Page 58 of The Bratva's Forced Innocent Bride

But I saw the truth of it too late, because he was done with me, setting me loose now that the danger to my life had passed. Maybe his words really did mean nothing, or I had tricked myself into believing he cared about me so much I could stomp all over him however I pleased.

“I can go?” I whispered. Olivia’s nod hurt worse than my headache or my sore face. Worse than any pain I’d experienced.

“When everything’s settled,” she said.

So, he was going to wait to spell things out to me. Fuck that. I jumped up, nearly knocking the kitchen chair backward in my haste.

“You have to wait until things are back to normal,” she called after me as she hurried to catch up.

No, I didn’t have time for that. I couldn’t wait around for this agony to consume me. I had to get out of this house, sick and tired of being told what I could and couldn’t do and when I could or couldn’t do it. I had to get back in control, for the first time in far too long.

I was already colliding with Max’s second-in-command before she could reach me, so I grabbed his arm. “You have to get me out of here,” I demanded, on the verge of hysteria. I could barely see straight. I only had one objective, to get that pain in my heart to stop. “You have to take me where I want to go, right now!”

Chapter 39 - Max

It didn’t take long to find the leader of the Italian organization after I had a few words with the guy Nik had been interrogating. I kept my promise to let him live for giving up the information without making me break too much of a sweat, and we headed over to the seedy hotel where his leader was hiding out.

The neighborhood was quiet and rundown, and we easily paid off a few people staggering out of a nearby bar to go up to the designated floor of the hotel and make such a ruckus that any guards would run them off. It worked like a charm, and as soon as we saw the two-armed men chasing them down the hall toward the emergency stairs, Ivan and I slipped inside the room.

The man’s name was Geraldo Rossi, and he was halfway through a bottle of red wine when we slammed the door behind us, startling the crap out of him. By the looks of the empty bottles on the table, he hadn’t just started celebrating.

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded, standing unsteadily on his feet. He shouted in Italian for his guards, who weren’t coming if Nik had done his job, and knocked them out once they were in the stairwell. “What do you think you’re doing in my room?”

I covered the small room in two strides and had my hand locked around his throat before he could blink. “Giving you some very good advice.”

Geraldo reached for something in his pocket, but stopped when he heard the clicking noise behind me. I didn’t have to turn to know my brother had his gun trained on him. The drunk man’s face told me everything I needed to know.

He let out a string of swear words, half of them I didn’t understand, but I got the gist. He was pissed, and I soon realized it wasn’t with me or Ivan. He was cursing Luca.

“You made a deal with the wrong guy,” I said.

“I’m just realizing that,” he said as best he could with my hand still gripping his neck. I loosened up and nodded for him to continue. “Supposedly, my father owed his father some favor. I don’t know anything about it except I’m trying to pay a debt so I can get home.” He continued to complain about how Luca never even visited the old country except for some stupid jobs. “This isn’t personal,” he finished.

“It is personal for me, though,” I told him coldly, but I was half amused at how much he seemed to dislike Luca. Something we had in common. I filled him in on why his distant relative had called them over to the States, explaining the place where I’d just picked up my wife. “That’s the kind of person you’re doing favors for, Rossi,” I said, shoving him back into his chair.

The bottle of wine toppled, its red liquid spilling across the table like blood. I nodded to it, raising a brow as I waited to see what kind of a turn this visit would take. Geraldo looked like he wanted to start throwing punches, and not at me.

“You want me to take care of him?” he asked.

I shook my head. “That’s going to be my pleasure. I do want you to get the fuck out of California, though.”

“You and me both,” he said, reaching behind him. Ivan made a halting noise and raised his gun, but Geraldo was only trying to get a fresh bottle. “I’ll have my people on a plane by tomorrow,” he promised, struggling to get the corkscrew in.

This was way too easy and a bit of a letdown. I took a step closer, leaning over the table. “This isn’t personal,” I said, meaning it. “But you know I’ve got to do it.”

Hauling back my fist, I cracked him in the jaw hard enough to send him toppling backward. The bottle remained clutched in his hand and it was only his drunken state of not being able to get the cork out that kept that one from spilling when he landed with a crash, out cold.

“Is that it?” Ivan asked as we headed down. I sent a text telling Nik to meet us at the car and leave the men unharmed, or at least not to harm them anymore than he already did.

“If he doesn’t keep his word and they’re not out of here by tomorrow night, you pitbulls can have at them. For now, just keep some men on them to make sure Geraldo up there does what he’s supposed to.”

“Are you getting soft?” Ivan asked, earning a fast, hard punch in the gut that had him doubling over. “Jesus, I was just kidding,” he groaned, hobbling the rest of the way to the car.

I left them to oversee the building until backup arrived to relieve them and headed back to the diner on my own. What was left of it. The firefighters were finishing up, continuing to spray water on the sizzling pile of ashes that had been my pride and joy for so long. My baby was gone, nothing more than an insurance claim at that point, but I couldn’t stand around and mourn for long with Brooke’s wellbeing at the forefront of my mind. Now that things were settled for the moment, I was itching to get back to her side.

Dawn was just starting to break. I had been away much longer than I wanted, but hopefully, she was still getting the rest she needed to recuperate from her ordeal. Dragging my eyes off the smoking rubble, I made my way back to my car. Just as I wasabout to get in, there was a commotion on the other side of the barriers. Hearing a familiar voice, I whipped around to see my second-in-command crashing into view among the straggling firefighters and the few leftover onlookers.

What the hell? He was supposed to be watching over Brooke. I had at least a dozen other guards at the house, but he was the one I trusted the most. He never should have left her alone, no matter what new bullshit had arisen that made him think he needed to be here. I was about to let him know that with a crack to the head, but then a firefighter moved aside to reveal Brooke.

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