All Chapters of HIS BUTTERFLY (BETWEEN TWO DONS): Chapter 181 - Chapter 190

Vivian POVI wondered what Nico was doing. It was a stupid thing to keep thinking about when I had no idea what time it was or whether Alexei had decided to have me dragged out of my cell again, but my mind kept going back to the last time I'd seen him, the way he had held me as if he could keep me safe just by refusing to let go. He had kissed me and promised to get me out of here, and I hated that I believed him. It wasn't that I thought he was lying, because Nico had never made a promise he wasn't prepared to keep. I believed him because I knew he would try, even if it meant walking straight into a trap and getting himself killed, and I couldn't bear the thought of that. For years I had survived by convincing myself that nobody mattered enough to hurt me, and then Nico Barbieri had walked into my life and ruined everything. Now I had someone to lose.I was sitting on the edge of the narrow bed, staring at the door, when a loud electrical crackle made me look up. The camera above th

Nico POV (Back in New York)The message arrived twenty minutes after Vivian escaped. Come alone if you want to see your woman alive. I stared at the screen and read the words a third time. Alexei had never been creative with his threats, and he didn't need to be, because he had spent years building an empire that let him make good on almost every one of them. But this time he had made a mistake. He had let Vivian go, and now he wanted me to believe I was the one with something to lose.I slipped the phone into my pocket and looked across the room at Kingston, who stood with his arms folded and a frown that told me he'd already guessed what I was planning."You're not actually going alone, are you?""That's exactly what I'm doing.""Wonderful. So we're just going to ignore the fact that the man is a psychopath with an army and a personal vendetta against you?""You're welcome to write him a strongly worded letter about it."Kingston gave me a flat look."You're a real asshole when you

Nico POVAlexei was still staring at me when I slipped my phone back into my pocket. For the first time since I had walked into that room, he looked uncertain, and I wanted him to feel it, that tiny crack in his confidence when he realized he might not be the smartest man in the room after all."You look confused, Father."His jaw tightened."What have you done?"I pulled out a chair, sat down, and crossed one leg over the other."Funny story, actually. I was wondering why my dear father was so desperate to get his hands on a journal. I mean, you've threatened people, kidnapped women, and practically started a war over a fucking book. It got me thinking."I leaned forward."What the fuck is in that journal that makes it so important?"He said nothing."Then I figured it out. The journal leads to the factory, doesn't it?"His expression changed, just a fraction, but I saw it."The biggest drug and stolen oil operation ever established between the Italian and Russian mafias. The factory

Nico POV"Now, where were we?" I asked, looking at the man who had spent years believing he could control everyone around him.Vivian stood beside me with her fingers wrapped around mine. She was covered in blood, some of it hers, and every instinct I had screamed at me to get her somewhere safe, but I knew better than to ask her to leave. Not when Alexei was standing right in front of us. His eyes moved between the two of us, and then he smiled."Do you really think you've won, Nico?"I tilted my head."You look like a man who has just lost his entire empire. What exactly do you think you have left?""More than you know."Something about his expression made me uneasy. He wasn't looking at the men surrounding him, and he wasn't even looking at the gun in my hand. He looked almost amused. Then the doors burst open."DOWN!" I shouted.Gunfire erupted from the entrance as men poured into the room, armed and ready, spreading out before my men could react. Some came through the main doors

NICO POVHer eyes searched mine, desperate for a promise I couldn't guarantee. I took her free hand."You won't face them alone. Whatever happens, you won't face any of it alone. Do you understand?"She stared at me for another moment, and I squeezed her fingers."You don't owe him another second of your life, Vivian. He doesn't get to decide what happens to you anymore."Alexei scoffed."Listen to him. He promises you the world because he thinks you're too weak to survive without him."I turned my head toward him."Shut the fuck up."He smiled at me."Still playing the hero, Nico? You really are your father's son.""Funny. I was just thinking what a waste of blood you are."Luca snorted somewhere behind us, and I ignored him. Vivian looked at Alexei for a long time. Then, slowly, she took control of the gun, and his fingers slipped away from hers. For the first time she was holding it because she wanted to, not because he'd told her to or because he'd trained her to obey, but because