Page 103 of Stolen Seconds

That nauseating feeling in my stomach came back along with the heavy weight in my chest. I wanted to tell him the truth, that I was, but if Nico knew this, I couldn’t guarantee that Luca wouldn’t find out. He’d chain me to his bed if he did.

I smiled at him even when my heart cracked in two. “I’ll come visit you again when I can.” With a kiss on his forehead, I stood up and made it halfway across the room when his voice stopped me.

“Goodbye, Irina.”

He knew.Dammit. He knew.

“Goodbye, Nicolai.”

Chapter 27

Luca

Roman’s anger was palpable as we waited by Nicolai’s door.

Our relationship had taken a hit, and it was unusual for us to go this long on bad terms.

The only reason I was able to bring Irina to visit her brother was because I talked to Aurora and asked her to persuade Roman.

He could never say no to his wife.

My best friend leveled me with a stare. “I want her out of Italy. Away fromhim.”

I leaned back against the wall, hands in pockets. “You know I won’t agree to that.”

“You’re a fool,” he spat out, eyebrows pinched in exasperation. “She’s the daughter of thePakhan, Luca. Do you understand what that means?”

That she was calculating in her steps and the Bratva would come after her and Nicolai. I understood.

“We’ll be ready if the Bratva retaliates.” My voice was dangerously low when I said, “But I’m not letting her go.”

“Ready?” he scoffed, raking through his hair roughly. “You’ve hardly been useful as leader of the Camorra. What makes you think you could handle war when I’ve been picking up your slack?”

I chewed the inside of my cheek, knowing he was right. My mind wasn’t fully in the right headspace and everything I did for the Camorra sent me into a spiral filled with wrath.

Carrying after my father’s footsteps never sat well with me and if it hadn’t been for torturing him almost every other day, it wouldn’t have been worth it even a sliver.

“Even if you don’t think so, you’re stillmybrother,” I said as he stared at me hard until he sighed and turned away. “I wanther. Whatever it takes.”

“Does she wantyou?”

“Did Aurora want you at first?” I shot back, walking toward him. “How is it any different from what I’m doing?”

“Because mysonis now involved!” His obsidian eyes glowed with fury as he pointed toward Nico’s door. “And I’ll be damned if anyone tries taking him away.”

My heart pounded against my chest, lost for words. It was the first time he admitted how he saw our youngest member.

“I would never hurt him intentionally.” My voice was low and definite. “Irina would never hurt him.”

“Irina.” He chuckled, shaking his head. “I wouldn’t be surprised if it was her people who beat him half to death.”

I sympathized with him, but he was illogical in every sense. “Why do you act oblivious to Irina being in the same position as her brother? She was also there! Drugged and tortured.”

“I blame her for all of it.” His jaw ticked; face consumed with hatred. “And nothing will change that. If she had never come here, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“You’re being unreasonable. You know she’s not at fault for what happened.”

“No, I don’t,” he strained out, getting in my face. “I don’t know shit because whoever the fuck did this covered their tracks. They were strategic and clearly strapped with resources.”

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