Reign of a Billionaire : A Dark Mafia Enemies-to-Lovers Romance

Something had bothered me about this whole situation. It lacked any logic. Why would Sofia have orchestrated this whole thing?

And now, this random girl turned up beaten and confused, claiming her name was Louisa.

It was all connected. The question of how remained.

When we got back to the house, I barely spared Dr. Freud a glance when I said, “Your ride home’s waiting. Send me the bill.”

I lifted Louisa by the hips and sat down with her on my lap as Dr. Freud hightailed it out of there. She turned out to be very useful, although I wished she’d been able to offer me a way to spare Lou from it all. She kept staring at me as if she’d seen a ghost.

“Tell me how I can help,” I murmured, brushing my nose against hers.

“I’m Louisa?” She was still shellshocked, her eyes twitching and her mouth turned down in a frown. “You’re not going to break my wrist?”

I clenched my jaw so hard my molars almost shattered. That bitch must have forced all Lou’s old habits out of her.

Inhaling a calming breath, I forced a smile on before I said, “No. Nobody will ever hurt you again.” Her forehead came to rest against mine, her breathing shallow. “Take your time. Breathe. Everything else will come.”

“How could I forget?” she whispered. “How could I forget you?” She swallowed hard. “Me? Us?”

I stayed silent for a moment, thinking of the best way to answer. Maybe I should have kept Dr. Freud on for a bit longer, but now that Lou was back, I didn’t want any witnesses to our reunion.

“It was probably a combination of Sofia’s torture and your mind’s coping mechanisms.”

“Am I crazy?” Her voice trembled.

“No, sunshine. You’re not crazy.” My grip around her waist tightened. “You’re a survivor. You’re the strongest woman I know. Hell, one of the strongest human beings period.”

“I feel like I’m losing it,” she whispered. “I don’t know what’s true and what isn’t. It’s insanity.”

“Then you ask me, and we’ll figure it out together.”

“Together,” she repeated softly, as if tasting the word on her lips.

“Yes, together.”

She shifted, her golden-brown eyes on me. “How did you survive?” She blinked several times. “I remember… the torture. Yours. Mine. I thought you died, and I wanted to die too.”

“Alexei saved me.” I took her chin between my fingers. “I thought you died. I touched you and…” Fuck, my voice cracked. “I passed out, and when I woke up, you were gone.”

“Sofia played us.”

My jaw clenched.

“She did.” She shuddered, goosebumps visible on her skin. I ran a hand down her arm, then wrapped her in a hug. “But she’ll never get to you again,” I vowed.

“You… We always wanted this, didn’t we?” Her voice was muffled against my neck. “The beach and the sun… just the two of us. True?”

I rubbed my hand over her back soothingly.

“True.”

“Did… did we… You were my first and I was yours?” A light blush crept up her cheek. Her fair skin always betrayed her, and those eyes… Fuck, I should have known. Lou’s eyes were always the windows to her soul.

This time, when a memory came, I welcomed it. I watched it happen and let myself remember it with everything I had. It was eight years ago, when we’d been able to sneak away after trying for so many months. She stood there in the abandoned hallway, under the blanket of darkness, her golden locks lighting my world.

Leaning against the stone wall, my arms folded over my chest and my breaths fogging the air, I watched as she danced across the floor, lost in her own little world. It terrified me that one day one of Ivan’s men would sneak up on her and hurt her, so I’d made it my mission to train her to be vigilant.

Lou was sometimes too focused on one thing, oblivious to her surroundings, but we’d been working on it. She was getting better each day.

The oil lamp flickered, throwing shadows over me, and she finally spotted me.

My chest stirred, the same way it did every time I saw her. The girl had me wrapped around her little finger.

“Happy birthday, sunshine.” Her smile lit up the dark and cold hallway. “Shouldn’t you be in bed?”