Page 30 of Innocent Bratva Twins

“Serafina,” he calls my name.

“Good night, Nico. I’ll see you on Monday,” I say as cheerfully as I can.

I shove the key into the lock and fumble with opening the front door. In relief, I push the door open and step inside. When I turn to wave to Nico to let him know he can go, he’s standing next to the car, his hand resting on the open door. His brows are furrowed.

“Bye,” I say loudly, waving and plastering the biggest smile on my face.

Then I close the door, not daring to wait another second in case he starts walking towards me.

I lean my back against the door, and the tears flow over my cheeks.

Chapter 9 - Nico

Two weeks since the party, and two weeks of having Serafina make an obvious effort not to be alone with me. Which is difficult, because we work together. That’s what has made it so obvious.

Her attitude towards me has changed, too. She’s distant and overly polite, and it’s bothering me to no end.

I can’t figure out what I did wrong.

I’ve obviously done something to offend her badly. But what is it?

I keep running over that night in my mind, and while there were moments that might have caused issues—me almost kissing her, me dancing with Oliva after practically pushing Serafina away…

She was really upset when she got out of my car that night. Almost crying.

She didn’t say anything then and she hasn’t said anything about it since.

It’s driving me crazy not to know.

How can I fix it if I don’t know what’s wrong?

I miss her.

I miss laughing with her, flirting with her, and the tense but beautiful moments we used to share.

I’m still utterly obsessed with her, so having her withdraw from me has made her even more prominent in my thoughts.

But I’ve found a solution.

Arkady is sitting opposite me in the office chair on the other side of my desk. He’s sunk low, swiping through his phone, looking totally relaxed.

“I don’t know if it’s a good lead,” he says without looking up from his phone.

“The only thing we can do is go check it out,” I comment.

“Yeah, but that means someone has to go to New York,” he grumbles.

“I’ll go. I have a few clients up there, so I can go under the pretense of business. It’ll be a good way to look around without making it obvious.”

“Oh, that’s a good idea. Excellent. I really didn’t want to go—there’s a party this weekend, and Blacksmith and I don’t want to miss it.”

I shake my head. Typical Arkady. His priorities aren’t always straight, but he has a good heart.

“I’ll make the arrangements and head out tomorrow morning.”

Arkady pushes himself to his feet with a grunt. “Cool man, keep me in the loop.”

“Will do.”