Page 122 of Sinful Lies

“Alexei.” My throat feels dry as my mind starts to spin with every possible way he could be harming Zara.

“Come to the penthouse.” He hangs up the phone.

My body feels numb as I slide in behind the wheel of my car, my muscles working on autopilot as I make my way over to my family’s penthouse. I’ve never driven so fast in my life, but with each passing second, Zara could be slipping further and further away.

My head is filled with memories of last year, when I carried Zara’s broken, bleeding body from the warehouse where Gilanto had been keeping her.

I should have known better. If I truly loved her, I would have stayed away. But I was too selfish to let her go, and it may have cost Zara her life.

My body is shaking as I park my car in the garage and take the elevator up to the penthouse where all three of my brothers are waiting for me.

Mikhail perches on the couch, his laptop on his knees as he furiously taps away at the keyboard.

Danil is on the phone, but he glances my way as I cross the room and offers me a grim smile.

I’m glad Alexei brought me here, we’re going to need all the help we can get.

“Dimitri.” Alexei walks over from the bar cart in the corner of the lounge, thrusting a glass of vodka into my hand.

I down the liquid in one gulp and hand the empty glass back to him—a silent request for another.

“What’s the plan?” I look at Mikhail.

He looks up from his laptop screen, his face serious and closed.

“I managed to get hold of the CCTV footage from heroffice building.” His tattooed forearms flexing as he grips his laptop.

“And?”

He turns the laptop around and presses play.

I watch as Zara steps out of the elevator, her eyes cast down as she taps away on her phone, oblivious to the man who steps out of the shadows.

I can barely watch as he grabs her and drags her out of sight.

Mikhail opens up another screen, this time from a camera above the entrance to the building, and my heart almost stops as I watch as she’s bundled into the back of a van.

“Oh, god.” I run my hands through my hair.

Danil folds his arms over his chest as he looks at Alexei. “You think it’s Massimo?”

My older brother nods, the muscle in his jaw flexing. “But until we have proof, we can’t initiate an attack.”

My hands fist at my sides. “Yes, we fucking can!”

“Dimitri,” Mikhail’s eyes dart back and forth between Alexei and me.

“What if it were Bianca?” I growl, ignoring Mikhail. “Would you be holding back then? I don’t remember waiting around when Gilanto took your wife. You sent us right into the wolf's den without a second thought!”

“Calm the fuck down.” Alexei’s nostrils flare as he glares at me, but we’re not kids anymore. He can’t scare me into submission.

“Calm down? My fucking wife ismissing!”

“Accusing Massimo Conti of kidnapping Zara without any proof is a a fucking death wish.”

“I don’t give a fuck?—”

“I do!” Alexei snaps. “Dimitri, we need to be smartabout this because if we’re not, it’s not just Zara’s life on the line.”

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