Page 59 of Caught By the Bratva Boss

Chapter Twenty-Four

Daniil

“You fired her.” Anya screeched.

I looked up from my blank screen to find her wheeling herself towards me angrily, her whole face blazing. Steepling my hands under my chin, I studied my sister-in-law. She was angry, but I didn’t understand why.

“What are you talking about?” I asked in my ultra-calm voice.

“Lily.” She snarled back. “I just saw her downstairs.”

My head snapped up to look around, and a sigh of relief left my lips. She was here, and she was ok. I could finally breathe easier.

Yesterday, when she hadn’t come home, I’d been worried. More than once, I’d even thought about going to find her, but every single time, I sat back down. Lily just needed time, and she would come back when she cleared her thoughts and realized that I’d spoken in anger and hadn’t meant any of it.

“Where is she?”

“Gone.”

Half out of my chair, I froze. “What do you mean, gone?” I couldn’t help the croak in my tone as my voice broke. “Gone where?”

“You fired her.” Anya came to a stop right in front of the desk and glared at me. “Did you expect her to beg? You should know her by now. Lily isn’t the begging sort of woman. And after your little tantrum yesterday, I can’t say I blame her.”

“I didn’t fire her,” I muttered. If anything, I had been hoping I would find her here when I arrived. I knew I had messed up, and I had every intention of making it up to her, ideally on this desk.

“Well, that’s what her file said. She couldn’t get past the security.”

I fell back into the chair with a sigh. I dropped my head to my hands. What the hell was happening here? Why would she think she was sacked?

“There’s something else as well.”

“What?”

“There were bruises all over her face and neck. She tried to cover them, but they were pretty clear.” My head snapped up so quickly that the bones in my neck snapped. “What?”

“She said she fell, but,” Anya trailed off and looked away. “She said she slipped on the ice, but I know the bruises fists leave on skin. And she had definitely been beaten.”

I was out of my chair in a second. “That asshole beat her?”

“It might not have been Greg, but someone definitely did.”

At my side, my hands clenched into fists. I began to pace back and forth. “I’m going to kill him,” I muttered over and over again. “I’m going to fucking kill him,” I said more loudly and headed towards the door.

“Stop, Daniil,” Anya called after me. “You are the one who sent her back to him. If you go in all guns blazing, you could make it worse for her.”

I half turned to stare at her. “What do you mean?”

“Sometimes from a really clever man you’re really thick.” Anya shook her head. “He threatened to ruin you both. I think that wasn’t an idle threat. Someone clearly fired Lily, and if it wasn’t you, and you didn’t give the order, then it has to be someone.”

“I didn’t fire her. I was hoping she would turn up so we could talk—” and other things. Things that would have her screaming my name so loudly that the whole building heard.

“Someone did, Danill.”

“Greg,” I muttered. “She said Greg was a tech genius, and I didn’t believe her.”

Anya shook her head. “Of course you didn’t. Because you always think you’re right, Daniil. Now what are you going to do about this whole mess?”

Walking back to the desk, I fell into it and reached to turn on the computer. Neither one of us spoke as I delved into the business’s record and emails. There was nothing that looked out of the ordinary. Everything looked secure, like it should be.