Page 142 of Tempting My Mafia Monster

He nodded once, leaned down and kissed her. I looked away, folding my arms.

“When you face McKenna, remember who you are,” she whispered against his lips. “Maddox Moriarty. My monster. Not his.”

He kissed her harder, and I clapped my hands once to break them apart before they went for round two in front of me, and I really did have to kill him. When he left the room, I stared at my sister as she sat in her window seat and patted the cushion beside her. I shook my head. No chance I could keep still. I needed to move my legs.

“Raya, what are you thinking!”

She sighed. “You weren’t meant to find out like this.”

“You think?” I shouted. “I’m scarred for life.”

“Then you should knock next time.”

“Next time?” She couldn’t be serious. Her lips curled at the corners, and I realised she was messing with me. I kept pacing, hands on my hips.

“Who knows?”

“Lili. And Olivia.”

I swore under my breath. “Gio’s going to lose it.”

“He doesn’t need to find out.”

I frowned, stopped pacing, and faced her. The sadness on her face as she picked at her nails made the scolding words die in my throat. A tear slipped from the corner of her eye.

“I know I have to marry Aleksandr. I don’t need a lecture, Sani. I know what I promised, and I’ll go through with it.”

I licked my lips, my stomach sinking because, regardless of what caused it, I couldn’t bear to see that look of pure devastation on her face.

“Maddox will leave after he’s killed Sean.”

I squinted at the door he’d just walked out of. “Moriarty doesn’t strike me as the type to let you marry another man, Raya. Not only has he got no moral compass, but werewolves are known to be possessive.”

She laughed, and it made my heart sing to hear it again. She hadn’t spoken to me like this for nearly two months.

“That’s not true. He has ‌a moral compass. Just a very, very small one.”

“He will kill Aleksandr. And this family will be in more shit than we are now.”

She lifted her gaze to meet mine. “How do you know—”

“I know his type. I am that type. If he truly loves you, he won’t let another man take you from him.”

She ran her fingers through her hair, digging them into her scalp. “I don’t know what to do, Sani.”

I sat down beside her and threw my arms around her, pulling her to my side. She sobbed into my shoulder, and I closed my eyes. Fuck. The protective big brother in me wanted to solve all her problems, but I didn’t know how. This was a bigger mess than the one Aria makes when I tie her up and edge her for hours.

Guilt was worming its way through the confusion, too. I was partly responsible. I fell in love with Sean’s niece and started a war. Raya agreed to marry Aleksandr so I could keep my wife by my side. She was sacrificing her love story so I could have mine.

“We’ll deal with it. Together. Okay?”

She wiped her snot on my shirt, but I didn’t care. I deserved a little snot for this fuck-up.

“Are you going to Belgium with him?” She lifted her head from my shoulder. I nodded. “Don’t try to kill him again. I need you both to come back alive.”

Everything clicked into place. The distance. Her heartbreak. The cold shoulder. “You thought I killed him. That’s why you haven’t been able to be in the same room as me?”

She pressed her lips together, nodding.