Savage Sinner: An Enemies To Lovers Russian - Italian Dark Mafia Romance (Sinfully Savage Mafia)

“I’m the guy who always makes sure the people I care about are safe,” he says. “And I’ll do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

“Good work ethic,” I murmur with a smile.

“It’s complicated.”

“Isn’t it always?” I muse.

“More complicated than you think.” He averts his now-troubled gaze and scrubs a hand down the front of his face. “Family means everything to me. And I let down a family member once. I can’t do it again. I won’t.” He looks back at me. “I guess I’ve been trying to prove that to myself and everyone else ever since.”

“What happened?”

“I was watching over my younger cousin, Emilia, while her brother was out getting caught up with the wrong fucking crowd. He was a troublemaker and he managed to get on the radar of some really bad guys. So after I’d fallen asleep, she sneaked out and went after him because she was worried. They were both killed. But what they did to her before that…” His voice trails off and he shakes his head. “Brutal. Fucking animalistic.”

“That’s terrible,” I whisper. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s why I take my responsibilities to my family so seriously. I feel like I owe them…all of them. So whenever someone who can hurt any of them crosses my path, I handle it.”

Shit, we really are the same.

“My brother is dead,” I blurt out.

Dante’s eyebrows furrow. “I thought you said—”

I shake my head, tears springing to my eyes. “He was killed. Shot to death. I was with him but out of sight. He was my best friend,” I swipe at my eyes.

“Shit, Anya. I’m sorry,” he says, pulling me into his chest.

“I only have my uncle now,” I whisper. “And it’s so hard knowing I’m pretty much on my own.”

“How are things with your uncle?”

“He’s an ass,” I say with a sniffle. “But he’s all I have left.”

Dante shakes his head. “No, he’s not. You’ve got a new life out here. You can write your own ticket.”

I let out a dry laugh. “Like you said before, it’s complicated. But I just don’t…” I swallow hard. “I don’t want that life anymore. I want to start over.”

“Isn’t that why you’re here?”

I blink fast, the real reason for my stay in Vegas breaking through the cloud of bliss, comfort, and ripped muscle currently cocooning me. “Yeah,” I say softly. “It is.”

“So you don’t have to go back to it. You can make that choice.” He smiles. “Isn’t that what life’s all about?”

“I just know I’ve made a lot of bad ones,” I say. “I want to start making good ones.”

“Me too,” he murmurs, stroking the back of my head. “Starting now.”

I pull away and look up at him. “Is this totally insane?” I say it more to myself than to him. But really, it’s a rhetorical question. I already know the answer.

“Completely,” he says, a smirk tugging at his lips. “But I’m all in.” He lifts an eyebrow. “You?”

So many thoughts loop through my mind in that instant. My uncle has expectations of me. He’s done so much and never loses a chance to rub it in my face. I have obligations to him and to my brother, and my livelihood will hang in the balance if I walk away. Uncle Boris has already promised me that.

Can I just disappear and start over?

Will I be able to pull myself out of his death grip on me?

I have to try.

No, I have to succeed.

I used to think finding my brother’s killers would make me whole.

But killing in cold blood only makes me feel more and more empty, a broken shell of who I used to be.

I’m tired of being manipulated by him, of him calling all the shots because I’m afraid of the repercussions, because I feel guilty about him stepping in to take care of us.

I mean, I’ve been out here flying blind with no direction from him at all, and the reality is, he’s just driven by money promised from this illusory ‘contact’.

I’ve trusted him and he’s taken advantage of that trust for years. For all I know, this job he sent me to do has nothing to do with Maks, and everything to do with my uncle’s plans to reinvent himself for the bratva.

It wasn’t until he called off my reconnaissance that the thought even entered my mind.

But now that it’s there, it festers like a sore that just won’t heal.

I really want to make the good choices. I have to reclaim my life.

And it’s going to start tonight.

I glance at the clock.

More specifically, in a couple of hours.

A smile spreads across my face and I lean toward Dante’s face, grazing his lips with my own. “Yeah, me too.”

He flashes a knowing grin. “So you wanna go again? To seal the deal?”

I clutch my belly, the butterflies fluttering fast and furious now. “I’d love more but I have to go.”

“Go? What do you mean? I thought Heaven gave you the night off.”

“She did, but I’m meeting my uncle for dinner. He just flew into town today and he also wants to check out UNLV, so…” My voice trails off, mainly because my throat tightens, choking me with all of the lies. “He’s an ass but I guess he’s making an effort by coming out here.” Not like I can tell him the truth.

Yet, anyway.

Once I walk away for good, I’ll come clean with everything because these lies are slowly and torturously choking the life out of me.