Page 32 of Secret Bratva Twins

If my papa had said anything about Ryan and Daylan, I was going to kill him myself.

“You look uneasy,” he perused me with his gaze. “Is there something I should know?”

The world spun to a stop around me. My heart throbbed against my ribcage, and I couldn’t push down the lump in my throat. “No,” I answered sharply. If my papa hadn’t told him yet, then there was no rush. “Nothing.”

“It’s settled then. I’ll let you know when it’s time to speak to him.” He stood up, grabbed the half bottle of bourbon, and began to leave.

I shot up to my feet and strode after him. “Max, wait!”

He stopped and turned around, his brow shooting up.

“My papa, I don’t want to speak to him tomorrow.” I fingered the hem of my shirt nervously. The more he gave my father the opportunity to speak to him, the easier it would be for my father to expose the truth. I didn’t want to risk that. “Can we just not speak to him?”

“He said he had something to tell me, you don’t have to speak to him if you don’t want to.”

I shook my head. “It’s not that. He could be trying to deceive you. You don’t know what my father is capable of.”

“That’s not for you to decide, Gianna.” He walked away.

I sank into the chair next to me, trying to calm the panic pricking over me. I had a bad feeling about tomorrow.

Chapter 12 - Maxim

It was morning, a few hours before my call with Paul. Gianna seemed very anxious about the call for some reason, I’d seen the desperate look in her eyes when I told her about it last night.

She was hiding something from me and afraid her father would tell me. To be honest, I hadn’t decided if the call was worth it before I spoke to her. Now, I needed to confirm my suspicions.

What was she hiding from me? I didn’t want to force it out of her; I wanted her to trust me enough to tell me. It would be a hundred times worse to hear something nerve-wracking from a bastard like Paul.

I racked my brain, but nothing came to mind.

Someone knocked on the door to my study, dragging my attention back to the present.

“Come in.”

The door handle twisted, and the door flew open. Nikolai sauntered inside. He took the sit across my desk without asking. That wasn’t the problem, though; it was just seven in the morning, an unusual time for him to visit without prior notice.

Worry etched his expression.

“Are you alright?” I asked instead of asking what he was doing here. I knew he wouldn’t pay me such an impromptu visit if something wasn’t wrong.

He sat back and crossed his legs. “Viktor was found dead by the harbor this morning. He was murdered and decapacitated.”

Viktor was one of Sergey’s most trusted men. He assisted me with managing our finances.

Shit.

Unease rolled through me like a chill, dark wave. News like this only meant one thing: someone had trespassed into our territory, and war was coming.

“It was the Outfit,” he said, the veins on his biceps bulging as he clenched his fists. “Those bastards are asking for war.”

With Paul in the city, he could be right. He’d sent his daughter to attack me, which meant he wasn’t here on a little vacation. “How did you find out?”

“They left a note, they want us to know they’re coming.” He heaved an exasperated sigh. “Paul DeLuca, that fucker has no idea what he’s in for.”

My brothers and I had been through so much over the past years. We’d won three wars with rival families, and we’d lost our parents years before that even happened. We’d shed blood and watched our men die to protect what was ours. Paul was an idiot if he thought we’d let him walk in and snatch everything we’d worked for.

“Have you spoken to Sergey?”

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