Page 120 of Dark Promise (Suvorov Bratva 1)

I nearly gag.

“Throwing my lot in with them has gotten me more than anything you could have given me,” he continues. “Kiril doesn’t break his promises.”

“Kiril will do nothing but use you as a means to an end.”

He laughs. “Like you were? At least he’s honest about it.”

“You won’t gain anything, Jonas. You’ll just be thrown to the dogs when he’s exhausted your usefulness.”

Am I planning the same? Of course.

But he doesn’t know that.

My glare hardens on the gorgeous view I have of the city. “You’ll regret switching sides, Jonas. Kiril is my enemy. You can do math, right?” I grin darkly. “You sure as fuck can’t seem to do much else.”

“Sounds like you got tired of my sister and wanted to grab what you had before,” he accuses. “So, whatever you were thinking, dick bag, you’re not getting it. She’sminenow. Don’t even think about trying to crawl back.”

I have to stop myself from bursting into laughter.

Does he really think I miss that sorry piece of ass? Zoya was one of the worst fucks I’d ever had. She hardly knew what she was doing. She didn’t even try to please me. She just imitated whatever she saw in porn.

And even then, she failed at that.

Imitation was never her strong suit. She hardly had any strong suits worth mentioning, least of all her loyalty. If I’d married her, then her allegiance would have remained with her father. She would never have given herself to me completely.

And she wouldneverhave loved me as Liya does now.

Fury races to fuel my next verbal assault. But I hardly have the time to get the words out of my mouth when Jonas shouts, “You probably wanted to crawl back to Zoya the moment Liya told you!”

My muscles stiffen. “What?”

“She didn’t tell you?” He hums dramatically. “Gee, I wonder why she didn’t do that.”

“You son of a—”

“Because I told her aweekago.”

The line clicks and goes dead in my ear. In its place is the deafening drumbeat of my heart. I lower the phone slowly and then set it on the desk, watching the screen until it goes black.

Liya didn’t tell me.

I squeeze the edge of the desk so hard that my muscles ache. A high-pitched whine whistles in my ears as my blood races. Fight or flight kicks in. There’s no option to freeze this time. I have to do something.

She knew. I draw a deep breath, adjust my tie, and smooth my fingers through my hair as I head for the door.And she chose not to tell me.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Liya

Color swatches litter the coffee table. A jar of pickles sits to the right with a huge container of chocolate milk right next to it, accompanied by three empty cups. Empty takeout trays sit on the ground. It’s a bit of a mess in here, and I realize that Viktoria might come in at any moment and complain about it.

But I’m too ecstatic to care.

Giggles echo through the living room while I sift through a party planning book that Willow picked up on the way over.

Karina settles on the couch next to me and points to the page I’m looking over. “Ducks are adorable. And yellow is a gender-neutral color.”

“But for aBratvababy shower?” I ask with a grimace. “I feel like the brigadiers will just laugh at me.”

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