Page 133 of Immaculate Corruption (Romanoff Bratva)

He winces. “Of course not, Arya. He would never.”

“But you know what it is, don’t you?”

“Yes,” Gennady says. “I know what the third Trial is.”

“He told me when we met that he’d never sell a woman. And look at what he’s trying to do now. So don’t say ‘he would never,’ Gennady. You can’t promise me that. He’s trampling all over the line he swore he’d never cross.”

“For you! And for Lukas!” Gennady lets out a long breath. “Our life isn’t always pretty, Arya. Dima has to make tough decisions. So many people rely on him. Ilyasov’s leadership would destroy the city.”

I roll my eyes. “Noble fucking Dima. A regular knight in shining armor.”

“He saved you, didn’t he?”

Gennady’s words stun me. They’re so simple and yet so accurate.

Dimadidsave me. Time and time again, he risked himself to do what was best for me and for Lukas.

“Maybe,” I admit. “But that’s in the past. He went too far this time, Gennady. There’s no coming back from some things.”

“In this case, I might be inclined to agree with you. What he did today is… not good.”

I frown. “What did he do?”

“He kidnapped Vera.”

My heart plummets. “Hewhat?”

“He’s desperate, Arya. I couldn’t calm him down or anything. He just called me and told me that he’d tracked her after she left the house from talking to you, he picked up her up, and he had her in a Bratva warehouse in the meatpacking district.”

I can feel the blood rushing in my ears. My fingertips are trembling. Lukas is squirming again, too.

“She’s… she’s pregnant,” I stammer. “He wouldn’t actually…”

“She’s not pregnant anymore,” Gennady sighs.

“Oh my fucking God. She lost the babies?”

“No, no, no,” he says hurriedly. “Nothing that morbid. She just… had them.”

“So she’s in a hospital?”

He winces again. “Well… not quite.”

“Explain, Gennady,” I snap.

He quickly tells me the rest of the story. How Lauren and the Bratva doctor came and delivered Vera’s babies. How they took them to the hospital, while Dima and Vera split off and went somewhere else.

“Is he going to kill her?” I ask quietly.

Gennady shakes his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Is he going to kill Ilyasov?”

“I don’t know.”

“Whatdoyou know?”

“I know that if you don’t come back and help me bring him back to his right mind, then lots of people are going to die, Arya.”

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