Page 131 of Wicked Vows (Suvorov Bratva 2)

“He’s calling from Willow’s phone,” she whispers. “That’s not good.”

“We don’t have all the details yet.”

“We don’t need details!” She chafes her arm and demands, “How did he get Willow’s phone?”

“We need to check on Zoya.”

“What if—?”

I take her shoulders firmly and look into her eyes. “Breathe,rodnaya. You’re no use to anyone while you’re panicking.”

The way her eyes flit between mine tells me she’s in the midst of an internal attack. Right now, everything is on the line. Her best friend is at risk. Zoya is at risk. The lines Cardona is tugging are delicate and thin, easy to snap.

But everything will crumble if Liya loses her cool. If she’s driven to act as rashly as I have.

She takes a shaky breath.

I nod. “That’s it. Keep going.”

Her eyelids flutter as she inhales until she can’t take any more air into her lungs. She pauses at the peak, shivers, and then slowly exhales everything she inhales.

“Again,” I command. “Steel your mind.”

She repeats until she stops shaking.

Then she takes my hands and runs her thumbs over my knuckles. The gesture feels good. It feels normal.

Even though things are far from normal right now. “I need you to think. Is there anyone in New Jersey whom Cardona could have gotten in touch with?”

Her brows wiggle slightly as her eyes gloss over. She licks her lips and nods. “When we were running early on, there were a couple of old caporegimes who were loyal to my father. One of them ran his own drug ring in Newark.”

“Name?”

“Joao something…” She closes her eyes. “All I know is that he’s Brazilian. From Ironbound. But I’m having trouble remembering his last name right now.”

“Take your time.”

Her eyelids flutter as she searches her brain. And when they open, she whispers, “Joao Resende. He used to bring us fried chicken balls whenever he came to check on us.”

A flash of pain cuts through her vision. And then, it’s gone, her eyes a steel fortress once more.

She’s learning.

But she might be on to something while thinking about her dead brother. “Some of those former caporegimes must have turned coat when your brother died.”

She frowns. “You think so?”

“They probably put their allegiance in Cardona. As a self-preservation measure.”And because they think you betrayed Jonas.

“He can’t kill you if you’re on his side.”

I shrug. “He might be, or he might not be. Hard for us to know.”

I squeeze her hands and then release them, heading to the bathroom. I need to think for a second. I need to plan our next steps. This Resende might know something we don’t—or he could have tipped Cardona off.

When I’ve finished in the bathroom, I return to her and sit on the bed. “I need to check on this situation.”

She starts to speak until I hold up my hand.

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