Page 51 of Dark Truths

“Shouldn’t you?” she challenges with a raised brow in the mirror’s reflection.

I narrow my eyes in response. “I’m not his family.”

Sophia’s face twists into a scowl. “No, but he sure would like you to be. I’m just his daughter.”

She spits out the last word as if it tastes bad in her mouth. Which to her, it does. A girl heir in the Bratva means nothing more than a princess did centuries ago. Royal blood that is only good for one thing…a royal womb.

Sergei’s suggestion floats to the front of my mind. A marriage between me and Sophia. From the way she looks me up and down in the mirror, she knows about it, too.

Alexei makes an exasperated sound as he climbs to his feet, before making a very obvious gesture about fixing his pants in front of us. “Did you need me, boss?”

“Yes. Did you get my text?”

He checks his phone and reads over my message. “Just got it.”

Sophia purposefully sighs loud enough to get our attention because Lord forbid if it’s off her for more than five seconds. “Well, I should get downstairs. Will you accompany me, Dimitri?”

I catch Alexei's frown and see a flash of disappointment cross his face before it disappears when Sophia links her arm through mine. She pulls me out of the office with Alexei trailing behind us like a hurt puppy dog. When we get to the bottom of the stairs, I spy her father in a deep conversation with someone on the phone.

He hasn't noticed us yet, allowing me to overhear him say, “—expect a delivery. Young and—”

“Daddy!” Sophia exclaims, effectively cutting off whatever conversation Sergei was in, and I could kill the girl for it.

Sergei cuts off his phone call and smiles at his daughter, welcoming her into his arms. I catch his curious gaze over her shoulder. He's wondering if I overheard him. I did, but not enough. So why does he look like he’d just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar?

21

Gabriella

It’s been a rough couple of weeks, and that’s putting it lightly.

The weight of seeing your oldest friend be shot, your surprise nephew and his mom get kidnapped by her deranged father, and your eldest brother putting his life on the line to protect his family is overwhelming for any girl. And then with the added stress of school and finals, it’s a wonder I haven’t lost all my hair or gone insane yet.

Tonight is the first time in weeks that I’ve been able to have a moment to myself longer than a bathroom break and actually cook dinner at home. Now that Michael is awake and on the road to recovery and Enzo is busy being spoiled rotten by Evie, Rose’s best friend, I can breathe a sigh of relief. Now if my family could just cool it with the drama through the holidays, I’d greatly appreciate it.

The Jacuzzi beeps, announcing it has reached the desired temperature, breaking through my thoughts. I top off my glass of wine, giggling to myself when the bottle goes dry. Oops. Whatdoes it say about me when I can finish an entire 750 ml bottle by myself?

Stressed. That’s what it says.

I set my glass down on the side table before slipping out of my robe and climbing into the warm and bubbly water. Releasing a sound between a moan and a sigh, I sink further into the water and close my eyes, savoring the feeling of my tight muscles responding to the soothing heat by slowly releasing. This is what I needed. This and wine.

I reach out for my glass, but my fingers find nothing but empty air. Opening my eyes this time, I glance at the table to find it bare. What? I brought the glass out…right?

Sitting up, I lean over the side to see if maybe I knocked the glass to the floor, but see nothing. Not even my robe or sandals.

“Okay. What the fuck?” I mumble to myself, and prepare to climb out of the hot tub to find my phone, when a hand wraps around my hair and tugs me back hard into an unyielding chest.

“Language, angel,” a voice whispers into my ear.

“Dimitri.” His name slips from my mouth like a sigh.It's been difficult seeing him lately. We text every day, and FaceTime when we can, but it's not the same as seeing someone in person. When we talk, we skirt around the conversation we need to have, but falling back intothis, whatever this is, has been easy and a lot more enjoyable than a potential heart breaking conversation.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asks, his mouth dangerously close to the junction where my shoulder and neck meet.

"What do you think you're doing?" I repeat back.

"I came to see you." His breath along my skin feels hotter than the water. "To talk to you." And then he nips at my skin and I jump. "But imagine my surprise when I find you naked for all the world to see."

"No one can see me here, Dimitri," I argue. Unless you have a pair of see through glasses, the area where my Jacuzzi rests is private. "I'm perfectly safe."

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