Dance Till I Die (gxg) ✓

"Why Is Las Vegas Famous?"

ACE

                  "Her answer is yes," Isla said.

                  Ace had not been this blindsided since the betrayal that had landed her in Black Dolphin prison. It was the feeling of complete and utter uncertainty―so unfamiliar to her, when she craved control.

                  She still remembered it. Returning back from the interrogation room.

                  There had not even been time to wash the blood off her hands.

                  "She is right there, politsiya," Aleksi was saying calmly. "She is the one who murdered our parents."

                   Love is a fool's game, their mother had always said. It is conquered, or be conquered. 

                   But Ace had never imagined she would have to worry about her brother. The one person she was supposed to rely on. 

                   He had confessed to her, one night, that he had been the one to slaughter their mother and father. The king and queen of the Mafia.

                   Dead, in one night.

                   They blamed the Americans, of course. Aleksi had planned it out. He had wanted this war―between the mobsters in Chicago. He had wanted it so badly it had become a thirst, a hunger, and eventually an insatiable need. He had killed their parents, and he had called it an end to their ceasefire.

                    Ace had never loved her parents.

                    Her father―cruel and distant. Perhaps she had inherited it from him. But her mother, the queen, might have been the woman she grew up with . . . but Ace knew she was a bastard child. Aleksi's half-sister.

                    She didn't know who her real mother was. Doubted she would ever know.

                    Once, the queen had spat, You are the daughter of a whore. 

                    Afterwards, Aleksi had consoled her. He had blue eyes, just like her, with the same blonde hair. He would wipe away her tears and say, Moya dorogava, do not let her words hurt you. You must be strong. You will stand with me, one day, and we will rule together. 

                    But that day, with the blood on her hands, Ace had returned from the interrogation room tot find him talking to a police officer.

                    It was no secret the Mafia controlled the government.

                    At first, Ace was not afraid.

                    She should have been.

                    "Right there, politsiya," Aleksi said, his beautiful face contorting into a sob. "She confessed to me―she killed Mama and Papa. They never loved her, and she wanted revenge. Please. I can not look at her."

                    Ace had only stood there, shaking her head.

                    What are you doing, brother? 

                    If he wanted to, he could stop them. As the prince, he had that power. Their uncle may have inherited in the event of their parents' deaths, but everyone knew Aleksi would one day inherit when Dyadya Vladimir died. If his death was not arranged first, by Aleksi himself.