved to be part of a crew because they thought they were so big and bad. Yeah, right. I’m pretty damn sure I proved otherwise to them tonight. Hell, Aryana had been on the path to proving otherwise. I never thought I’d see the pretty barmaid with a shotgun in her hands, but she looked like she knew how to use it.If nothing else, she’d scared those two asshole

Craig Gomez POV Shaking off glass shards, I nodded. My hands were bleeding, but I could grip the steering wheel. The side mirror was missing, but I pulled out into the street, tearing recklessly through the intersection. “You guys okay?” I called out, my ears still ringing.“Yeah,” Montero spat. He’d been closer to the blast than us, but he’d had more room to duck behind the protection of the back seat. “What about Rocky Ace?”My heart sank as I looked over at the passenger seat. My friend had been thrown forward, his face resting on top of the dashboard. Shards of glass were lying around his head. A larger chunk had been lodged into the side of his neck. Blood was spilled out, disappearing under the collar of his white shirt.“Ace!” I shoved his shoulder, panic filled me.His groan was barely audible, but at least it reassured me that he was alive.Montero leaned forward, cussing as shards of glass cut his hands. “Rocky Ace, can you hear me?”There was another groan.“Fuck!” Montero