Page 150 of Bratva Butcher

I stared at my hands, everything I had said and done over the past few minutes making me crumble inside. Unable to handle it, I retreated into my office and locked the door.

Everything within me broke.

One week later

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Illayana De Luca

Iburst through thedoors of my childhood home, fear curling down my spine.

When Lukyan called me the day before, telling me to come home, I’d laughed. Cracked some stupid joke about how I knew he’d end up missing me even though he said I was annoying the last time I saw him.

But then I heard the tremor in his voice. It told me that, whatever the reason was, it was no laughing matter. Something was wrong. Seriously, seriously wrong.

I’d never heard my brother talk like that before. So serious. So tormented. It shocked me so much that Arturo and I had jumped on the jet and flew straight to Las Vegas without a moment’s hesitation.

Anything that could make Lukyan—the most frivolous and carefree person I’ve ever known—shut down like that, begging me to come home…it had to be bad.

Arturo was on my heels, following me step for step as I marched into the lounge area to find all three of my brothers sitting in the room.

“What’s going on?” I demanded, coming to a stop.

Aleksandr was already getting to his feet. “Illayana,” he frowned. “What are you doing here?”

“Lukyan called me.”

Aleksandr and Nikolai gave Lukyan a deadpan look.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said plainly. “He’s been locked in his office for a week. We need help.” There was something different about him. About his voice. That usual boyish, carefree charm he always had was gone, the light in his eyes all but diminished.

What the hell happened here?

Aleksandr crossed his arms over his chest. “I told you not to call her. We can handle it.”

I narrowed my eyes dangerously. “Is there a reason I’m being excluded?”

“Told you she’d be pissed if we kept her out of the loop,” Nikolai muttered under his breath.

“Shush.” Aleksandr cut him a warning look before facing back at me. “There was just no reason to bother you, Illayana. We’ve got it sorted.”

“Really?” I arched a brow. “Great. Fill me in, then.”

Aleksandr released an over-exaggerated sigh. He flicked his head, signalling for me to sit down before doing just that. He told me everything, leaving no detail out. He told me about Autumn. About catching her sneaking out of our father’s bedroom. About Father flipping out on her when she showed up at the house a week ago, and the harsh things he’d said to her.

I couldn’t lie, it had all come as quite a shock to me. Sure, I’d suspected something was going on between Autumn and my father after witnessing how they interacted on Talon’s island. But suspecting was one thing, and having cold, hard, definitive proof was another thing entirely.

My whole life, the only woman I’d ever seen my father with was my mother. Even after she died, he’d shown zero interest in the opposite sex despite the fact that everywhere he went, menandwomen threw themselves at him. So, it had been a little weird seeing that spark of interest in his eyes whenever he looked at Autumn.

But despite that weirdness, I was happy for him. Happy to see he was finally allowing himself toliveagain. To actually enjoy life instead of just cruising right on through it.

I should have known better than that, though.

“Okay,” I blew out, a mixture of emotions warring within me. Arturo stood behind me, his hand on my shoulder. I took comfort in it. It made me feel better having him there with me. “And he’s been locked in his office ever since?”

Aleksandr nodded stiffly.

“He hasn’t come out once?” I asked, panic starting to take root in my heart. Arturo somehow sensed it, squeezing my shoulder supportingly. “What if something happened? What if—”

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