Page 40 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. “The Levovs turned out to be more resilient and stronger than we anticipated…they’ve been hard to crack, which made our boss turn his attention to you…the Novikovs.”

As frustrating as it was, it only made sense. It wasn’t difficult to see how both the Levov and Novikov names were becoming intertwined as of late, and if someone were to assume the former was too difficult to overcome, then it was only logical to hit the next best thing instead.

Even with my efforts to get the situation under control before my family could be roped into it, it seemed I was too late. They were setting their sights on us, and at the moment, we didn’t know who we were up against.

But that didn’t mean they’d be able to get the upper hand. There was still time. There had to be.

Finally, as my anger continued to brew within me, I leaned a touch closer. “Tell me then…who do you work for?”

The question sparked more resistance in Dario, but when I glanced at Daniil, he pulled his gun on him and pressed it against his temple.

The quick motion caused the captive to freeze up and his eyes widened. “Wait...wait—”

“Who do you work for?” I repeated, tone cold.

Swallowing hard, he closed his eyes and uttered, “The Pesci’s…The Pesci family…”

The moment the name reached me, recognition set in, and my brows furrowed.

That damn name again. The one we heard while Sky was conducting her interviews.

It didn’t make sense to me how their name connected between both the attacks on the Levovs and the recent crimes in that neighborhood, but that didn’t matter. I finally had a name and the slightest confirmation that they were a problem that couldn’t be ignored. I could only hope whatever else Sky managed to dig up on them would help my case.

Finally, I had something to work with.

Satisfied then, I grinned and leaned forward, face closer to Dario. “How old are you?”

Regardless of how the question caught him off-guard, he remained in his seat, slumped with defeat as he murmured, “Twenty-two…”

He was younger than I thought. Too young to find himself in such a precarious position.

I had a choice in front of me, and despite myself, I erred on mercy.

“Alright, kid…since you gave us what we needed, we’re going to let you go,” I said, apparently surprising Daniil as he cocked a brow at me.

Still, I focused on Dario and the fear that surrounded him so easily. “You’re going to crawl back to your boss and give him a message on our behalf. You ready to hear it?”

Through his defeat, Dario nodded.

My grin stretched slightly, feeling even more motivated than before to put an end to it all. “I want you to tell them Damien Novikov said your rats can’t hide for much longer…and soon enough, they will be caught between our teeth.”

It was both a threat and a promise, and I wasn’t going to falter until it was over.

Chapter 18 - Sky

Waking up that morning seemed harder than usual, to my surprise.

Even after working all week, I tended to still be an early riser. Normally, I’d get up with no problem and start my Saturday off on a good note, but for whatever reason, I couldn’t bring myself to move all that quickly.

Instead, I pulled myself out of bed, made myself some breakfast, and tried to keep myself relatively alert.

But while I stood over the stove while a few eggs fried in the pan, I felt like I could hardly keep my eyes open—even after drinking a coffee.

Those few minutes started to feel like a lifetime as I watched the eggs gradually become more opaque, sending out their usual fragrance that would normally make me hungrier.

But at that moment, my stomach lurched as my nose turned up at the scent, and it took everything in me to keep what remained in my stomach down.

Unable to handle it after a moment, I turned the burner off and removed the pan from the heat before deciding I just couldn’t do it.

---