Page 59 of The Bratva King's Twins

They wanted to trade me for their gain—nothing more.

Chapter 27 - Ari

After sending the waiter off to grab us a few different desserts, I waited patiently in the booth for Vivian to return. Slowly sipping my drink, I considered how beautiful she looked, and how I couldn’t wait to get back home.

As nice as the dinner was, I had a few ideas of how to close out our date, eager to pour my pent-up arousal into pleasing her.

When the waiter came back with several small platters as I had asked, I thanked them, but found myself wondering if she was alright. I expected her to be back at the table before the dessert came.

Soon enough, the ice cream melted down into a syrupy mess, and I glanced down at my watch.

It made me question if something was wrong. If she was in some sort of pain or going through something I didn’t know about. If she was sick, I needed to know.

When I couldn’t take it anymore and the time she was gone stretched even further, I got up from the table.

My mind was racing with concern, and whether it was from instinct or paranoia, I couldn’t fight the dread as it sat heavily in my gut. I was sure something was wrong.

Locating the women’s washroom, I strode over and knocked my knuckle against the door. “Vivian?”

I waited but heard nothing. “You in there?”

No response.

Mind running wild with the possibilities, my skin went cold, and for a momentary flicker of time, I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know what to think.

But as that panic kicked my ass into high gear, I shoved the door open to find the swanky room empty. She wasn’t there at all.

With concern gripping my throat like a vice, I immediately pulled out of there and looked down the hall, scanning the area for any sight of her. Every second that passed made that fear tighten even more, and it was nearly impossible to breathe.

Before I knew it, I was moving through the whole restaurant, looking for her.

A dreadful thought stung as it lingered in my mind—what if she finally left? If she got up and went out the exit door to never return.

I shoved that idea away, cursing myself for even entertaining it.

Vivian swore her loyalty to me. We were in love, and she was growing our children inside her. Everything was going so well, there was no chance she’d just throw it all away like that.

It had to be something else. Someone had to have done something to her.

With my senses completely frayed and my body full of adrenaline, I pulled my phone out and immediately dialed Lukyan’s number as I went straight for the front door.

Catching the two guards, I posted outside, I couldn’t temper my demanding tone. “Have you seen Vivian out here?”

They shook their heads.

“She excused herself and didn’t come back to the table. Look everywhere—go!”

With curt nods, they hurried inside, leaving me to focus on the phone call as Luk picked up.

“What’s going on?”

“I need you to tap into the live security footage and search it for any sign of Vivian. I can’t find her, and I need to make sure nothing happened to her,” I said, rushing my words out of fear of wasting even a minute.

Luk didn’t hesitate as I heard him shuffling in the background. “Where?”

“Outside Dom’s. Focus on the rear exit specifically,” I told him, already heading back inside to find my men covering every inch of the place as Dom himself went over to question them, but they were too busy following orders to give him a proper answer.

He looked confused, but spotted me and came over, furrowing his heavy brows as he asked in a hushed tone, “What is going on, Levov? Your guys are tearing this place apart—”

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