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“If it’s one of my pigheaded brothers coming to check on me, I’m gonna lose my shit,” Vanya replied sarcastically.
“They don’t need to. I’ve been giving them daily progress reports. Arian is expecting you back at the office today.”
“Well, thanks for sharing that with me, mon capitaine!” she shouted after him.
His trusted Glock was firmly gripped in his hand as he opened the front door.
“What the fuck are you doing here?”
Vanya’s heart leapt into her throat at the sound of Bogdan’s furious bellow. Without hesitation, she bolted toward the entrance hall.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” she demanded, skidding to a halt next to him.
“Well, it’s so nice to experience your mutual excitement upon seeing me,” the voice mocked the profane greeting as he studied their faces.
The overt muscular carriage of this man spoke quietly about his capacity with its subsequent effect causing a shiver to violently erupt down Vanya’s spine. That his presence provoked such a gesture of surprise from her, he decided to exploit the advantage by expressing a toothy grin, the significance of which remained unknown.
She had come to know Luciano Maranzano well enough to know that the explicit Chesire grin was a façade to mask something malignant and unforeseen.
“Regardless of the intrigue that beset my mind by the two of you running off in the middle of the night without even as much as a goodbye, I was hoping for at least a cordial hello and maybe an unsolicited explanation for your absence after all this time.”
Vanya’s irritation spiked as he spread his arms wide in a theatrical display of magnanimity.
“I’m waiting, my dear,” he continued in a condescending tone. “A hug and a kiss will do. No? Hmm, can’t say I’m surprised.”
With complete disregard for the imposing figure by her side, Luciano shouldered his way past them, then strolled nonchalantly toward the dining room as if he owned the place.
“What the hell is he doing here?” Vanya said in an aside to Bogdan as they stared after him. Her fists were clenched so hard, her knuckles turned white.
“Fuck if I know.”
“Do you think he found out I hacked his system?”
“Did you leave any traces of being there?”
“How do you know me, Bogdan?”
“Then that question is moot.” Pointing his gun at the arch leading into the dining room, he grumbled irritably, “I guess we better join this fuckface.”
“Put the gun away, Bogdan. I doubt Luciano wants to kill me in my own house, especially since the guards at the gate can identify him.”
“I’ve learned over the past year not to trust anyone, Princess.” His eyes darkened as he reluctantly holstered his sidearm. “Andrei Smirnoff is a living example of that.”
“Da, that is true,” Vanya readily agreed. She shook off the nagging thought that suddenly bloomed large—the identity of the most likely traitor. Now was not the time to allow her anger to rule her mind.
A sense of foreboding hung heavily in the air as they made their way to the dining room. Her gut instinct warned her that Luciano’s unexpected visit could only mean trouble.
AVV Airpro…
“Simmer down, Vadim,” Arian urged, attempting to soothe the palpable tension evident in his frame.
“Don’t tell me to simmer down,” Vadim snapped in frustration. “Our mother has been missing for two weeks, and we’re still no closer to finding her. Jesus! Talk about déjà vu! I can’t believe that in this age of advanced technology, we can’t locate Andrei anywhere.”
His anger boiled over with a powerful kick to a nearby office chair. It skidded across the room and crashed violently against the wall.
“I sincerely doubt that the chair is to blame for—”
“Oh, fuck off, Arian.”
