Page 90 of Dark Truths

“What does Sergei lying about my son’s fertility have to do with your suspicions?” Dante asks.

The weird feeling I got when I spoke with Sergei returns. “I don’t know. It’s hard to explain, but if he could lie so easily to you, to me, what else is he lying about?”

“Seems to run in the family.” Michael grunts. “Lying.”

And now we’re back to hating me, it seems. “Sergei isnotmy family.”

“Oh, that’s right. Gabriella is now,” Michael says, tilting his head to look at me with a curious and judgmental expression. “Tell me,Clark, why should we trust you? Why should we believe a single word you say? For all we know, you could be lying about everything, and this is all some elaborate set up. Just because you’re married to my sister doesn’t mean shit.”

Having heard enough, Gabriella leans forward and levels her brother with an equally sarcastic look, proving just how hot thatItalian blood runs in her veins. “Then how about because I’m pregnant too, you idiot?”

33

Gabriella

“Here.”

I meet Lily’s concerned but also exasperated eyes as she hands me a first aid kit. Muttering my thanks, I take it and watch her pick up another one before she rejoins Rose where they’re working on my idiot brothers.

“I’m sorry,” Dimitri apologizes again, pulling my attention back to him.

I dig through the first aid kit for the supplies I need and gather them on my lap. “It’s fine.”

I can feel his narrowed eyes burrow into me. “When a woman says fine, she means anything but that.”

“Have a lot of experience with that, Dimitri?” I ask.

“With you?” he asks, catching on to my sarcastic tone. “Yes.”

Across the room, Michael shouts as Rose uses wipes I know burn on his split lip. I purposely pick up the same wipes and add the packets to my pile. Dimitri notices and sighs but stays silent. Smart man.

“What were you thinking?” My anger lingers, simmering beneath the surface.

“I was thinking about protecting you.”

I roll my eyes and ignore his growled “angel,” to say, “I was in no danger. My brothers would never have hurt me.”

“Not intentionally, no,” he agrees. “But they could have on accident.”

It’s frustrating how sound and right his logic is…annoyingly so.

Following the announcement of my pregnancy, my brothers lunged at Dimitri. It was unfair two against one, but Dimitri handled himself just long enough to give Enzo and dad time to grab my brothers. Still, he has a split brow and is going to have a nasty black eye once the swelling goes down. His nose is bleeding but doesn’t appear to be broken, thankfully.

Thankfully, they refrained from drawing for their guns, and I’m relieved that the fight ended as fast as it started. Had it gone on any longer, there’s no doubt someone would have ended up with bullet holes.

I get why everyone is upset. It's a lot of news to take in and not all of it's pleasant to hear. But instead of acting like grown fucking men, my brothers succumbed to their hot Italian blood and acted without thinking. A trait I also share, given how I’m treating Dimitri for doing nothing but defending himself and me.

“You’re right,” I concede. “Thank you for protecting me.”

“Always.”

We share a smile before I press an alcohol swab to his brow, and he hisses, shifting away from my touch and the stinging pain.

“That’s for hitting my brothers.”

Dimitri tosses a sneer in their direction. Michael and Raphael sit in front of Rose and Lily, being similarly doctored. Whilethere’s an entire room between us, you can still feel the tension in the air. “They struck first.”

“True,” I admit with a single shoulder shrug. “But they are still my brothers.”

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