Page 50 of Bratva Wolf

“I don’t know. It’s your phone.”

“So, look.”

Seriously. He wants me to look at his phone. “What’s your code?”

“Three, six, five, nine, nine.”

I tap in the numbers and the message pops up.

The message is from Marco. He’s the Latino from the rescue. My mind rattles around the question. Which ‘she’ is he talking about? As I open my mouth to tell Thane about the message, another one pings.

Is he talking about me? I stand up with his phone in my hand and walk to the bathroom, throwing open the door. “What the hell is this?”

He tosses his towel over the towel rack. “What?”

“Is this woman with an ‘A’ on the end of her name supposed to be me?” I hand him his phone. The raised eyebrow confirms the truth. Color drains from his face, and my heart squeezes in my chest. “Let’s just not worry about it.”

“Fuck this, Thane. What is Marco talking about?”

“It’s nothing.”

I shake my head. “It’s something. You’re keeping secrets from me.” My head starts to pound. “You know something about my father, don’t you?” I point to his phone.

“It doesn’t matter.”

“The fuck it doesn’t. You and your cartel buddy have some secret about me, and I want to know what it is.”

His face falls. “It’s going to hurt you, and I don’t want to do that. Please pretend you didn’t see it.”

“I can’t do that.”

He drops his head, and the frown pulls at his handsome face. “I order you to forget it.”

I shake my head. “Ordering me around in bed works. In our life, not so much. Tell me.”

He takes my hand and leads me into our bedroom and motions for me to sit down. He walks to the painting he bought for me and pulls it forward exposing his safe. Opening the door, he pulls out a file. He hands me the file and sits down next to me.

I read about my father and my mother and my brothers’ deaths by the hand of Marco’s father. My father was a former friend of Thane’s dad. He belonged to a rival bratva and betrayed him and tried to kill the whole Bravikov family. My fist goes to my mouth to stifle my gasp. “He tried to kill you.”

Thane nods. “Yeah. Greed makes people do bad things. He wanted what my father had.”

I keep reading and learn the details. I’ve always wanted more information about my family’s death. “Why my mother and brothers?”

“Executing the entire family makes it less likely there is someone to get retribution.”

I bow my head. “I want to.”

“I know, Red. I can’t blame you. Your family was innocent. My father wasn’t told.”

I nod. “But you kept this from me.” I want to beat him with my fists for keeping this secret.

“I did. It doesn’t matter.”

I stand up and toss the file at his chest. “It matters to me.”

“I’m sorry.” Thane’s eyes implore me to understand. “None of that was in our control. You were a baby, and I was a kid. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I should have told you.”

I stare at the man that’s become my everything and taste bile in the back of my throat. “I need a little time. I’m going back to my grandmother’s.”

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