Page 43 of Secret Bratva Twins

Maxim cupped my cheeks. “We’ll get them back before he leaves. I promise.”

A promise wasn’t enough. We needed to do something. I dared to hold Sergey’s hand and plead. “Please save my children. I’ll do anything you want, I’ll pay you back with my life. Just give the order to go save them.”

My vision blurred with tears.

Sergey gave me the most pitiful look a man like him could muster. “We’ll bring them back, and you’re not giving anything in return. You’re part of the family now.” He glanced at the computer screen. “When does he plan to leave?”

“The flight is scheduled for Tuesday.”

“Tuesday,” he repeated, counting the days. “It’s Friday night, which means we have a very short amount of time. Seeing as he bought the yacht earlier, he’s close to a harbor.”

“He’ll be expecting us,” Maxim pointed out.

“That is why we need to distract him,” Nikolai said. We need to station some of our men around his manor. Gianna, call him tomorrow and tell him you’ll bring the manor to the ground if he doesn’t release the children in two days. That way, we have enough time to find out where he’s hiding and infiltrate it before he knows what we’re planning.”

“Two days?” I cried. “He’ll do something before then.”

“We’re not rescuing them in two days. It’s just to keep them distracted,” Maxim squeezed my hand. “We’re rescuing them tomorrow night.”

Chapter 16 - Maxim

Gianna had become exhausted from crying so much when we got home later that night. The second we crossed the entrance to our home, I lifted her bridal style and carried her to my room.

She’d lost even more weight in a matter of days. I hated to see the woman I cared for so much slowly wither in front of me. I had to bring our children back to her no matter what. I didn’t care how dangerous it would be, they were coming home tomorrow.

She huffed out a sigh as I carefully laid her on my bed and took out her shoes. Her face was dull and tired.

“Are you hungry?’ I asked. She’d skipped dinner because she was nervous about meeting my brothers, and she’d had a drink at the bar.

“How can I eat when we’re rescuing the kids tomorrow? I’d rather starve.”

“You need to eat something. You’ll need all the strength tomorrow.” I massaged her feet. “Think about the children. They won’t be happy if you look sick when you see them.”

“I’m exhausted,” she whispered. “I just want to lie down and drift into a long sleep where I’ll only wake up tomorrow night.”

My hands paused on her legs. The tension in the room crackled, the air stiff and weary. I could understand her feelings, I felt the same way. The fear of all this failing and my children getting hurt before I even had a chance to meet them was killing me inside.

But I had to remain strong for Gianna and our boys. I needed to fix this and make sure they lived the happy life they deserved. I couldn’t be weak, especially not now. “I’ll find something for us to eat, then we’ll take a shower and sleep.”

I went downstairs and heated up some pasta Ms. Popov left in the fridge. Gianna came down before the pasta was done heating up. I shared it between two plates and handed her one before grabbing two cans of soda from the fridge.

We ate in silence, after which I did the dishes, and we returned upstairs. We took a long bath today, then we tucked in bed together. Gianna rested her head on my chest, listening to my heartbeat.

She couldn’t sleep. She’d tossed and turned for almost an hour. Sleep wasn’t forthcoming for me either. I wrapped my arm around her waist. “Gianna.”

She peeled her eyes open. “You can’t sleep either.”

“I can’t, but maybe we’ll drift asleep if we talk about something,” I suggested. “What do you think.”

Her shoulders rose and fell. “What do you want to talk about?”

There was only one thing I wanted to talk about. It wasn’t about us or what we planned to do after saving our children and bringing Paul down. All I wanted to talk about was Ryan and Daylan, just in case I didn’t make it tomorrow.

I wasn’t easy to kill, but I was still human, and I couldn’t shake off the eerily feeling that something would go wrong. I was fine with it as long as it was not Gianna and the boys. I knew my brothers would love and care for them even if I weren’t there.

“Let’s talk about the kids,” I said in a low voice. Which of them looks like me the most?”

A small grin stole across her lips. “They’re identical twins, Max. They both look very much like you.”

---