Page 61 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

“What do you want?”

Esidor grinned as he leaned forward, edging a bit closer to me with his voice low. “I want to make the Levovs pay for the way they disgraced my father and our family…how they ruined what could’ve been a legacy worth remembering. And asa fortunate byproduct of both families working together, I’ll take the Novikovs down while I’m at it. For the first time in what seems like forever, I’ll bring the most notorious family in New York to their knees, and the Pesci family will gladly take their place.”

Taking in his intentions made my heart clench, aware of how many people would be affected by it if they were to succeed.

I didn’t know that much about their business, but I did know the Levovs were notorious for a reason. They were feared and respected for a reason.

Surely, some ostracized family wouldn’t be able to make waves big enough to bring them down.

Despite the concern that flowed through me, I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’ll never work…”

He snickered. “Planting Raf in the office and funneling whatever information he could get his hands on to me worked so far…along with tricking Damien and getting you here. It was a long-haul plan, but you’ll see eventually, sweetheart. It’ll all be worth it.”

My skin crawled all over again at his smug, seemingly all-knowing tone. He was far too confident about it all, and it made goosebumps rise on my arms.

“Thanks to you and that baby inside you, I’ll have all the money and influence I could ever want soon enough,” he hummed, reaching forward to take my chin between his fingers. He inspected me closely, tipping my head from side to side, and he gave a half-impressed, half-bored hum. “Not bad…but I think my sister has you beat. It’s a shame none of those Levovs gave her a second glance.”

More anger moved through me then as I grit my teeth and tried to pull out of his grasp.

But he only chuckled and tightened his grip, focusing solely on my face. “Now, now, Sky…you don’t want me doing anything drastic to keep you in line, do you?”

Even if he could’ve been all bark and no bite, the dark, almost sadistic gleam in his eyes told me I didn’t want to find out what he meant by that.

Another spike of fear moved through me, and in that moment, I could only silently pray that Damien would find me before it was too late…before Esidor’s patience ran out.

Chapter 27 - Damien

I didn’t know how much longer I could take of it…of not being able to see Sky with my own eyes.

It was one thing for us to be able to track her location but to know her current status was another. Without knowing if she was okay was driving me insane, and even with my family by my side, along with the Levovs, it still felt like we weren’t doing enough. Like we weren’t moving as quickly as we should’ve been.

I knew that nothing would feel like enough, and until I found he,r I’d be insatiable…uncontrollable.

That fixation I had on her, even if it had been tamed by her more recent acceptance, it seemed to rear its ugly head at the notion of her being taken and held somewhere we were just then reaching.

Despite my ever-growing impatience and the desperate need to find her, I had my family with me. I had the force of two significant families in New York behind me, and it was time to get Sky out of there.

After regrouping in a back alleyway that led to the nightclub, Alex, Ari, and I came up with a game plan, everyone was in position and ready to have the place secured from the inside.

The Pesci club would be crawling with patrons given the hour, and we had reason to believe the kingpin was already there.

“We did a thermal check, and from what we can tell, there should be at least two heat signatures in this back room,” Ari said, pointing to a rough floor plan of the club. “We believe Esidor and Sky are currently there.”

“We’ll send the first group in to disperse the patrons and hopefully get them out of the way, take out the guards, then leave it open for you to infiltrate the room,” Alex said, holding my gaze. There was nothing short of determination in his eyes. “We’ll be right behind you.”

With a nod, itching to get started already, I cocked my pistol. “It shouldn’t be a problem…I already have the layout memorized.”

“Good…” my brother affirmed with a single tip of his head. “If anything goes wrong, we’ll back you up. Remember…focus on the target. Neutralize the kingpin and we’ll handle everyone else.”

“I’ve got it,” I said, completely zeroed in on what I needed to do. While I appreciated the subtle support and reassurance in Alex’s eyes, I didn’t have time to focus on it. I needed to get in there, and I needed to find Sky.

“Alright…we’re going in,” Ari said, lifting a hand to signal to the first group of guys.

Wordlessly, the leader nodded, then pushed the doors open and began pouring inside. With a warning yell, alerting the patrons to clear out, we caught a few screams from the otherwise soundproof club thanks to the door being open.

Shifting back and forth on my feet, expression hard as I waited, I could only think about Sky…of how terrified she must’ve been thanks to Raf and the bastard kingpin.

She never should’ve been brought into any of it…she never should’ve had to face the dangers I wanted to safeguard her from.

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