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He looks taken aback by the question. “I was invited, of course. Same as you.”
I step in front of Wren, blocking her from view altogether. “If you want to keep your eyes in your skull, I suggest you take them off my wife.”
Wren grabs my arm and tries to pull me back. “Dmitri! I know you’re pissed, but please, people are watching.”
“I don’t give a fuck who’s watching,” I snap without taking my eyes off Cian.
Cian holds up his hands, but his smile falters. “Hold on a second. I come in peace. I just want to talk. That’s it.”
“What the fuck would you have to say to me?”
“An explanation, for starters,” he answers quickly. “I want to explain what happened with Wren.”
I snort in his face. “You care about explanations now, do you? Where were your words before, when you targeted Wren the first time? It’s pretty damn convenient that you want to broker some sort of truce now that you know you’re going to lose. Actions have consequences, Cian. These are the consequences of attacking my wife.”
He grits his teeth as sweat begins to dot his forehead. “I didn’t attack her. I kept her safe and comfortable while she was in my care.”
“And why did she need to be in your care at all?”
His eyes teeter from side to side like a frightened child. “I’ll tell you everything, okay? Just not here. There are too many eyes.”
“Too many witnesses, you mean. Care to make a bet? Because I bet you my empire that I could smash your face in right now and not a single one of these motherfuckers would testify against me.”
The sweat begins to drip down Cian’s cheeks. “I have information that I know you need, Dmitri. Information that could help you change the course of this war—and the future of your Bratva, too.”
“Which would be useful to me,” I agree. “… if I trusted anything that came out of your mouth. Which I don’t.” I step closer to him so that we’re almost nose to nose. “Next time I see your face, Cian, I will slaughter you where you stand.”
Then I grab Wren and drag her away from him. She’s breathing hard as we make our way through the curious crowd. The Arnauds are by the doors, staring at us with wide eyes.
“Leaving already?” Louis asks. His eyebrows pinch together with disappointment.
“Wren’s tired. The last trimester has been hard on her. We just wanted to put in an appearance.”
“Of course. We?—”
I don’t wait for the simpering hosts to continue; I just power through. He can kiss my ass another day.
Wren keeps asking me to slow down, but I don’t let up until we’re in the elevator with Pavel and a few others from Wren’s security detail.
“For God’s sake, Dmitri, was that necessary?” she demands the moment the elevator doors slide shut.
I throw her a glare that makes her clamp her mouth shut. I’m not in the mood for this anymore.
The rest of the walk is silent. Only when we’re back in the car with the partition drawn up do I sigh. “You are my partner in all this, Wren. But that doesn’t mean you get to question me in front of my men.”
She purses her lips as those green eyes of hers glow bright. “Well, your men aren’t within earshot now. So I can say this: I don’t think Cian was there to hurt us.”
“Wren—”
“Don’t you ‘Wren’ me. You didn’t hear me out the first time and, for some reason, I let that slide. But not again. Cian’s not the mastermind of this operation; there’s someone else pulling his strings. In fact, I would go so far as to say that he’s as much a victim in all this as Bee was.” My eyes snap to hers and she cowers back. “Okay… maybe that wasn’t the best example. What I mean is?—”
I swallow my anger and try to remember that she’s heavily pregnant and doesn’t need the stress of Bratva politics to worry about. “I know what you mean.” I take her hand and kiss it. “Don’t worry; I’ve got this handled.”
She looks at me skeptically. “Dmitri…”
“I don’t want you worrying about this. Leave it to me and you just focus on delivering our son when he’s ready to come out.”
“You’re shutting down the conversation,” she accuses.
