Chapter 2 - THE DEVIL'S BARGAIN
The ambient hum of the ballroom felt a million miles away. I stared at Nikolai Moretti, the shadows of the service hallway wrapping around him like a tailored cloak. He wasn’t just Julian’s older brother; he was the ruthless phantom of Chicago’s underworld, a man whose name was whispered in boardrooms and back alleys alike. “Marry you?” I echoed, my voice surprisingly steady despite the violent pounding in my chest. “You want to marry your brother’s discarded fiancée out of spite?”
Nikolai took a slow sip of his whiskey, his dark eyes never leaving mine. “Not spite, Evelyn. Strategy. And you are far from discarded. You are the key Julian stupidly threw away.” He stepped closer, the scent of cedar and expensive cologne washing over me. “My father’s syndicate values loyalty, stability, and intelligence. Julian thinks Serena’s pliability makes him look strong. He is wrong. I need a queen who understands power, a woman who won't flinch when the world burns. You didn't cry in there. You didn't break. You walked out like royalty.”
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I crossed my arms, shielding myself from his magnetic pull. “And what do I get out of this arrangement? I become a pawn in a mafia succession war?”
“You become untouchable,” Nikolai corrected softly, his knuckles brushing a stray lock of hair from my shoulder—a touch so light it made me shiver. “You get the ultimate revenge. You walk back into that ballroom on my arm, and you watch the color drain from the faces of the people who just betrayed you. Your family, my brother... they will bow to you.” It was a dangerous, intoxicating promise. A deal with the devil. I looked back at the doors leading to the ballroom, thinking of my mother’s cold whisper, my father’s silence, and Julian’s smug smile. I turned back to Nikolai and held out my hand. “Make them bleed, Nikolai.” His lips curved into a wicked, triumphant smile as he took my hand, raising it to his lips. “With pleasure, mia regina.”
