Page 93 of Contract of a Billionaire

Nothing and nobody would persuade Branka that her brother had a ruthless darkness about him, regardless that it was plain as day. He might be wearing polished, expensive suits and behave like a gentleman but underneath it all, he wore his ruthlessness like a second skin.

“And I’m not mad, Autumn.” Branka hugged me tightly. “I’ve kept a few secrets of my own that I’ll never tell Alessio.”Huh?She must have seen the shock on my face. “He’d go after him and probably kill him. Or he’d kill my brother. Not a good scenario either way.”

Branka keeping a big secret from her big brother couldn’t be a good thing. Not at all.

“D-do you want to tell me?” I asked, almost scared to hear her answer.

Dark gray clouds reflected in her eyes. They were the color of the sky right before the rain. The same color as Alessio’s. The same color as Kol’s. Except my son had a speck of green added to them which gave his eyes some color.

“Do you want to know?” I knew what she meant. When we first became friends and everyone in high school warned me off the Russo girl, we made a pact. She wouldn’t tell me what I didn’t want to know. But whatever she did tell me, I had to keep between us.

And at this moment, Branka Michelle Russo looked like she needed to offload something from her chest.

“Yes.”

She was always there for me. The least I could do was be there for her when she obviously needed someone to talk to.

“I’m getting married.”

Silence followed. The words mixed with the rustling of leaves that gently swished with the breeze.

I blinked, then blinked again. Maybe the mind was playing tricks on me.

“I didn’t get that. Can you repeat it?”

The expression on her face told me I understood it right.

“I’m getting married,” she repeated.

“What? Who? When?” Okay, I couldn’t come up with a coherent question. “I didn’t know you were seeing someone.”

She swallowed. “I’m not.”

“I’m confused.”

“Alessio arranged a marriage for me,” she explained. Her whole demeanor was calm, like we were discussing the most natural event in the world. Arranged fucking marriage. “Well, actually he let me pick among acceptable candidates. I spoke to all of them. This guy and I… well, we came to a mutual agreement. He’ll help me and I’ll help him. Father managed to make many enemies and this guy will protect me. For years, I thought there was a way out but-”

The shock of her statement had thrown me off-balance. I had a hard time keeping up with her.

“What do you mean a way out?” I asked in a worried voice. “Branka, if you need help, or you need to get away, my parents can help.”

After all, Maman and Father had fought more than a few battles and they’d hate to see Branka unhappy. They thought of her as family. Shewasfamily.

Fury flashed in her eyes, reminding me of pissed off Alessio. Maybe there was more of a badass in Branka than I thought. It would make sense, considering who she grew up around. “What I want is to make that fucker Sasha Nikolaev pay.”

Her voice was calm. Deadly. Resolute.

Jesus Christ.Branka hid her savage under her drop-dead gorgeous and cute smile.

“Sasha Nikolaev?” I repeated. The name sounded vaguely familiar but for the life of me, I couldn’t place it.

“Yes,” she hissed, clearly mad. “He made me promise to wait and then I find him with some fucking Olympic chick. Younger than me!”

I had to be missing something. Or my brain was still fried from last night's orgasm. I couldn’t follow a single damn thing she was saying.

“I’m confused,” I mumbled.

“Welcome to the goddamn club,” she responded, her tone dry as gin. “First the asshole stalks me. Then makes me so fucking hot.” She started fanning herself. Although it was barely fifty degrees out here. And it was considered a warm day for November. “But he gives me some shit about not being ready for him. Fuck. That. Shit. I’m so ready that if my vagina were balls, they’d be blue.”