Page 30 of Ruthless Daddies

He leans back in his chair. “Ah,” he says, setting his toast down with deliberate care. “So thisisabout her. You’re interested.”

“She’s off-limits,” I say finally, my voice like steel. “Do you understand me? Off. Limits.”

Dmitri shrugs. “Whatever you say, big brother.”

But the gleam in his eyes tells me all I need to know.

Dmitri’s smirk is back in place, as if the entire conversation we just had was a game he’s already won. My patience wears thinner with every passing second, but I force myself to stay focused.

“We don’t have time for this,” I say, my voice low, controlled. “There are real threats out there, Dmitri. The Solonov family isn’t going to sit back and wait for us to clean up our mess.”

At the mention of the Solonovs, Dmitri’s expression sharpens. “The Solonovs haven’t been a problem since we put Pavel out of commission,” he says, his tone lighter than it should be. “I doubt his son has the balls to step up.”

“Don’t underestimate Lev,” I say, my jaw tightening. “He’s been quiet, but he’s watching. And then there’s the Kovals. You think they haven’t noticed that we’re spread thin? That Luka and Mila were nearly taken yesterday?”

Dmitri leans back in his chair, his gaze thoughtful now, though he doesn’t lose that infuriating air of nonchalance. “The Kovals are cowards,” he says. “They’ll wait until they’re sure they have the upper hand.”

“And what if that’s sooner than we think?” I snap. “We can’t afford distractions, Dmitri. Not now.”

His eyes narrow, a flicker of something darker crossing his face, but before he can respond, my phone buzzes on the table. I glance down, and the moment I see the message, the world tilts on its axis.

I know what happened to her.

They’re simple words, but they hit like a punch to the gut. My chest tightens, my breath catching as I stare at the screen, the letters blurring together. It’s impossible. It can’t mean what I think it does.

“What is it?” Dmitri asks, his voice cutting through the haze.

“Nothing,” I say quickly, my voice rough. I can feel his eyes on me, probing, but I can’t look at him. My mind is racing, every nerve on edge as I try to process the message.

I type a quick reply—Who is this? What do you know?—and hit send. But the message doesn’t go through. The number is untraceable, blocked. My frustration mounts as I try again, only to be met with the same result.

“Dmitri,” I say, my voice low, urgent. “How do you trace a number that doesn’t go through?”

His brows furrow, the teasing edge gone now. He straightens, setting down his coffee. “Let me see it.”

I hesitate for a moment before handing him the phone. He glances at the screen, his expression unreadable, then looks back at me. “Who sent this?”

“I don’t know,” I admit, my voice tight. “But I need to find out.”

Dmitri nods, already pulling out his own phone. “I’ll get on it. But it’s not going to be easy. If they’ve gone to the trouble of masking the number, they know what they’re doing.”

I exhale slowly, trying to calm the storm in my chest. My mind drifts back, unbidden, to Elena. To her smile, her laugh, the way she used to hum softly when she thought no one was listening.

Her death was an accident. That’s what we were told. A car crash, the details fuzzy, the investigation inconclusive.

“Ivan,” Dmitri says, pulling me back to the present. “This is about her, isn’t it?”

I glance at him sharply, but he doesn’t flinch. His gaze is steady, his expression unreadable, but I can see the flicker of understanding in his eyes. Dmitri knows me too well to be fooled.

“She’s been gone for years,” he continues, his voice quieter now. “Why would someone bring her up now?”

“I don’t know,” I say, my voice rough. “But I’m going to find out.”

Dmitri nods slowly, his expression thoughtful. “You’re thinking it wasn’t an accident,” he says, not as a question, but as a statement.

I don’t answer, but the silence speaks for itself.

The truth is, I’ve always had my doubts. The timing was too convenient, the circumstances too strange. Elena was careful, meticulous. She didn’t make mistakes, especially not behind the wheel. But the investigation turned up nothing, and I had two children to protect. I couldn’t afford to dwell on it.

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