Page 21 of Devil's Vows

“Gabi,” Matteo says, finality in his voice. “There’s no way in hell we’ll let you go work for Ivan Petrov, the Bratva Pakhan, in New York.”

But it’s a way out I didn’t see coming and there couldn’t be a quicker, cleaner solution.

“I want to.” I take a careful sip of my cappuccino, meetingmy brothers’ stunned gazes over the rim of my cup. When I’m done, I glide my tongue over the milky froth on my lip, probably looking five years old, but stare at Matteo in a silent dare. I’ll have to force my way into this scheme, and the only power I have is my reasoning.

“I’m not used to sitting around idly. Tasha has her studies, Dominic has plans with his company for Ariana. Gigi is resurrecting her art auction business from whatever happened to it over the summer.” I shrug with a small sigh, putting on my best act. “I’m not made for any type of corporate job, least of all the one you’d be able to offer me, Matteo. I know, without even asking, that you won’t let me into anything you do, because the less I know, the better.” I swallow. The next bit isn’t an act at all. “I need to keep busy, to get my mind off how Mother Lucia…” I bite my lip to keep my tears in check. “I’m in a tailspin, and sitting around doing nothing isn’t helping.”

Dominic reaches for me and squeezes my arm. He met Mother Lucia. He would understand. “I know.”

With a nod, I hook stray strands of hair behind my ear. This is do or die. I need to get out of here to keep them safe.

“I know kids. I love kids,” I say, wiping at a rogue tear. “I need to find my feet and start a new life. Let’s meet with Petrov and if, in the process, I can make your little grizzly headache go away, it’s a win-win, isn’t it?”

I tried to make light of the situation, and for a long moment, it’s quiet as Matteo’s jaw twitches and Dominic just stares at me with a frown furrowing his brow.

“Huh. Win-win, hey? The old Pakhan has retired, and I’m still not sure what the hell went down there over the past months,” Matteo says, shaking his head. “Never mind that it’ll basically be an admission of guilt, but I’m not comfortable for you to go and nanny?—”

“As a nanny?” I say, the guilt part going over my head. “I’ll be looking after his kids. The most precious people in his life!”

This makes Matteo shift on his feet with a sigh.

“Personally, I’d love to know how they got intel on us—onyoubeing here specifically,” Dominic says as he picks a strawberry out of the fruit salad and pops it into his mouth, his gaze drilling into mine.

Matteo rolls his eyes. “You can’t ask Gabi to go spy for us, Nicky.”

I smirk. Me, a spy? I’m running-away fit, not fit for infiltrating some kingpin’s mansion as a nanny to steal state secrets.

“Not spy as such. Just have a look-see what’s happening in his household. Could be interesting. Could be useful. Could be a game-changer long term.”

I want to sigh in relief for finding an ally in Dominic of all people for my crazy scheme.

“Let’s meet with him and hear what he has to say? Let me meet his kids.” Watching a nanny interact with his children is the only way to seal the deal. “And everybody’s been saying I need to see New York, so it won’t be a wasted trip.”

Dominic chuckles as he elbows Matteo. “See, she’s persuasive, too.”

11

IVAN

I stare down into Sergei’s bloodshot eye. At least he can still see with this one. Red rivulets run from several cuts down his body where he sits naked, tied to a chair. We gave him a few days to recover from his ‘transportation’ from the shipyards to the barracks, creating a false sense of security.

He’s caught on. Death by a thousand cuts isn’t just a saying.

I meet Yuri’s gaze where he is standing behind Sergei, blade ready.

“I ask you again, who gave the final order?” I know who the men on the ground were, and their whole operation to take me out got flayed open on the Fourth of July, but I want to know who the puppet master was.

Sergei drops his head forward, and a sigh leaves his body as if it’s his life. He’s shared nothing new, nothing we haven’t dragged out of the men who came before him. It’s been hours now, and it’s fucking late. He could become delirious at any second and then we’d be forced to stop.

Fuck. I want this done. I need some shut-eye tonight. Tomorrow is a big day.

I give him another ten seconds then I place my bladeunder his chin, lifting his head slowly. “We can patch you up, carry on next week. Again and again.” A science we’ve perfected, but he knows this. He came with Dimitri six years ago and has seen how the Petrov Bratva works. It’s heinous, but effective.

“Just a name, Sergei, and all of this will be over.” This man was more than a foot soldier, mereshestyorka;he was part of the coup’s inner circle.

He meets my gaze and blinks. A bloody tear runs down the side of his nose and he licks at it, revealing bloodstained teeth through a grimace that tells me all. He’s about to cave in.

“All of them, from your wife to your sis?—”