Page 76 of Bratva Bride

Vincenzo came over and plucked her from Alessandro's grip, despite his father's protest. He squeezed her tightly, kissing her on the forehead and closing his eyes."Per Dio, non farlo di nuovo Teodora. Ero cosi spaventato per te."By God, don't do that, Theodora. I was so scared for you.

Something I had noticed about the De Lucas was that whenever anything stressful happened, they all seemed to revert back to their native tongue. It was a good thing that I was fluent in Italian, otherwise I would never know what they were bloody saying.

Alessandro leaned over, his face full of love and affection as he kissed her on the cheek. "Take her to your mother. Now. Don't let her or Lucian out of your sight, do you hear me? They were both targeted during this attack. I'm not risking anything else happening," Alessandro told Vincenzo, his eyes hard.

"Si, Padre."Yes, Father.

Vincenzo immediately turned on his heels, leaving the room in a hurry. Alessandro turned to Nadia, extending his hand. "I can't thank you enough for saving my daughter, for keeping her safe. If you ever need anything, the De Luca family will be there for you." He bowed respectfully, bringing her hand to his lips and kissing the back of it.

Nadia blushed, her olive skin turning beet red. I couldn't blame her. Despite his age, Alessandro was in great shape and was one of the most handsome men I'd ever met. Clearly, good genes ran in their family.

"It was really nothing. I'm sure anyone else would have done the same thing in my position."

Alessandro's lips twitched. "I doubt it."

The door to my father's office opened and several men came piling in, carrying the dead bodies of our enemy. Twenty-seven in total. Not bad, considering we were taken completely by surprise. Father pointed to the empty space in the middle of the room and the bodies were dropped carelessly in the spot he indicated.

They were all dressed in identical clothing. Black long-sleeved shirts, black pants, black boots, black gloves and a black balaclava over their heads.

"Strip them," Father commanded.

The men stripped them down to nothing but their boxers.

Once stripped, it was easy to tell what nationality they were. That, and the fact the ink on their skin was very foretelling. They were a mixture of Mexican and Italian descent - meaning it had to be Nero behind the attack.

My father growled in anger, clearly coming to the same conclusion I did. He kicked one of the bodies in frustration. "Reach out to our contacts in the LVPD and get them to run their prints through the database. I want names, addresses, everything you can get on these fuckers. Dispose of their bodies discreetly afterwards."

My father's men moved as one, picking up the lifeless bodies and heading towards the door. But something still wasn't right. Something was gnawing at me, at my mind. And if I didn’t figure it out soon, it was going to make me crazy.

Well, crazier.

I moved to the pile of blood-stained clothes that had come from our attackers and started sifting through it.

"Is this it?" I asked no one in particular.

"Is what it?" Aleksandr moved to my side, studying the pile of clothes.

"Is this all they had on them? Where are their weapons?"

"Weapons?" Stefano scoffed. "What weapons? All I saw were knives and a few mediocre handguns."

Everyone in the room nodded in agreement, which only served to confuse me more. I furrowed my brows as my mind continued to work. My father sensed my confusion and moved to join Aleksandr and I.

"What is it,moya doch?" My daughter?

I tried to get my thoughts under control. Whatwasit? Something. Something wasn't right. I was missing...something.

"If you were planning to attack not only one of your enemies, but two, would you send your men into the fight with nothing but a bunch of knives and some shitty handguns?"

Father narrowed his eyes. "Of course not."

"No. You wouldn't. You'd send them in with the best of the best, ensuring their victory."

Father nodded like it was an obvious statement.

"So...why didn't Nero?"

The room fell silent, my question left hanging in the air. Why would Nero send his men to attack when they were seriously outgunned? It made no fucking sense.

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