Page 60 of Devil's Bride

“This doesn’t make sense.” I mean, given Dominic’s weird words and the pictures of a man who is supposed to be dead roaming around, it can only make sense if…“He’s alive?”

“Healthy too. He even has the stamina for a good lay.”

I look more closely at the pictures. I swear my eyes are going to pop out from how wide they are. I can’t believe what I’m seeing.

The Phoenix tricked me. They set things up to control me, and they did a pretty good job of it. I can’t believe I fell for this and allowed myself to be used like that.

I did everything they wanted because I thought this son of a bitch was dead. Turns out he’s not. I tremble with rage as I raise my head. My eyes meet Dominic’s. “Where’s this asshole now?”

“This picture was taken at his estate, but it’s well guarded,” he says calmly. “You can’t get in, and even if you do, you’d lose your men, and your life.”

I don’t care about my life. As long as I can get to Paulo. “Tell me.”

“I have a better idea.” He laces his fingers in front of him and smiles. “There’ll be a masquerade this weekend. I learned most of the guests will be members of the Phoenix.”

“How do I get in?”

He pulls out four golden cards from a folder and tosses them in front of me. “Here’s your ticket.”

I narrow my eyes at the cards. “Invitations?”

He nods. “That’s the only way you can get in. Don’t look so ungrateful, I went to a lot of trouble to get those.”

Ungrateful? Laughable. He just gave me the ticket to regain my freedom from the Phoenix and stop their activities on my territory. I would be a fool to be ungrateful. Now I feel like I’m indebted to him.

I pick up the invitation cards, holding them tight, as if my life depended on them, because it does. “Thank you, man. I owe you one.”

He shakes his head. “No more debts between us. This is repayment for helping me years ago.”

I nod my head. I’m too angry to muster any words. “See you later.”

Standing up, I start for the door.

“Alexei?”

I stop and turn around.

“Make sure you get those bastards,” he says. We’re both not men who show a lot of emotion, but I know he’s rooting for me, because that is what friends do. We might not say it out loud, but we both know our connection exceeds mafia business.

I manage a smile. “I will.”

My brothers and Dimitri look anxious when I step out to the hallway. Mikhail takes in the gold cards in my hand. “What are those?”

“Let’s talk at home.” I walk to the elevator and they all follow. Our drive back to the mansion is quiet. Once we’re home, we stride to my study where I sit on the chair behind my desk.

Dimitri and Nikolai plop down on the sofa across from me. Mikhail just leans on the wall, his arms and legs crossed.

“Paulo is alive,” I announce to the room at large.

“Paulo Ruiz?” Nikolai asks.

I nod. “Turns out he wasn’t really dead. All of this was a setup. The fucker is alive.” But he won’t be for very long. When I’m done with him, he’ll be the one begging for death.

Mikhail runs his hand over his head. “Fuck. Those fuckers got us real good.”

“They did,” Dimitri inclines. He sits up. “What now?”

I take out the invitation cards from my pocket and slam them on the desk. “We’re partying, gentlemen. These are invitations for a party Paulo will be attending this weekend. There are four of them.”

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