Page 30 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

I blinked back the haze it created in my mind and cleared my throat with a nod, uncharacteristically compliant as I turned my left signal on and turned onto the correct street.

As much as her voice startled me, I still wanted to hear more of it, and I could only hope she didn’t intend to be silent the whole time.

Parking the car, we both got out and stood on the sidewalk where the last crime scene had been. Sky took a notepad out of her tote bag, along with a recorder, and she studied the beginning of her notes.

With my hands in my pockets, I glanced around, making sure the coast was clear. Upon inspection, it was a rougher neighborhood, but at that moment, nothing seemed out of the ordinary or caused alarm.

Even if I wanted to be around her for selfish reasons, her safety was still my top priority, regardless of how she felt about it.

“What happened here?” I asked curiously, taking in the street that had been returned to normal after whatever crime unfolded and was cleaned up.

Sky sighed to herself, then looked around. “A hit and run…it happened about two weeks ago now, but the police haven’t gotten any solid leads on the case despitethere being several eye-witness accounts. It should’ve been a straightforward case, but for some reason, it didn’t go anywhere.”

“I see,” I murmured, considering the details. “What's your game plan then?”

Even if she couldn’t hide her obvious annoyance, she was still right to the point with me anyway. “I’ll go door to door and ask if anyone has information on what happened. If nothing ties this case to any of the other incidents around here, then at least I’ll know.”

It was difficult to not find her work mode incredibly sexy, but I forced myself to concentrate on the task at hand. There was a time and place and the sidewalk while trying to zero in on a hit-and-run case was not it.

“Alright…lead the way.”

Sky didn’t seem quite as annoyed at that, and with a nod, she began.

We started at the far end of the street and made our way down, going door to door and asking residents in the neighborhood if they knew anything about the accident or the perpetrator. For the most part, Sky either received the wild ramblings and repeated stories told by people more worked up about the fact that it happened rather than anyone with something she could work with, or she was dismissed. Those people either didn’t want to speak to any press, or they knew nothing and wanted to keep it that way.

For the most part, Sky seemed disappointed in what little information she was gaining from the public, but she put on a brave face and kept going anyway.

I admired that about her, but at the same time, I found myself growing restless too, wishing more people would open upabout whatever information they knew. Even if I didn’t admit it outright, I was getting invested in it too, wondering if it did connect to any of the other crimes and if we had something bigger on our hands.

When Sky knocked on the front door of an old brick house, a man pulled the interior door back, gave her a once-over, then scoffed. “What do you want?”

Sky gave her usual greeting and let the man know she was a journalist for a local media outlet looking for some insight into what happened, and for a moment, a look of recognition scurried across his face—almost like he knew something.

That expression soon faded into an irritated one. “I don’t know nothin’, and I don’t talk to reporters anyhow.”

I caught the vague slump of Sky’s shoulders at that, and in an instant, I was irritated.

Well aware that I was supposed to just be her guard and escort her around the neighborhood, staying quiet and out of the way, I couldn’t help myself.

“It seems a lot like you know something,” I interjected, reaching for the handle of the screen door and pulling it open. “And you’d rather turn this nice reporter away instead of making yourself useful…”

Sky immediately froze up next to me, prepared to stop me, but I ignored her and opened the door to leave nothing between us and the man.

Upon seeing me up close and how I loomed over him, the man’s eyes widened, and he took a slight step back, dropping his tough, indifferent demeanor at once.

“Mind sharing with us, pal?”

Finally, the man nodded and stepped aside, allowing us inside his home.

Sky glanced at me as I gave her a satisfied grin, but instead of looking pleased with my slight flex of power, she let go of a breath, shook her head, and followed inside.

After hearing everything the man had to say and leaving with a few tidbits of useful information, the two of us were back on the street, wandering towards the next house, when I smiled and put my hands in my pockets.

“Not too bad, hm? Sometimes you need a bit of muscle to get someone to talk.”

Sky scoffed. “That was incredibly inappropriate of you.”

“Inappropriate?”

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