Page 12 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

To make matters worse, Sky had no idea that her conversation with him was driving me up the wall. She had no clue, so it wasn’t like I could blame her for intentionally trying to rile me up.

All the while, my gaze came close to burning holes into the back of his head, I found myself mentally going through those employee files to try and recall who he was. As he gave her a subdued laugh and nodded at whatever she said, I couldn’t fight the urge to learn every piece of information I could about him, all to ruin him and prevent him from getting in the way of me and Sky.

But that was crazy. God, it was insane…

My fingers were moving before I could stop them as I tapped the screen in my grasp and accessed those digital files. My eyes focused on what I was doing all the while my ears were fixed on the conversation happening across the room from me, I swiped through the list of employees until I found his face.

Raf Ajello. That was his name.

An Italian too…

I internally scoffed to myself as I faintly shook my head and took in more of his information.

Even in his photo, his short, sandy-blonde hair was pulled back in that stupid preppy hairstyle. There was anunimposing, almost naive look in his green eyes that just screamed how gentle he tried to be.

As much as I thought he seemed like a loser of sorts, I couldn’t help the sharp jab of jealousy in my side. He was exactly the type I assumed Sky would go for.

They both seemed friendly with those sunny demeanors. I could almost picture them doing something as predictable as going to see movies on the weekend, or volunteering at animal shelters or something…bonding and being happy, and—

Shut up.

Christ, what was wrong with me?

This woman was making me lose my mind and she had no idea.

Gritting my teeth, I shook off those destructive thoughts and instead focused on the file in front of me, trying to drown out how they continued to chat aimlessly, not even discussing work at that point.

All the while I took in Raf’s picture, I couldn’t help but feel suspicious of him. He seemed almost too clean…too proper.

Plus, it didn’t help that he was hired only a few months ago. He was one of the newer ones and one of the people I flagged for that fact alone.

Of course, it was impossible to know if my suspicions were accurate, or if it was just the flaming jealousy getting the better of me. Either way, I made the mental note to do a deeper background check on him, and to make a new pile of potential suspects.

As much as I wanted to jump in and confront him then and there…to ruin his image in front of Sky, I couldn’t. I had to show some restraint for the sake of everything.

Still, it was a tempting thought.

Before I could do something stupid, I forced out a breath and tried to keep my focus on investigating.

Even if Raf ended up just being a nice guy, I could justify looking further into him if it meant getting to the bottom of things.

Sure, it was partially charged by personal matters, but either way, I couldn’t leave any stone unturned.

To keep everyone safe, I needed to root out any possible rats, and I needed to get it done sooner rather than later.

Chapter 6 - Sky

Despite the somewhat strange morning, I had with Damien after he practically made me accept the ride he offered, the rest of my day seemed to be panning out like normal. It was somewhat of a relief to me, even if I still ended up seeing him a few times after the fact.

It wasn’t too out of the ordinary, at least. He usually did several passes of each floor throughout the day, either watching as everyone worked or carrying a tablet that seemed to have some sort of surveillance feed on it. Regardless, it was becoming more normal to see him around, and it was easier to focus, even if there was something demanding about his presence.

As he blended in with the background of the office, I let myself continue to work as usual.

Like most days, I’d check in with the workers on my floor, jumping in to help wherever I could. I provided suggestions and worked with the others to solve any issues or questions that arose while they worked on articles. Some were more tame pieces, while others were a bit scalding in comparison as we reported on crimes in the city and anything that might be of public interest.

Of course, everything had to be run by Gemma before being published, but she tended to assign my floor with those assignments, given my knowledge, while limited, of her associations and what might be deemed compromising in some way. She took those matters seriously, and I couldn’t exactly blame her for that.

If my husband’s reputation was on the line and could be easily scrutinized by the public, I’d probably do the same thing.

---