Page 64 of Tainted Promise

“Actually, that sounds gr—”

Liam’s growl cut him off. “You’ll have your money within the hour.”

Smirking, Cian winked at us. “Excellent. I’ll stay out of it. And to show my goodwill, I’ll let you know that Aleksándr just accepted a large shipment. It’s still in his warehouse at the harbor.”

Aleksándr didn’t own any of the warehouses near the harbor. This had always been our territory.

“What warehouse?” I snapped at Cian. My patience was at an end, and he knew I’d take the bait. Damn asshole liked to drag shit out.

“Scope Industries.”

Liam’s body went tight, and I knew his surprise matched mine. “That’s fucking his?”

“Has been for years. And there’s been a lot of activity lately.”

“And you didn’t think to tell us this?”

Cian put up his hands. “Hey, I told you last time, it’s not my job to keep you informed of what’s going on.”

I signaled for my brothers to leave. “It’s been great, but we have to go.”

Cian turned to his car, waving at us over his shoulder. “You’re welcome, assholes.”

Liam drove me back to my house, knowing I was in no condition to be behind the wheel. I shouldn’t have driven myself to the office in the first place.

His hand on my arm prevented me from leaving the car once we arrived. “You want one of us to come in with you?”

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I shook my head. “I can handle my fucking wife without you hovering in the background.”

“Freya and Mom love her. And there’s still a chance she didn’t know what her father is up to.”

My head snapped up, and I glared at him. “I’m not going to fucking kill her. But I have to know. I need to make sure she didn’t….”

I couldn’t finish the sentence, didn’t even want to think about what was about to happen.

Ripping my arm out of his grasp, I stumbled out of the car, slamming the door shut. Making my way back to the room I shared with Vanna—grabbing a bottle of ouzo along the way—I sat down in a chair facing the bed.

I hated that, despite the possibility that she’d betrayed me, I still wanted her. I had to fight with everything in me not to join her in bed. But instead of giving in, I took sip after sip of the bottle, the burn of the alcohol keeping me distracted and making my thoughts fuzzy.

How much I wished I was wrong about Vanna’s involvement. But I couldn’t ignore all the evidence pointing right at her.

If only I wasn’t breaking in half at the thought of what I had to do next.

18

VANNA

I came awake slowly,searching blindly for Gabriel before I’d even opened my eyes. But the sheets were cold, my husband gone, the only sound in the room Daisy’s snores.

Usually, he would wake me before he left, something I looked forward to every morning, especially when he got creative. Maybe he’d only gone to the bathroom.

A glance at my phone display showed it was seven o’clock.Did I miss him leaving?

As I searched the floor for something to wear, movement out of the corner of my eye drew my attention. Gabriel was sitting in a chair I’d positioned in front of the window. It was usually facing outside, but he’d turned it around and was watching me.

His face was a blank mask, and the smile that had overtaken my face at the sight of him slipped off. “Gabriel? What are you doing out of bed?”

“Did you tell Aleksándr about the shipment?

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