Page 38 of Knocked-Up Bratva Prisoner

Life isn’t just about work and business and meetings and clients and blah blah blah.

So, between the stress of trying to manage this very feisty female that I now have living with me, and the stress of knowing I am going to have to deal with my brothers at some point, I am feeling a bit edgy.

And today Oleg has messaged me—I have no choice. I have to go into town. He and Yefim need my help. Leon is away on business and can’t be there.

I have to go in and do some work. They need me and Ihaveto be there. If I say no, they will not just drop it nor shrug it off. There will be a hundred questions I can’t answer.

I climb out of bed carefully to avoid waking her up.

It’s really early and I reckon the sooner I leave the sooner I can be back home. I think I should only be gone two or three hours at the most.

I skip the shower, seeing as I showered before bed and I’m in a hurry. Grabbing my clothes from the closet, I carry them to a different room to get dressed without disturbing her.

I don’t even make coffee.

Clara is still asleep when I sneak out of the house.

I am hoping I can be back in a few hours and that nothing will happen while I’m gone. It’ll be completely fine. It’s not like she can get out of the house, anyway.

But when I hear the solid click of the front door as I close it, I have a very uneasy feeling in my stomach.

My phone buzzes again, on silent but vibrating in my pocket.

Oleg: Alex, where have you been? Are you coming in to help us or what?

Me: I’m leaving home now. I’m on my way.

Oleg: Good. We were beginning to think you’d left the country again or something.

My stomach knots.

Talking to my brothers over text is one thing—face to face is another. I am going to have to stay alert and have my story straight. They will have questions. I hope work requires our fullattention and they will be distracted by it instead of focused on me today.

It’s a long drive back towards town, and by the time I get there, Oleg looks annoyed. I know he thought I was coming from my home near the city, not my new place out in the forest.

“I thought you said you were leaving home when you messaged me,” he snaps, agitated.

“I was, sorry man.”

“But you live fifteen minutes away.”

Shit.

“I got caught up. And I stopped to grab a coffee on the way. I didn’t know it was that urgent.” I sound defensive. The last thing I want to do is sound defensive.

I look around the warehouse. “Where is Yefim? You’re mad at me, andheisn’t even here yet?”

Oleg shakes his head and sighs, rubbing his fingers against his eyes. “Yefim had to go help Giorgio. He isn’t coming. It’s just you and me today.”

“Why would he be helping Giorgio?” I ask, angry at the mention of his name because it reminds me of how he treated Clara.

“Clara has gone missing. She was taken by one of the rivals and Giorgio is desperately trying to find her. Yefim went to help look and get his guys to do some digging around to see if he can gather any information on who took her and what they want. No one has even contacted Giorgio to make demands.”

I clench my jaw.

Oleg stares at me with narrowed eyes. “Remember,Clara, hisniece?”

“I know who Clara is,” I snap.

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