Page 82 of Owned Bratva Bride
Danil Yezhov had the air of authority that we all had, but his was more contained; it made it unbelievable sometimes that he was my younger cousin. Danil rarely got emotional about anything; his stoic face was a signature. So, when he started talking about Lucien with glances in my direction, I knew he didn’t intend to leave any stone unturned.
“Lucien Navarro is another potential threat,” he had disclosed.
“How so?” I asked.
“He has a friend under your roof, brother.”
“Marielle has no relationship with Lucien. Not anymore.”
“Eduard, she was his lover. They can hardly be strangers to each other.”
“She was never his lover. Not even his girlfriend,” I clarified.
“Come on, brother. You know how loose these terms are to Americans.”
“She’s my wife! She was never his,” I retorted.
“I know. But they could be in touch without you even knowing. Who knows what they might be discussing?” he persisted.
“Are you hard of hearing? I just told you all the valuable information she shared with me. About his skimming off our arms deals and his money laundering in areas close to us. Didn’t I just mention all these in this meeting?”
“Yes, she gave you information that turns out to be helpful. But that doesn’t mean she’s completely loyal, either.”
“What do you mean?” I inquired, not bothering to hide the promise of harm in my voice.
“How do we know she’s not feeding him information about us? For all we know, what she told you might turn out to be untrue,” he replied.
My hand instinctively went to the side of my waist and landed on my holster as I asked, “You question me?”
“No, Eduard,” he answered, lifting both hands in surrender, making me want to shoot his little finger. “Just saying we should look in all directions.”
“Hey.”
“Easy.”
“Cool it.”
The other brothers around the table implored.
“Thenlook, don’t accuse. Before I shoot those fucking eyes,” I warned.
“I don’t question your judgment, bro. I was just being objective,” he explained.
I didn’t wait till the end of the meeting. I didn’t go to the warehouse, either.
I asked Leonid to drive straight back to the estate.
On the ride home, I thought over what Danil said. Not about Marielle feeding Lucien information, but about Lucien still meaning something to her.
I thought back to how she smiled up at him and touched his arm intimately at his art show when I first met her. I remembered how shocked and heartbroken she had looked when I told her about Lucien being married. He had told her things that even married men didn’t reveal to their wives.
Maybe they really did mean something to each other.
What if she told me all she did about Lucien’s secret dealings just because she was hurt?
Maybe it was not about trusting me or choosing my side. It might very well be about how pained she felt or how angry she was at him.
Or am I just watering the seeds of doubt Danil planted?
