Free Russian Bad Boy's Untouched Love by Bella Rose

Giovanni. He seemed to take a moment or two longer to process what he’d heard. In the meantime Vlad threw back his shot of vodka and nodded his thanks to the bartender.
    “As it happens,” Giovanni began slowly. “I did know about this incident, but only because one of the investigating officers is the husband of my bartender’s cousin.”
    Vlad acknowledged the source with a nod.
    “He mentioned that they—the officers mind you—had a belief that once the Sokolovs were notified of this breach, that they would be handling it themselves.”
    “Ah,” Vlad murmured. “So the disinterest on their part was intended to be for my benefit instead of meant as a slight.”
    “Exactly.”
    Vlad didn’t believe that for one second, but he was willing to let it slide for the moment. “You have children, Giovanni. Have you had anyone break into your child’s school to steal their records?”
    “My children attend Catholic school, but no.” Giovanni’s face slid from its usual expression of disinterest to something resembling worry. “It is trouble though, to think that someone might be willing to use children as collateral for something.”
    “Yes, it is,” Vlad agreed. It was more than troubling. It was downright scary.
    The front door of the restaurant burst open. Vlad leaped to his feet. So did Giovanni and almost every other person sitting in the dining room. A man stumbled inside the restaurant. One side of his face was swollen, and his lips were a bloody ruin. His hands were bleeding as though he had repeatedly fallen on his way there.
    “Giovanni!” the man cried out. He collapsed at the Orsini man’s feet, sobbing as though he had completely lost his mind.
    Vlad couldn’t tell what Giovanni was thinking. The man had completely closed his face. His jaw was iron and his lips were thinned into a tight line. Finally he leaned down to touch the broken man on the shoulder. “Petruchio, what happened?”
    “I took the children for a walk in the park this morning,” the man wheezed. “I wanted them to be out of doors on a beautiful day like this.”
    “Yes?” Giovanni prodded.
    “Then he came.”
    Giovanni fisted his hands at his sides. “Who came?”
    “The Man in Black. That is all I saw.” Petruchio was sobbing as though his entire world had come to an end. “I tried, Giovanni. I tried !”
    “Tell me what happened.” Giovanni’s tone was hard as stone and colder than ice.
    “He took your Jonathan.” Petruchio lifted his battered face and Vlad could see tears streaming down his cheeks. “He took your son.”
    Giovanni’s olive complexion went white. He turned to Vlad. “If you have any ideas, any about this man. I want to know. I will not rest until I have my son back. Even if I have to tear this city to the ground.”

Chapter Ten
    It was nearly midnight when Vlad knocked on Mary’s door. She knew it was him because she had seen him approach through the bay window. Most of her day had been spent sitting in the padded window seat. For some reason she felt better wrapped in a warm blanket in a place where she could see the danger coming.
    “What are you doing here?” Mary asked softly, ushering him inside and closing the door behind him. “It’s so late! Even mafia bodyguards need their beauty rest.”
    “I had to see you.”
    He took her in his arms and held her so close and so tightly that Mary instantly knew something else had happened. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into the contact. She didn’t know what she could offer, but if comfort was what he sought then she would do her best to provide it.
    “Tell me,” she whispered.
    “One of the other families lost a son today.” Vlad swept her into his arms without another word and began the walk back to her bedroom.
    The bottom dropped out of Mary’s stomach. “Lost?”
    “He was stolen,” Vlad corrected. “From a park. He had a guard with him. The man was beaten very badly.”
    “Oh my God.” Mary put her