Page 24 of Fallen Prince
She bristled, offended. “No, because my father’s ties to the Bratva don’t exist. I have the evidence from the casefiles of your family’s crimes. There’s absolutely nothing in there about Bratva involvement. If I can just show you the truth, then—”
“Are you fucking serious?” I cut her off, furious at her for recklessly endangering herself.
She straightened her spine and met my rage head-on, her peridot eyes sparking with her own anger. She was fierce but so small in my shadow. Did she really not have any idea how fucking breakable she was?
“Yes, I’m serious.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a flash drive. “This is the evidence my father brought against your family at trial ten yearsago. They might’ve told you a different version of history, but this is proof. They aren’t at all innocent, Max. The Bratva had nothing to do with them being sent to jail.”
I snatched the drive from her hand and flung it down on the pavement. A soft sound of protest left her throat when I crushed it beneath my boot.
“I know my family is guilty,” I seethed. “You’ve wasted your time, and you put yourself at risk for nothing. I don’t give a shit about their crimes; don’t you get that? I care about the scumbag crap that your father pulled. I care that he’s the fucking beloved mayor of New York, when his hands are every bit as bloody as my father’s. I’m not naïve like you, Bambi.” I spat the insult in a harsh rebuke. Maybe if I was an asshole, she’d let go of this pitying crap and see reason. “I know how the world really works. People aren’t good. They aren’t kind. You live in a gilded fantasy, and if that’s where you want to stay in perfect ignorance, that’s fine with me. But stop coming to me with your bullshit. I’ve warned you about this already.”
Her freckled cheeks colored to a deep red flush by the time I finished. To my shock, she stepped toward me and lifted her face to mine, getting right in my personal space.
A low growl left my chest as the heat inside me flared into an inferno. Her lush lips were so close to mine, and her scent infused my senses—sweet and delicate, just like her. All I had to do was lower my face mere inches, and I could capture her mouth. I could tame that sharp tongue. I could hold her close and make her melt, until she didn’t have a thought in her pretty head, much less thoughts about defying me.
She let out a little warning growl of her own. “I’m not going to allow you to continue this insane vendetta against my father. If you think for one second that I’ll leave him vulnerable to your threats, then you’re the naïve one. And stop calling me Bambi.”
Her chest rose and fell on rapid breaths, and tantalizing images of her panting beneath me filled my mind. I could make her gasp. I could make her beg.
I could make her forget all about everything but me, and she wouldn’t think to put herself in danger as long as I had her in my arms.
I came to my senses and snapped my scowl back into place. That fantasy had become far too familiar and far too tempting. There was no way beautiful, innocent Alexandra would ever welcome me into herbed. I was deluding and distracting myself from what was really important: keeping her safe.
I’d been the one to pull her into this mess, and it was on me to protect her, no matter how ludicrous that concept was. Even if that meant protecting her from herself.
She was doing all of this out of loyalty to her father. She wanted to convince me to drop my vendetta against him because she believed I would hurt him.
I respected her for that loyalty. And I recognized the fierce determination that came along with it. She wouldn’t drop this until she felt that her father was safe from harm.
I would have to risk honesty.
“Since you don’t seem to care about your own safety, I’ll level with you. I’m not going to attack your father.” My reluctant admission was so rough that the words sounded like I forced them through a mouthful of barbed wire. “I want leverage against him. I want him to know that I have evidence of what he really is, and that I won’t hesitate to use it against him if he ever tries to come after my family again. That’s why I questioned you in the first place. I thought you could give me testimony that I could hold over his head. I was never going to hurt you.And I only threatened your father to keep you from going to the cops.
“If I’d known I would have to be your damn babysitter, I never would’ve approached you in the first place.” I raked a hand through my hair, frustrated.
I expected her to recoil at my last remark, incensed at the insult. Instead, her expression softened.
“Does your family know about what you’re doing?” she asked, her tone dropping to a gentler cadence. “Do they know that you’re going after my dad?”
When her gaze flicked to the ruined flesh around my eye, I realized that I’d forgotten to hide the worst of the damage to my face. I quickly mussed my hair so that it fell over my brow once again. I’d already shown far too much vulnerability around her. She was hammering against my defenses with her confounding mixture of soft concern and fierce defiance.
I’d never dealt with anyone like her, and I didn’t know how to be around her. She put me off-balance in a way I’d never experienced before.
It only made me want her that much more.
My jaw ticked. I shouldn’t want her at all. She was an impossibility.
“They know what your father is guilty of,” I rumbled. “They know that he worked with the Russians to destroy us.”
She eyed me carefully, as though I was a cornered beast that might snap at her if she pressed me too hard. “Why are you doing this for them? I get that you think you’re protecting them, but your sister was so cruel to you. Are you really willing to risk going to jail by continuing this plot against my dad? My father has no reason to investigate your family now. There is no threat. So why are you putting yourself at risk for Francesca? Are you close with your parents? Because if you are, I’m sure they wouldn’t want you to jeopardize your freedom.”
Her words hit my chest like physical blows, and I rocked back on my heels. “You don’t know the first thing about my father. Yeah, my sister is a piece of work, and you got a glimpse at her lovely personality today, thanks to your recklessness. Family is more than hugs and coddling. Sometimes love is hard, but blood is everything.” I repeated the harsh promise that’d been drilled into me since birth.
She didn’t understand how the world worked,but she did understand familial duty. Her loyalty to her father proved as much.
“What about your mother?” she asked, still confoundingly soft and concerned. “Do you think she would want you to risk yourself for this plot against my dad?”
My fury was doused by the distant memory of my mother’s cries for mercy, and my heart was suddenly encased in ice. “I wouldn’t know.” My voice came out flat and cold. “She’s dead. She died when I was thirteen. My dad went to prison around the same time, and Francesca had to serve as my legal guardian for five years. She was barely more than a kid herself. Just because my family is fucked up doesn’t change the fact that they’re my blood.”
