Ruined By My Brother's Best Friend (by Silverwriter) novel Chapter 269

Moved on Quickly

ARABELLA’S POV

Alvise took a step back, like my words had made my presence unbearable.

I refused to look into his eyes or let his reaction bother me, so I stepped back too, but before I could turn around, he spoke.

“Thank your stars I have something to do now. Just thank your fucking stars.”

There was a threat in his voice, one so prominent that I shuddered a little, the thought of how things would have turned out if we hadn’t been at the gala swirling through my mind.

“You can disperse,” Alvise commanded, and immediately, the guards broke the circle they had formed, finally revealing the view of the gala once again.

I held my breath the moment the weight of everyone’s attention landed on us, like they had been patiently waiting to see what was going on.

Alvise walked past me. “Follow me,” he said coldly, and though that was the last thing I wanted to do, I obliged, looking around cautiously and wondering why some guests went as far as looking me up and down, like they were trying to tear me apart with their eyes.

“You made it.” A middle-aged man said, smiling widely as he approached us with a woman I guessed was his wife on his arm.

I watched, confused, as they lowered their heads to bow to him before looking up.

“I had no choice,” Alvise said dryly, his tone almost bored.

The man’s eyes landed on me, and he raised a brow. “Ah, I see you’ve moved on quickly, Pakhan.”

My chest tightened, the suggestion of what he meant making me uncomfortable.

His wife chuckled, lightly slapping her husband on the arm. “The Pakhan is just having some fun,” she said, her eyes almost stripping me apart from how intensely she stared. “He’s a powerful man. He probably just wants to have fun before he marries that Ivanov girl.”

Alvise glanced at his wristwatch. “Smirnov,” he called, tilting his head to the side.

The man, who I now knew to be Smirnov, the host of the gala, straightened, the smile on his face disappearing. “Yes, Pakhan.”

“I’m sure you still want to stay married.”

He nodded nervously, glancing at his wife, whose eyes were now wide with confusion. “Yes… I want to stay married…”

“Then tell your wife to watch her mouth,” Alvise warned. “I would hate to make you a widower so early.”

“I’m sorry.” Mrs. Smirnov blurted, almost falling to her knees. “I…”

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“Save it.” Alvise snapped, not bothering to look at her, his eyes fixed on her husband. “Where are they?”

most shaking like a leaf, Smirnov pointed at a door at the far end of the hall. “In the meeting room, Pakhan.”

“Is everyone in there?”

“Yes, Pakhan,” Smirnov said.

Alvise merely nodded and was about to move forward when Mrs. Smirnov dropped to her knees and clasped her hands together. “I’m deeply sorry, Pakhan.” She glanced at me. “I didn’t know she was of any importance… I thought she was just a whore…”

“She’s my wife, so I would advise you to hold on to the rest of that statement,” Alvise said firmly, cutting her off.

Her eyes almost bulged out of their sockets, mirroring the horrified look on her husband’s face as they stared at us like they’d seen ghosts, like they couldn’t comprehend what they’d just heard.

“Fucking idiots,” Alvise muttered, walking past them.

It took me a second to recover from the scene that had just played out, most especially the part where he called me his wife, like it was real.

“You need to move forward, madam.”

I jumped slightly, snapping my head back to see a man standing way too close, his eyes fixed ahead.

“Who are you?”

He flicked his gaze to me for a brief moment before averting his eyes. “You don’t need to be scared. I work for the Pakhan.”

And he looked like he did.

If I didn’t know Alvise, I would call him the most dangerous-looking man I’d ever met.

Tattoos were lined all over his neck, and his eyes were a dark shade of green, but they were so dark that the green was barely visible.

“Please keep on walking,” he said impatiently. “Pakhan is waiting.”

I forced myself out of my daze and turned my head back, shocked to see Alvise standing outside the door of the meeting room with his hands slipped into his pockets, his eyes set on us.

He didn’t look pleased.

Why?

I frowned. But the man said he worked for him?

Hesitantly. I resumed walking, praying for a miracle that would take me out of the gala and back to the

house.

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1 finally stopped in front of Alvise. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

ignored me

And like I was invisible, he looked behind me. “When did you get back, Andrei?”

“Just thirty minutes ago,” Andrei said. “I came straight here when I got word from Pedro.”

Pedro.

That name was familiar.

I squinted my eyes, trying to remember where I’d heard it until it finally clicked.

The private investigator who found out Francesca was blackmailing me… I’d heard Alvise call him Pedro

“He got everything?” Alvise asked, pulling out his phone.

“Everything,” Andrei said, the tone of his voice one of relief.

I raised a brow, so lost I didn’t even bother trying to piece anything together.

There was something going on. Something I had no idea about.

“I heard word has gotten out,” Andrei spoke again.

Alvise glanced at his phone screen before slipping it into his pocket. “I would be surprised if it didn’t.”

“You really killed Zavid?” Andrei asked, a ghost of a smile appearing on his lips.

Zavid… Tatiana’s brother.

Why did he look so pleased about it?

Alvise scoffed. “I did.”

“I’ve been meaning to kill that fucker for a while, Pakhan,” he muttered. “I would have preferred to have the kill, but it wouldn’t have happened as fast as I wanted it. I even smoked a cigarette when I got the

news.”

What the hell?

“I thought you were going clean,” Alvise said dryly.

Andrei chuckled darkly. “The news called for celebration.”

I looked over my shoulder to shoot him a disgusted look, but he merely ignored me, refusing to look me in the eyes.

Why did most men that worked for Alvise do that?

Alvise’s phone dinged, and I turned back to him, curious to see what was going on.

He pulled it out and, glancing at the screen again, nodded at Andrei. “It’s time. Let’s go in.”

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