Page 53 of Innocent Bratva Twins

I ignore her. She is thelastperson I’m in the mood for now.

Downstairs, I walk briskly through the lobby and only really take a deep breath once I’m outside in the crisp, fresh air.

“What a horrible morning,” I mutter to myself as I turn in the direction of the coffee shop down the road.

Tugging my jacket tighter around my neck, I shove my hands into my pockets and keep my head down, still lost in thought about why he would have been so angry with me.

“I’ll wait it out,” I sigh.

He’ll talk to me sooner or later.

I hope.

The coffee shop is warm and welcoming, and a huge relief for my mind compared to the office.

I sit at a table by the window where I can watch the freshly falling, tiny little snowflakes drift quietly through the air and settle on the sidewalk and road. The tops of the tree branches are turning white with it.

It’s beautiful, and it calms me down.

“Hi sweetie, what can I get you?” the cheerful waitress asks.

“A hot chocolate, please. And do you have those chocolate croissants today?”

“Oh, you’re in luck. They just came out of the oven.”

She hurries away to grab me one before they all sell out. Those things disappear almost as soon as they’re put into the glass display case of the bakery section. I think people from all over the city come to this coffee shop instead of the ones closest to them, just for those croissants.

It’s a chocolate croissant, but it has salted caramel drizzled inside and little marshmallows melted into the pastry. Basically heaven for your mouth.

“Excuse me,” his voice makes me jump as he calls out to the waiter.

Nico waves his hand in the air, smiling at her. “I’ll have the same as what she’s having.”

The waitress gushes. She always gushes over Nico. I can’t blame her. He’s worthy of gushing over.

Her pink cheeks radiate as she grins at him. “I’ll make sure you get the biggest croissant,” she giggles.

I turn my face down to hide my laughter.

“Hi,” he says, sitting down in the chair opposite me. “What’s so funny?” he knows his brow.

“I didn’t get offered the biggest croissant. Why are you the favorite?”

“Pff.” He shrugs his jacket off, shaking his head. “She’s just being nice.”

“Mm.Nice. Yes. That’s what it is.” I grin, teasing him.

But then the smile fades from my face, and the anxiety returns to twist in my stomach. I sigh heavily.

Nico notices the change in me.

Chapter 15 - Nico

I’ve spent the entire morning trying to figure out what the hell is going on with those transactions—how the fuck did it even happen? Who the fuck is doing this?

At first, when she showed it to me, I panicked.

I thought she’d found something related to the bratva side of the business that I was trying to keep her separate from. I thought it was the underground records, documents we keep apart from the rest of the office.