Page 9 of Sinful Lies

“Whoa! Slow down.” She laughs. “What’s the hurry?”

“Zara’s here.” I glance around the empty foyer.

Bianca frowns, her blue eyes narrowing as she looks atme. She flicks her long, brown hair over her shoulder and crosses her arms over her chest. “Yeah, so?”

“Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine, Dimitri. She wanted to see the baby.” She frowns. “Why?”

At that moment, Zara and Alexei stroll out of the kitchen, a squirming Leo in my brother’s arms.

I blink at the sight of Zara.

She looks exhausted, with dark purple shadows lining her green eyes, and her shoulders are hunched over, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Gone is the strong, confident girl I’ve come to know, and in her place is a ghost.

Zara’s eyes meet mine, and she stops in her tracks. “What are you doing here?”

“Can I talk to you?” I ignore her question.

She glances anxiously at Bianca. “B and I were just about to take Leo for a walk before his nap.”

“It will only take a second.”

I can feel Bianca watching us closely, but I don’t care. I need to know if she’s truly all right, because I can’t shake the feeling that she was downplaying the situation with her boss.

“You can talk later,” Alexei states. “Dimitri, my office.”

“Can’t it wait?—”

“Now.”

I glance once more at Zara, but she’s refusing to look at me.

Every instinct in my body is screaming at me to go to her, to demand she tell me the truth, but the look Alexei is giving me tells me that he would have no problem taking me by the collar and dragging me up the stairs like he did when we were kids.

“Fine.” I huff out a breath.

Mybrother hands the baby off to Bianca, and we both make our way up the stairs to his office on the top floor of the house in silence.

Once the door is closed and locked behind us, I brace myself for whatever bomb my brother is about to drop.

‘You’re not going to like what I have to say.” Alexei sinks down into one of the leather armchairs, crossing an ankle over a knee.

“I never like what you have to say.” I shrug. “At least let me have a drink in my hand before you tell me whatever it is that has you so on edge.”

Alexei stays quiet, so I head over to the bar cart in the corner and pour us both a finger of vodka.

“Spit it out, then,brat.” I place the crystal glass in his hand and take a seat in the armchair opposite.

Alexei swirls the clear liquid around in the glass, and I watch as the muscle in his jaw flexes.

Shit, what has got my brother so wound up?

“Did you know Massimo Conti has a daughter?” he asks, keeping his eyes down.

“As in the mafia Don?” I frown. “No, I didn’t know.”

“Well, he does.”

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