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

Sasha stood from the table and reached his wife, Branka, in a few short steps, engulfing her into his bulky embrace. The guy was built from stone. I truly believed he missed his calling. He should have been an MMA fighter.

“So, are you two going to get married?” Sasha asked casually.

I glanced around, curious who he was talking to when I noted everyone’s eyes were on me.

“Leave her alone, Sasha,” said Aurora, coming to my aid. “You’re turning into a gossiping old hag.”

He grinned. “At least I’m a hot hag.”

“Keep telling yourself that,” Lara muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, and laughter filled the room.

“I must say, I’m curious myself,” Royce chimed in.

Kingston and I shared a look. “When we find Liana.”

“When we find Liana,” I repeated.

I wasn’t alone anymore. I had a family—a very big one—but until we found Liana, our lives wouldn’t be complete.

So we’d wait. Together.

I tucked Lara in, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

She admitted she was too old to be tucked in, but some days, she needed that reassurance. We all did, and I saw no harm in it.

“You’ll be careful, right?” she asked, her voice full of trepidation.

“Always,” I promised. “Kingston’s bringing a knife and a handgun. I’ll have a gun too.”

“What if you⁠—”

“Shhh.” I pressed my finger against her lips. “Nothing will happen to us. And I’ll send you a message every hour.” I glanced at her nightstand. “Your phone’s charged up?”

She nodded, her tension slowly easing.

“You look pretty,” she said as I stood up. “Kingston won’t be able to keep his eyes off you.”

I chuckled. “Thank you for helping me pick the perfect outfit.”

Blowing her one last kiss, I made it out of the room and closed the door softly behind me. But instead of heading to the study where Kingston was, I made my way down to the basement.

It was my first visit since we’d been back, and I had spent the last few hours mentally preparing myself for this confrontation.

I made my way into the dungeon alone, my steps soundless against the hundred-year-old stone. Maybe it was my glutton-for-punishment tendencies or a fruitless hope to extract more information that would help me find my sister sooner.

“I need to see Sofia,” I said, giving the two guards stationed outside my mother’s cell a tight smile. The guys exchanged hesitant looks before I added, “Either open the door or step aside.”

One of them nodded while the other opened the door and I slipped inside, holding the hem of my pink bohemian dress off the ground. My gun holster strapped around my thigh played peekaboo—some habits were hard to break—as I made my way deeper into the dark space.

My eyes slowly adjusted as the dark, cold, and destitute dungeon came into view. Just like the one from my nightmares. Just like the one from Kingston’s. Except this time, Sofia Volkov was the one chained to the wall.

Without her fur coat and expensive clothes, she looked harmless. Like another victim suffering the wrath of evil men. Except she was the evil here, confined to a room where she could do no harm.

I came to a stop a few feet from her, locking my eyes with her, every memory of my torture coming to the forefront of my mind. I’d come to terms that it’d be something that would remain with me for the rest of my life.

“Hello, Liana.”

“It’s Louisa,” I corrected her. A vein in her temple pulsed in response, but she remained silent. I was doing this for my twin. For my man. For our future children. “Hello, Sofia.”

Her lip curled with a sneer, but her rejection no longer hurt. There was no love lost between this woman and me. That ship had sailed a long time ago.

“You’ve finally found your bravery.” There was a hint of pride in her voice, and I fucking hated it. I never wanted to be anything she wanted, because that meant I’d ventured to the wrong side.

“We’re scouring through your Marabella Agreements,” I stated casually.

She scoffed. “You won’t find anything about your sister in those.”

“Why are you so sure?”

“Because I’ve already gone through them.”

I didn’t think she was lying. “Well, we need to find those other victims too. We’re going to save them all.”

Behind me, the door opened and her eyes darted over my shoulder. I didn’t need to turn around to see who it was. I could feel Kingston’s eyes on my back as he moved to come stand behind me.

His hand came to rest on my lower back, lending support and strength. He always knew what to do, and I loved him even more for it. I leaned into him, a calm strength washing over me. He was the reason for my sanity, for my life, for my healing.

I’d be all that and more for my sister once we found her.

“I want to know all the theories you’ve come up with relating to Liana,” I stated calmly.

When she remained silent, I asked, “The video? The one that you’ve shown me for years while”—I swallowed hard—“torturing me.” There was no mistaking what she was doing to me. “Who was it?”

Yes, it was photoshopped according to Santiago Tijuana, but someone had to have endured that to be used for the video.

She shrugged. “Some girl.”