Page 117 of Devil's Vows

I might have failed Darya, but I won’t fail again. My young wife will not be hunted down by some Russian fucker, who is, by the description of the tattoos on his hands, from the same stock as my father. Papa left Russia for many reasons, one ofthem being that none of his daughters would be subjected to such torture.

No, she will be safe with me—another vow I make silently, to myself.

“This thing with her friend, Chiara Bellini. If there is any truth in it…”

“I’ll look into it and find out what I can.”

“Yes. Call Dominic Scalera in the morning. If he’s already working on it, joining forces would speed up the process.” I pick up her Bible again. “If this Russian is still hunting Gabriella down, something else is at play, and I suspect the answer lies here.”

“I’m not betting against you. My money is on the same.”

I page through the Bible. Someone with the technology and the know-how needs to run this through some algorithms and figure out what it means. I don’t have the manpower or the skills, but I’ve married into a family who does. And this needs to be an in-house job. I’m not risking anything leaking on the dark web. I need to protect my wife. “This is a job for Benedict Scalera.”

“The man who doesn’t exist?” Yuri says. “Bez lica?”

Faceless. “Yes, that one. And the sooner he gets going with it, the better.” A new urgency is cramping my stomach. “As for Gabriella’s Russian huntsman, of the four people there that day of her piercing, two are confirmed dead. We need to find the woman who did the piercing. If she’s still alive, she might know who the Russian was.” And she could lead us to this Chiara woman, something I’ll look into just to…just to what?Give my wife some peace.She’s suffered too much.

“We might have already found her. If she was Randazzo’s tool, The Mole has her in his keep.”

Mara.

“What’s it going to take to bring them over for a ‘meeting?’ To verify?”

“Fucked if I know. The Mole is the mole for a reason. Hidden identity. Sounds to me like you already need to call in a favor with Don Scalera. It might be too soon for them.”

“No, it’s their sister. It’s not a favor, it’s protecting her.” And the perfect test for our newfound business relationship. “I’ll call Matteo in the morning.”

Yuri opens the safe again, and puts away Darya’s things, along with the other random stuff I have in there for light safe-keeping. This safe is nothing compared to the one we have in the basement.

“What is your long-term plan here, Pakhan?”

“For one, we’re going to keep an eye on her, as well as on our backs. We have our gut instincts, but I’m not taking chances.”

“Agreed. And beyond that?”

“What do you mean?”

He rounds the desk, picks up his glass, and finishes his drink. “Have you consummated the marriage?”

Everything wehavedone flashes in my mind’s eye. Gabriella, initially soft and wanting in my arms, how she tensed up with every inch I closed in on her sex until I touched her piercing, how she curled up to protect herself. And everything that followed. We might not have consummated the marriage, but my wife is breaking out of her little convent girl mold and realizing she’s needy. “No.”

“It’s reason for divorce?—”

“Nobody is getting a divorce.”

“No?”

“Not until I’m done.” I pause, take a deep breath. “We both know I didn’t marry her for love, but for business. For the Petrov Bratva. This marriage is just another transaction. I need two sons, and once I have them, I’ll cut her loose.”

“Best you get busy, then.”

I smirk. I have time. My bride is young, beautiful, and at thebest age to have children. She’s also in danger. I have failed my first wife; I won’t fail Gabriella. I will avenge them both. “Best we confirm whomoya ptichka’sRussian is, so I can hunt him down.”

And fucking kill him.

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GABI