Page 69 of The Bratva's Forced Bride

I accepted the call and lifted it to my ear.

“Where is she?”

“Now, now, don’t act like the hero, not while you have my sister,” he said, sounding smug. “Let’s stop with this pointless cat-and-mouse chase, shall we?”

His tone was enough to make my blood boil.

Too busy trying to hold my anger in, I didn’t say anything.

Pietro sighed as if bored. “If you want your precious Grace so badly, then come to Boston. Meet me at—”

“I will go to Boston, but we’re meeting at Dominic’s old warehouse. The last one he had before it was repossessed. That’s the only place the trade will happen. If not, I’ll bring New York and Boston down just to get Grace back.”

I wasn’t prepared to walk myself into some place that gave Pietro the upper hand. It had to be neutral or nothing.

He simply laughed through the phone. “Fine, you have yourself a deal. Bring Alessia safe and in one piece, and I’ll have Grace over.”

Not offering him any more of my time than he needed, I ended the call, grumbling to myself. Immediately hitting as many contacts as I could on my cell, I alerted our men about what was about to go down. We needed as many men in Boston as we could afford.

Nobody was going home until Grace was safe.

***

Back in the SUV, driving down the highway, the drive was agonizing. For every second that passed, Grace occupied my mind.

I couldn’t help but think back to our rocky start and how we slowly began to see eye to eye. How despite my reluctance, she put in the effort to get to know me. While I didn’t want her to break my walls down initially, she did it anyway, and it proved to be the best thing for me.

We built a connection I had never experienced before, and it was a relief to know I was capable of loving someone against all odds. She accepted me when I didn’t think I was worth anything more than what I offered the family business. I didn’t believe anyone could catch my eye and make me miss them more than anything, but Grace had accomplished exactly that.

Even if I was exhausted from driving all night, tense and strained from not knowing where she was, I wouldn’t rest until I had her back.

I needed her to know just how much I cared about her, even if I wasn’t always the best at expressing it.

After several more hours of being on the road, it was the afternoon by the time we reached the warehouse. Parking some distance away, we held back and waited for our backup to arrive.

An assessment was done around the perimeter, and our men went into place, waiting for the call. It was confirmed that the Brunos were already there with their men in behind, poised.

From what we could tell already, our men significantly outnumbered theirs, thanks to the groups we managed to pull from Boston. It didn’t hurt to have a favor to call in from time to time.

Before we could move in, my phone rang again, but that time it was Dimitri.

“Hello?”

“We heard what happened and left as soon as we could. I’m with the others, and we’re prepared to surround the place if anything goes amiss,” he said, straight to the point. There was no hint of anger in his voice. Just support. “Go get her.”

“I appreciate it,” I said just before ending the call and rounding over to Vik, who had strapped a vest on Alessia.

I pulled my own on and made sure everything I needed was in place.

The girl looked shaken up and wide-eyed, but she didn’t seem to have much fight left in her.

“You ready?” I asked Vik, who oversaw everything pertaining to our hostage.

He nodded despite still looking apprehensive about the whole thing. “I’m ready for it to be over and for Grace to be safe. I hope she’s alright.”

Pulling in a steadying breath, I had to convince myself she was. “Grace is tough. She’ll be fine.”

While he kept his eye on me for a moment longer, likely trying to gauge my faith in the situation, he eventually nodded. “Alright. Let’s get it done then.”

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