Page 112 of Sinful Promise

“I remembered a place that my father—” Lev flinches. “I mean, Igor used to take me to.”

I frown. “What kind of place?”

“It was a building of some kind. Igor used to lock me up there for days at a time.”

The severity of Lev’s past experiences is completely lost on me as I try my best to hurry the conversation along. If I get out of here within thirty minutes, I might get Alek to take Emily to my place after dropping Zara off.

She would have to come up with some excuse, but I’m sure she could think of something if I gave her enough of an incentive.

Alexei is focused on Lev. “Where is it?”

A heavyweight settles in my stomach.

My oldest brother’s eyes soften a bit. “You don’t know, do you?”

Lev looks at the floor, and he shakes his head. “No.”

I huff. “Well, that’s not exactly helpful information, Lev.”

Lev flinches.

Alexei gets to his feet. “Watch yourself, Danil.”

I don’t want to put a damper on things by pointing out the fact that Igor has left Lev with repercussions for life from his beatings growing up. He might be my brother, but he’s not the most reliable source.

I had thought that by welcoming Lev and Nina into the bratva, other than finally getting our brother safe with us, it would mean we had a direct path to Igor. I had hoped that the fucker would be long dead by now, but instead, he’s still out there, tormenting my family with no intention of stopping.

“This isn’t good enough.” I down my drink and slam my glass down on the bar cart so hard the bottles rattle.

Alexei crosses over to me. “At least he’s trying to help. I don’t see you putting in the work to track down Igor.”

I brace myself as Alexei approaches me with such fury in his eyes that I’m convinced he’s going to pull a gun on me.

We might be brothers, but we are in no way equal. He is the head of the bratva after all, and if I piss him off enough, he has the power to kick me out, no questions asked.

But apparently tonight, that isn’t enough of a threat to stop me from shooting my mouth off.

“You’re fucking joking, right?”

“Where’s your information on Igor, huh, Danil?”

“I’ve been keeping Emily safe, in case you forgot.”

“You always want more responsibility, Danil, and I might be more inclined to give it to you if you actually showed some initiative rather than waiting around for orders. If you wanted to help us take down Igor, you would find the time to help while you’re running around after Emily.”

I scoff. “That’s rich. I don’t recall you appreciating it when any one of us dares to go behind your back and think for ourselves.”

“That’s not true.”

I puff my chest a bit. “It is. And you know it, Alexei. You like having us all as your puppets.”

Dimitri steps in between Alexei and me and glares at me. “What the hell has gotten into you this evening?”

I fold my arms across my chest. “Nothing.”

Alexei glares at me. “What happened this evening?”

Dimitri doesn’t take his eyes off me. “Danil had Rurik do a background check on a guy Emily’s mom was trying to set her up with and humiliated him in front of the entire family.”

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