Chapter 9 - The Devil's Bargain
I pressed the cheap plastic phone to my ear, my hands shaking violently.
"Hello?" I whispered into the receiver.
"Mara," a smooth, chilling voice answered on the other end.
"My name is Alexei Volkov, and I am the man who is going to save your life."
"I don't know you," I said, eyeing the door to make sure Dante was not returning.
"But you know your sister's fate," Alexei replied smoothly.
"Dante Russo is a butcher who burned his own wife alive because she wanted freedom."
"He is grooming you to be her perfect replacement."
Tears of pure panic blurred my vision as I looked at little Leo, sleeping so soundly.
"What do you want from me?" I demanded.
"Justice for Elena," Alexei lied beautifully.
"Leave the estate tonight through the south garden gate."
"My men will be waiting to extract you and take you back to your mother."
"But you must leave the child."
"He is Russo blood, and he must burn with his father."
My breath hitched in my throat.
Leave Leo to die.
"I can't leave a baby to be murdered," I hissed, my maternal instinct overriding my terror.
"If you bring the boy, my men will shoot you both on sight," Alexei warned, his voice losing all its charm.
"You have one hour, Mara."
"Choose."
The line went dead.
I stood in the center of the room, trapped between a man who murdered my sister and a cartel that wanted to slaughter an innocent child.
I looked at the locked door, knowing Dante was on the other side, planning a war.
If I stayed, Dante might eventually discover I knew the truth, and he would silence me too.
If I ran, I would have to walk away from the only pure thing in this cursed world.
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Leo stirred in his crib, reaching a tiny hand out in his sleep, searching for me even in his dreams.
I made my decision.
