Page 75 of Devotion

“Because you are self-absorbed.”

“That was rhetorical. Anyway. Fiero is like the yin to my yang. Or maybe more like the ‘wang’ to my yin. Cause he’s kind of a dick. Girls think he’s hot cause he rarely talks in public. If they only knew! He always corrects me. He’s sour, brooding, borderline sociopathic. Scratch that. He is basically a serial killer. Never smiles. When he laughs, children cry and dogs freak out.”

“Sounds like he would fit in with Bratva.”

“Oh, he would. Clever as fuck. Agile, insanely fast, and he never. Ever. Misses. Not to mention his driving skills. Makes me look like a granny.”

“You admire him.”

“I’m terrified of him. Mostly because we are so much alike. Probably why I always leaned into being a silly bitch. Tried to balance out his demonic energies.”

“You are no angel.”

“You’ve got that handled…”

“Wow. How do you say? Cheesy?” But her smile says it all.

I take the dirt road she indicates, winding up into trees. It’s pleasant. Peaceful. I’ve never really been an outdoorsy kind of guy, but it’s picturesque. The cottage at the top of the hill is like a damn post card.

“This is yours?”

“Technically. Mama and Papa left it to us. We rarely come out here anymore.” Vanya steps out of the car, staring up at the house. I let her drift back through her memories for a while, grabbing the few things we brought with us, stacking our supplies on the porch to stay busy.

After a few moments, she joins me, carrying our bags inside.

It’s exactly what I expected.

Quaint. Cute.

“Seems like a nice place to grow up.”

“We stayed in the summers. Swam in the lake,” she murmurs, resting her hands on the sink, checking the water. The pipes rattle, sputtering to life. “It feels empty. They are all gone.”

Nothing to say to that.

I just stand at her back, letting her lean back into me.

“What happened to them? Your brothers?” she asks quietly.

I debate telling her everything. What does it matter now?

But I can’t compromise Isabella and the baby. Vanya would understand me keeping that secret. Even if it means lying by omission.

“Alessandro is dead.” He may as well be. As far as the crime world is concerned, he is.

“Dom made him bite the bullet. Literally.”

“I heard the rumors.”

“Adriano pulled the trigger. And he…disappeared after Dom went down. Probably in prison or dead. Dom burned everyone he could according to Pyotr.”

Vanya looks up, concern in her eyes.

“Ero was sent on a hit. Not sure where. All of our contracts got leaked.”

“You do not sound convinced. About any of this.” She meets my gaze, her ice blue eyes boring into me. She can read me like a fucking pop-up book. But she does not press the issue, squeezing my hand. “I had an older sister.”

“You have another sibling?”

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