Page 68 of Ruthless Vows

Adrian sighs before throwing his arms around my shoulder and pulling me closer. “I really hope you know what you’re doing, Luce.”

“Me too,” I murmur.

“And, full disclosure, I still plan on killing the man at the end of all this. He’s not getting away with what he did,” he tells me.

I can’t even blame him for that. But I do feel a pang of sorrow at the thought of Ivan dying. I’m at the point where I don’t think I’d be able to stand by and let that happen. Adrian’s words make me think of something else, though.

I sit up straight suddenly, my eyes finding Adrian’s green ones. “Wait, do you have anything to do with what happened last night?”

“You mean his brother going missing?” he asks dryly.

My heart drops. “Wait, really? You’re the one Alexei’s working with?”

“No,” he scoffs.

I look at him in disbelief. “Then how do you know what happened?”

“Because like I keep saying, I know everything. Y’all need to starting hearing me, for real,” he says with a frown.

“Adrian, this is serious. Ivan’s doing everything he can to locate his brother. If you have something to do with it, then tell me,” I say earnestly.

He rolls his eyes. “Fine, I’ll be honest. I was going after Alexei, but someone else got to him before I could. It’s pretty well known that Volkov’s only weakness is his little brother. I planned to exploit that, but I was too late.”

“This is a fucking mess,” I mutter, running a hand through my hair.

“Tell me about it,” Adrian says, leaning back against his hand. He glances at me for a moment before looking back up at the sky. “So… tell me about him. Why do you like the man? And try not to mention his name. If I don’t hear it, then maybe I can pretend the person you’re talking about isn’t someone I really want to murder.”

I smile at that, my heart warming. “I’m never going to say this again, but I love you, Adrian.”

He’s my family, same as Aurora, and Nico and Sabrina and of course my little nephew.

“I will also never say this again, but I love you too, chipmunk,” he says grudgingly, his eyes warm. “Now tell me about your dumb boyfriend.”

I laugh before telling him all about the night I met Ivan. It’s nice to talk about it with him. Adrian listens attentively, providing snide remarks but also being as supportive as he can be, which I appreciate.

It gives me hope. That maybe, somehow, this will all work out.

CHAPTER 20

Ivan

Ikeep thinking to myself that maybe it’s okay to let Alexei’s disappearance go. Brush it under the rug and chalk it up to his usual antics. But I know something’s wrong. Everything about it raises red flags. Especially the fact that despite spending the whole day trying to figure it all out, we’re coming up blank.

“I’ll go to the hotel and take over the search, sir,” Ruslan says.

I’ve only just arrived home from the hotel. I spent most of the day with the hackers, trying to trace down the mercenaries that took my brother.

“When I left, they were trying to go through the files on his phone and his contacts in the past few days,” I inform him.

“I’m sure we’ll get a clue from there,” Ruslan states.

We’re leaning against my car, staring at the doors to the villa. I should go in, but a part of me wants to put this issue with Alexei at the back of my mind when I do. I want to focus on Lucia once I enter. Which means not worrying about where my brother could possibly be.

“I’m guessing you have your suspicions,” I say, looking at Ruslan.

He nods. “The Italians. They’re the only ones that would openly go against you in this way,” he replies gruffly.

“Yeah, I’m thinking it’s them, too. I hope it’s not, though. Because it would not end well,” I say on a sigh, looking at the house and thinking about the woman inside of it.

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