Page 132 of Savage Roses
As others chatted and drank in the clubhouse,Solnishkoand I were often sneaking away, enjoying each other’s company. We disappeared to corners engulfed in shadows and private rooms with sturdy locks. We placed quiet, whispered phone calls when possible and traded secret love letters.
In months, we fell in love. Perhaps fast, yet truly real.
No woman brightened my careful, composed life of espionage and sabotage like Stefania. We were different in many ways, though that was no issue as we found fascination in each other.
But it was something that could never be. No amount of love and passion could sustain a forbidden romance flourishing in the dark—Stefania was to be married off.
Tomoy mladshiy brat. To Alek.
Lucius Mancino.
A man who hated her. He spent thousands of dollars winning her over, buying sparkling jewels and paying string quartets to play music for her. None of these things were from true feelings, just flashy gestures to appear that way.
Stefania saw what he was and begged Leandro to choose another suitor.
I almost interfered. I almost interrupted at the wedding—I would reveal the secret I knew. Lucius’s true identity, his scheming and lying to get to where he was.
Half Russian, all fraud with a fake identity.
It was revealed she was several months pregnant not very long after they married. A controversial revelation if timelines are to be observed.
Moy bratforbade that topic of discussion from taking place.
I have had to learn to let her go. The hardest thing I have ever done.
More than ten years later, it still pains me to say I said goodbye for no other reason thanmoy bratdesired to rise to power. I gave him what he wanted at the price of what I wanted. At what was best for Stefania.
But what other option was there?
I was not powerful enough to fight him. Leandro had not yet discovered his deceit. I had no means to save her, or destroy him—not yet. When Lena and I devised our plan that fateful night, that was our hope.
We could destroymoy bratand in turn, free Stefania (and Lena from servitude). Unfortunately, Leandro punished Lucius greatly… and then suffered his revenge only a few days later.
Our plan backfired.
Lucius,moy brat, became more powerful than possibly imagined.
And I have disappeared into anonymity. Lena into worse servitude than we anticipated, a product of the Neptune Society, sold at their whim.
Ernest Adams was supposed to salvage our efforts. But he was a coward like the rest.
As am I.
I glance over my shoulder at the unfamiliar faces on the street and hold my breath whenever starting the engine of my car. Years have gone by since the last night I slept soundly… without waking at different times to check the locks on the door.
That is because I have slowly become someone who has accepted defeat. A man who has decided to give up his life so his younger brother can thrive in a life that is not his own.
There is no alternative; he is too powerful.
My fingers fumble with the keys to my rat-infested apartment. The small space has water stains on the ceiling and cracks on the wall. It’s located in the worst part of Old Northam and often gunshots can be heard late at night, but it is the only place I can afford on my meager earnings. No more am I a lucrative businessman cutting deals for rich and powerful mafia bosses.
The door to my shithole apartment creaks open and I enter to the fumes of a burning cigar.
My apartment is so small and meager that one cigarette or cigar can fill up the atmosphere with smoke. I have no air conditioning. No ceiling fan. My only windows are in my bedroom and kitchen—both with prison cell bars.
The smoke hazes in the air, disguising the man responsible behind its thick cloud. However, his large, round outline reveals enough.
“Moy brat,” I say plainly. I pull off my coat and set down my keys and hat. “I did not expect a family reunion out of the blue.”