Page 32 of Devil Seeks Nanny

I shake my head, pulling away from him. I wipe at my wet cheeks, sniffling, feeling Bruno’s gaze on me as I try to pull myself together. My eyes sear from more tears I hold back and I take in another deep breath. “I need another favor from you,” I find myself saying, my voice raw from crying as I lift my gaze to meet Bruno’s. He looks at me expectantly, all ears, and my heart jumps. There’s a hollowness in my chest as I tell him, “Promise me you’ll kill the men who killed my father.”

I see the shift in Bruno’s expression like he hadn’t entirely expected me to say that, but at the same time, he isn’t surprised to hear those words come out of my mouth. His arm drops from around me, his jaw working, and I stare at him, feeling dread lock up my throat when he doesn’t answer immediately.

But then, the man who I know has the blood of many people on his hands, tells me, “I can’t promise you that, Diana.”

His words feel like a blow, and I try not to flinch as I gape up at him, hurt and angry all at the same time. “Why not?” I ask harshly, teeth grinding.

Bruno doesn’t look happy to be denying me, and I want to know why he’s doing it in the first place. He shakes his head, jaw tight. “How many times have I told you? I don’t discuss my business with you.”

This time, I do flinch, and I see him catch it. His throat works as I take a step back from him, my anger still present, yet the ache of my pain takes over. Frustrated, hurt tears burn my eyes. Are we seriously back to this? He told me someone purposefully murdered my father, and he’s telling me he won’t discuss his business with me? It was my dad who was killed!

“Bruno—”

“I know what I’m doing, Diana. You need to trust me,” he says tightly, and my jaw drops in a scoff, staring at him incredulously. Before I can say anything, though, he continues, “I’m upping the security around the house. Under no circumstances can you leave this house, with or without the kids. Unless and only if it’s an emergency, and even then, you call me and I’ll assign some men to go with you.”

I’m already shaking my head, and I see the irritation flashing across his eyes. “Are you kidding me?” I burst out, breathing heavily. “You’re keeping business secrets from me when it involves my dad, and you just expect me to blindly follow your orders?”

“Yes, because it’s for your own protection—” Bruno begins through gritted teeth, but I cut him off.

“Fuck my protection!” I exclaim. I inhale sharply through my nose, trying to quieten down because the kids are in the kitchen down the hall, and I don’t want them to hear this. Glaring up at Bruno, I hiss, “What about my dad? Who protected him?”

Bruno’s expression is thunderous, and if I was anyone else, I’d probably be shaking in my shoes. But I’m so hurt, so pissed the hell off, so devastated that I don’t care that he’s the most dangerous man in the city. Right now, he’s someone I’m so angry at that I don’t care he’s a criminal, a boss. In this moment, he is someone who is hurting me, and he should know it.

“This isn’t a fucking negotiation, Diana,” Bruno snaps, his voice sharp like a razor’s edge. He takes a step toward me, dark eyes glued to mine, the heat of his powerful body radiating into mine. “Need I remind you of our deal?” My heart launches itself into my throat. “I found out who killed your father, and now I expect you to hold up your part of the deal, too. Stay here. Look after my children. Listen to what I fucking say. That’s it.”

He doesn’t give me a moment to respond. He lays those words down like they’re the law, and he turns and walks out of the house, the door slamming shut behind him. I don’t react to it. I just stand there, frozen, feeling like a complete idiot.

My father was murdered. What had started off as a theory to make more sense of his death has proven to be true, and the grief and anger run amok in my body.

And Bruno. . . None of this meant anything to him, did it? His words echo in my head, making me dizzy and intensifying the hurt. He doesn’t care about me. Maybe he never did. And I was just an idiot, falling for a man who saw all of this as part of a deal we made months ago.

My tears return anew, and I know I’ll have to pull myself together soon, but for now, I allow myself to sink to the floor and cry.

Chapter 20

BRUNO

The trees and residential buildings fly by as Leo drives down the streets to the meeting with Alexei Antonov. The car ride is silent, allowing me to get lost in thoughts that have consumed me for days. Thoughts that all include a blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman who I haven’t spoken to in what feels like forever.

In reality, it’s only been a few days, but that’s just how deeply she’s dug herself under my skin.

I haven’t even seen Diana these last few days. With this Russian business, I’ve been busy putting my plan into action and making sure everything is running smoothly. I come home at dawn, only to leave a few hours later for work to do it all over again. All I can think of, right now, is the last conversation Diana and I had—which, really, was an argument.

I had been harsh with her, I know. I also know she deserved to know what I was doing in terms of bringing her father’s killers to justice, but sharing my business isn’t something I’m used to. I didn’t do it with Maria but giving Diana details about how I would avenge her father wasn’t something she needed to know. I should have told her I would be taking care of it, but I know she wouldn’t take well to me telling her that I was arranging a meeting with the Russians to settle things diplomatically.

I had seen the look in her eyes when she wanted me to promise her that I’d kill the men who killed her father. I had seen the fire, the anger, and the pain that made those blue eyes blaze. She would have hated the mere idea of me sitting down with the murderers and negotiating a diplomatic conversation. She wanted their blood, and I couldn’t promise to deliver it to her. Not when the threat of war looms over us. If I outright killed the men, a war would break out, and it would put everyone in danger—including Diana and my children. I want to keep them as far away from the line of fire as possible.

Part of me believes that if I had just told Diana all of that, she would understand. She’s not an irrational woman. But in that moment, her anger and grief were consuming her. She wouldn’t have seen rationality. I would know; the look in her eyes is the same one I wore after Maria’s death, even though hers had been a matter of medical issues. This was different, but the pain was the same for both Diana and me.

I’m pulled out of my thoughts when Leo pulls the SUV in front of the bar lounge we are to meet the Russians in. It’s in neutral territory, just outside the city, giving neither of us a home-field advantage.

“You ready for this?” Leo asks once he kills the engine of the car. I see other cars pulling up as well, my men who’ve accompanied me. It’d be naïve to meet an enemy without some backup, whether this is a diplomatic meeting or not.

I exhale sharply, jaw working. “Let’s get this shit over with.”

Minutes later, we’re in the backroom of the lounge, cleared out just for us. Alexei Antonov sits on a couch, smoking a cigarette, while a man I recognize as Luka Belsky, Alexei’s second in command, sits next to him. A few of Alexei’s men stand guard by the wall behind him, just as mine do on the opposite wall as Leo and I take a seat on the couch opposite of the Russians.

“Bruno,” Alexei greets me with a leering grin. He grew up in America since he was fourteen, so his accent isn’t as thick as some of his men’s. But it’s still slightly noticeable. “I must say, I’m surprised you wanted a sit-down meeting.”

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