Azira
Bly moves suddenly and grabs a gun from a holster attached to his belt, pointing it at Massimo’s head, and all the blood drains from my body.
In that moment, I realize I could lose my entire world in the blink of an eye. My brother and the man I love. If Bly killed Massimo, his men would soon shoot him dead, leaving me with nothing but emptiness.
I’ve never seen my brother defeated so easily in combat, but Bly is some kind of martial arts expert or something. He danced around my brother as if he was totally inexperienced, but Massimo has always been a good fighter. Blood runs down my brother’s face, as I’m pretty sure Bly broke his nose.
“Blaine, please don’t,” I plead.
Massimo may try to force me to marry someone I could never love when I’ve fallen hard for someone else, but I’d never want him dead. I love my brother, despite everything.
Bly looks at me with a madness that scares me as I approach him. “He’s my brother. I can’t lose him.”
He bares his teeth like an animal. “The son of a bitch tried to tear us apart.”
I place my hand on his arm, trying to get through to him. “He did, but he’s my family. My blood.” I realize at that moment that Blaine can’t understand that because he doesn’t have a family like mine. “I won’t forgive you if you harm him.”
Massimo spits out blood. “Save it, Azira. He’s a psychopath. That’s the kind of man you want to be with.”
My chest hitches as I glance between the two of them. “He’s not a psychopath. He’s the man I love, and you are going to have to accept that.”
Bly tenses at the declaration that I love him and it’s not exactly how I wanted to tell him, but it just slipped out.
“You’ve known the rules since you were a little girl, Azira.” Massimo straightens, blood still spilling from his nose. “Marrying a man of your choice was never an option for you.”
Bly pushes the gun harder against his head. “Make it a fucking option, asshole.”
I yank at his shirt. “Let’s all cool down and discuss this like adults.”
His beautiful hazel eyes are blazing with a purpose I’ve never seen before. “This isn’t a discussion. He will call of your wedding and announce that we’re together. Simple.”
It feels like my heart is going to explode, as I never believed Bly would want to be with me long term. “Are you sure?”
He nods, glancing back at Massimo. “So what do you say, Sidorov?”
Leo is on edge, his finger on the trigger of his gun as his hand shakes. “Don’t give in to him. I’ll shoot him dead.”
“If you shoot me, your brother dies before your bullet hits me.” Blaine doesn’t even look at Leo. “And I am confident I can move out of the way of your bullet.” He glances briefly at Leo. “And then you will be Don. Are you ready for that, Leo?”
Leo’s throat bobs as his eyes dart between Bly and Massimo, and then he lowers his gun. “Fuck.” There’s no way he’s ready to take charge, but I wonder if he would really kill my brother after I begged him not to.
“So, what do you say, Massimo?”
Massimo glares at him with a hatred I’ve never seen before in his eyes. “I say you are a fucking asshole.” He nods. “But I’ll call off the wedding.”
“Good.” He digs his free hand into his pocket without taking his eyes off of my brother. “I’ll need you to sign this legally binding contract.”
My brother’s mouth falls open as he stares at the contract. “You really have covered all your bases, haven’t you?”
“I’m no amateur.”
“You’re a professor. Who were you before?”
Blaine shrugs. “That’s for me to know and you to contemplate.”
Massimo snatches the contract out of his hand and walks toward a rotten wooden table. “Got a pen?”
Bly pulls a pen out of his pocket and chucks it for Massimo to catch.
After a few minutes of silence, Massimo finishes reading it and shakes his head. “You’re one clever son of a bitch, Luigi. I’ll give you that.”
I wonder what the contract says, but decide not to say a word right now. The tension is finally diffusing.
Massimo signs the contract and returns to stand in front of Blaine, shoving the paper into his chest. “You’ve got what you want. Now put the fucking gun down.”
He glances over the paper to ensure my brother did indeed sign and then nods, lowering his gun and putting it into a holster attached to his belt.
“We will be leaving now for Maine.”
He nods. “If you hurt my sister, I’ll personally hunt you down and murder you. Do you understand?”
Blaine grins, baring his teeth. “I’d like to see you try.”
My brother’s fists clench and I wonder if the fight is about to kick off again.
“But you don’t need to worry about me hurting Azira.” His eyes narrow. “I’m her protector now.”
A shiver races down my spine at that declaration.
“I’ll tear apart anyone who hurts her, so I won’t be the one to do it,” Bly says.
I move forward and approach Massimo. “I’m sorry it came to this.”
He nods. “Me too, sis.”
I swallow hard. “I don’t want this to come between us.”
His expression hardens. “I’m sorry, Azira, but there’s no way this can’t come between us.”
Excruciating pain squeezes around my heart. “What are you saying?”
“At least for a time you are going to have to keep your distance.”
“You’re kicking me to the curb for this?”
“Father won’t be happy.” He places a hand against his forehead. “First Mia and now you. At least Mia’s pairing was respectable.” He glares at Blaine. “Not a fucking professor.”
Blaine growls. “Careful Sidorov.”
Massimo straightens, holding his head high, glancing at Leo. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.”
Leo nods, chucking Massimo’s jacket at him, which he shrugs on. After one last glance in my direction and a soft shake of his head, he turns to leave the warehouse, with Leo following behind. The rest of the men filter out behind them, a few of them hobbling out with bad injuries and blood staining their clothes, but strangely enough, none of them died.