Page 81 of Paved in Hate

She gives a soft laugh and pats my thigh as I turn back to my brothers. “I think my beautiful wife is right. We lay it at their feet and let them puzzle it out.”

Dominic looks over at Danil. “You still meeting with their hacker later?”

“Yeah, it’ll be at the mansion, so I guess I can talk to Konstantin about his men when I’m there.”

“I’m going with you,” I tell him. I point at Matvey and Roman. “You two aren’t invited, and Lev will be babysitting your asses.” I glance over at Lev. “Don’t let them fool you with fake snoring.”

Lev raises a pierced brow at me. “Well, I’m not a dumbass, so that’s not going to happen.”

“Forty-five fucking minutes!” I laugh and shake my head. “I was about to piss myself.”

Matvey’s gravelly voice cuts above the laughter. “If it makes you feel any better, I would’ve kept it up for hours. You didn’t stand a chance.”

“That does make me feel better. Thank you, brother.”

Dominic shakes his head at us and takes another drink. Looking at Katya, he says, “You married into one hell of a crazy family.”

“Trust me, the one I came from is a million times worse.” Remembering what I told her about Dominic, she leans closer across the table and says, “I’m really sorry about your sister. It makes me sick to know my brothers are behind all of this.”

Dominic keeps his face calm, but I notice the way his jaw tightens at the mention of his sister. “I appreciate you saying that, Katya, but this is on them, not you.”

I cup the back of her head, weaving my fingers into her thick hair as she leans against me, taking comfort from my touch.

“I’m still sorry,” she says, and I watch Dominic give her an appreciative nod and a hint of a smile before turning back to Danil.

“Let me know when you find anything I can use.” He points to Lev. “And don’t forget to invite me to the party. My men and I will be there as soon as you give me a time and place.”

“Don’t worry,” Lev tells him. “We’re not cutting you out of the fun.”

Dominic nods and stands up, buttoning his suit jacket before checking his phone. “All right, I’ll wait for the call then. I need to get going.” He pockets his phone and looks at Danil. “Let me know when you find something.”

“You know I will,” Danil says. “It might take a few days, but I should be able to get into their system after I meet with this guy. If not, we’ll just get the information out of him when we take down the Bratva.”

“Either way works for me.” Dominic says, reminding us all that he’s as used to violence as we are. It’s easy to forget it when looking at his polished, put together exterior, but he’s just as much of a killer as we are. He just hides it a little better.

With one last nod, he heads for the elevator. The rule was he had to arrive alone, so I’m sure his men are anxious to get him back in their sights. Antonio may still run the family, but everyone knows who’s really in charge. Dominic’s going to be taking over soon, and no one wants to be on his bad side when he does it.

“I kind of like him,” Katya says, making me laugh.

“He grows on you,” Lev says.

“Like an old man’s dick.”

Lev laughs and looks over at me. “What the fuck does that even mean?”

I pull Katya into my lap. “It was completely unexpected and slightly disturbing at first.” I shrug and add, “But now it just seems natural.”

“You make the weirdest fucking comparisons,” Danil says, grabbing his laptop and heading back downstairs. “You might not want to mention that one to Dominic.”

“He might appreciate it,” I say with a laugh.

“Something tells me he won’t,” Roman says, still laughing as he goes off in search of Emily.

The others walk off, leaving me and Katya at the table. I kiss her shoulder and tighten my arms around her, breathing in her sweet vanilla scent.

“So it’s all going to happen soon, isn’t it?”

“Probably,” I tell her. “Matvey and Roman won’t be able to hold out much longer.”

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