Bratva Bride: Chapter 9
Fuck. She’s beautiful. And fierce. And sassy. And . . . shit, my foot is killing me! Did she have to stab me so fucking hard?
Well, you did kind of attack her.
No, I didn’t.
Yes, you did. And now you’re talking to yourself like a crazy person.
Eh, what else was new?
My eyes locked on her and her beautiful body. My fingers twitched at my side, dying to touch her again. Fuck, it probably wasn’t a good idea to have grabbed her like I did. To feel the heat of her pussy in my hand, to run my tongue over her skin. Now it’s going to be all I can think about until I get the chance to do it again.
But it was important to check our compatibility, to make sure we could mesh well together sexually. I wasn’t lying when I said I needed sex. It was something I would do every day, even if it meant a quick pow wow with one of the random women in my little black book. My life being so full of violence and adrenaline meant I needed a good outlet to unleash it all, and sex was the best one.
I was a dominant fucker in bed. Not ‘Christian Grey’ kinda dominant, but a different kind. The kind that craved control. Liked to give orders. I knew it. The women I fucked knew it, and it was important that Illayana knew it too. Judging by her reaction to me, she didn’t only know it, she liked it.
“Arturo?” Illayana’s soft voice tore me from my thoughts, and I refocused on her.
‘Hmm?’ For what felt like the millionth time, my eyes roamed up and down her body. I couldn’t stop it. It was like they had a mind of their own and all they wanted was Illayana.
She chuckled. ‘I said, do you want me to treat that?’ She pointed at my foot and I only just realised I had been favouring my left side.
I shook my head. ‘No, I’m fine. I barely felt it.’
Right, that’s a fucking lie. Good way to start off, Turo.
She opened her mouth, about to speak when the sound of someone knocking on her bedroom door interrupted her.
For fuck sake.
Her beautiful blue eyes shot to the door and irritation flashed on her face, clear as day. She didn’t like being interrupted either. ‘What?!’ she barked, her tone laced with anger.
‘Don’t shoot!’ someone immediately yelled from the other side of the door and I had to refrain from laughing out loud. ‘It’s just me.’
Illayana immediately tensed, her body going rigid. She knew who was behind the door, but she looked. . . uneasy. She didn’t look that way when her brothers knocked earlier. Interesting.
She moved quickly to my side, light as a feather on her feet. She crooked her finger at me and I lowered my head so she could whisper in my ear.
‘You need to hide,’ she whispered.
Because I was dying to touch her, I gripped her hips with both hands and brought my lips to her ear. ‘Why? Just tell them to go away like last time.’
She shook her head feverishly, her long, black hair flowing over her shoulders. ‘That’s Aleksandr out there. He won’t go away like Lukyan and Nikolai did, especially if they ran and got him. Which I have a feeling they did,’ her eyes narrowed at the door accusingly. ‘Aleksandr isn’t afraid of me like they are. If I don’t open that door, he’ll kick it down.’
‘Illayanaaa,’ Aleksandr called out. I could hear the subtle warning in his voice. That fucker would definitely kick that door down.
‘Just a second,’ she yelled back.
She looked at me with those ocean-coloured eyes and started moving me to the back of the room. ‘Hurry up,’ she hissed. She quickly flicked off the lamp on her bedside table, encasing her room in darkness.
‘Fiiine,’ I groaned, moving in amongst the shadows. ‘I don’t get what the big fucking deal is,’ I grumbled as I moved into position.
I picked a spot that gave me a clear, unobstructed view of the door so I could see what was going on. It was probably smarter to move so there was no chance of being spotted, but I love to live dangerously. I was there after all, wasn’t I?
Illayana opened the door and sure enough her brother, Aleksandr, was standing just outside.
Man, he really was a big motherfucker. And he had to be just as – if not a smidgen – taller than me. Just a smidgen though. His bright blue eyes landed on Illayana, scrutinizing every detail. Then his gaze swept the room behind her. His eyes moved over me in the shadows and I tensed.
‘Everything okay, Illayana?’ he asked, looking back at her.
‘Da. Why?’ She tilted her head to the side, like she was confused why he was even asking.
I saw her other brothers pop out from behind Aleksandr’s large frame. One was on the left side, the other the right, and they looked like they were using his big, overgrown body as a shield. Man, they look terrified.
Well, she did throw a knife and shoot at them all within a thirty-second period. I’d say, their fear is warranted.
‘Just. . . making sure,’ he replied, his eyes sweeping the room once more. Just as his gaze fell on me, his eyes narrowed.
Fuck.
I didn’t realise my hand was moving until I felt the hilt of Illayana’s knife in my palm.
No! I couldn’t kill her brother. . . could I?
No. Just no.
Aleksandr continued to talk with Illayana, yet his eyes never left mine in the shadows.
‘Illayana,’ his voice was like ice, and she tensed. ‘Are you sure you’re okay? Do you need any . . . help?’ By the way he was talking, I could guess he knew I was in the room.
Clever, observant son of a bitch, aren’t you?
All of the tension seemed to dissipate instantly, her body relaxing. She took a step forward and placed a hand on his cheek.
‘Rodnoy brat.’ Brother. His eyes moved to her. ‘I promise I’m fine. You should know if I ever need you, I’d come to you.’
His gaze found mine again amongst the shadows and he scowled. ‘If you’re sure,’ he grumbled.
‘I am,’ she chuckled. ‘Now move.’ She flicked her wrist, signalling him to move to the side.
The edge of his lips curved into an evil smirk, the first sign of true emotion I’d seen from the guy yet. His big body moved gracefully, revealing her two older brothers.
Fuck. They breed them big in The Bratva.
All of them seemed to be around the same height, give or take a few inches. It was clear Aleksandr was the oldest though. Even if you ignored the dude’s gargantuan size, he had a certain air about him. The way he held himself, his mere presence demanded respect and authority. Like mine. I was super curious to see how the man fights. Maybe one day I’d find out. I was giddy at that idea.
Based on the information Vin gathered on the Volkov family, the one with shoulder length brown hair and brown eyes was Lukyan. He wasn’t as muscular as Aleksandr, more leaner than packed overboard with muscle. That made the other guy Nikolai. He had short black hair, a neatly trimmed beard and deep brown eyes. He seemed to be in the middle of his two siblings, body wise. Not as muscular as Aleksandr, but not as lean as his other brother.
Their eyes widened when they realised their big brother wasn’t planning to protect them from their sister. She took a menacing step forward in their direction and they both took a step back.
‘Now, Illayana,’ Lukyan began to say, his voice shaky. He had his hands up in front of him, like was surrendering.
‘You tattled,’ she tsked, disappointed.
‘No. No, no, no,’ Lukan replied, his head shaking. He elbowed his brother in the gut and scowled at him. ‘Nikolai?’
Nikolai straightened his body and looked at Illayana. He didn’t seem as frightened as Lukyan did, but he definitely looked uneasy. Like he had no idea what was going to happen.
‘Sestra. Sister. We were worried about you. You haven’t tried to kill us for years. We thought you were in trouble,’ his voice was laced with a thick Russian accent.
Illayana stayed quiet for a few seconds. ‘Lies,’ she said, her voice strong.
‘What?’ Nikolai asked, confused.
‘You’re lying. If you really thought I was in trouble, you wouldn’t have left. You would have kicked that door in, guns blazing.’
Nikolai and Lukyan exchanged a look with each other.
Huh, she was right.
‘You both knew I would open the door for Aleksandr, so you went and got him. Why?’
‘It’s not what you think, Illayana,’ Nikolai began.
‘We didn’t tattle,’ Lukyan continued.
‘You threw a knife at Lukyan and shot at us. You only do that kind of shit when you’re either one, pissed at us. Or two, hiding something,’ Lukyan nodded along enthusiastically. ‘Since we haven’t done anything to piss you off for a few months, we knew you were hiding something.’
‘We just wanted to see what got you all ‘kill crazy’, that’s all,” Lukyan said, looking into the room. ‘And we knew you would open for Aleksandr because he would have kicked it in otherwise,’ he chuckled.
Aleksandr shrugged a shoulder, seeming unfazed by the whole thing.
‘You wanted to see what got me all ‘kill crazy’?’ Illayana asked, her head tilting to the side.
Lukyan nodded fast, whereas Nikolai just arched an eyebrow, eyeing her suspiciously.
She placed her hands behind her back and crooked her finger, signalling for me to come out.
I slunk out of the shadows and moved towards her.
Nikolai and Lukyan instantly reacted, pulling their guns from their holsters and aiming at me. Aleksandr didn’t move a muscle but he tracked my approach with his eyes.
‘Who the fuck is that?’ Nikolai cocked his gun, Lukyan following suit.
I stopped directly behind Illayana. I was tall enough to see straight over her head without her having to bend. Their faces were tense, jaws clenched and scowling at me like I was the devil.
‘You don’t recognize him, rodnoy brat? Brother?’ her voice was laced with mischief.
Nikolai narrowed his eyes at me. He focused on my face before realisation lit his features. ‘What the fuck is a De Luca doing here? Better yet, how did he get in here?’ He kept his gun locked on me.
‘De Luca?’ Lukyan repeated, moving his head between myself and Nikolai. His gun still stayed pointed at me, too.
Such a welcoming family.
Aleksandr still hadn’t moved; the only acknowledgement of my presence was the scowl he aimed my way.
‘Aleksandr, Nikolai, Lukyan,’ Illayana began, her voice strong and clear. ‘I’d like to introduce you to Arturo De Luca, my fiancé,’ she reached back and grabbed my arm, moving me to stand beside her.
Aleksandr tilted his head up and sighed, like he knew this was going to happen, but he wasn’t thrilled about it. Nikolai and Lukyan both dropped their mouths open wide, their brows hiked up in complete surprise.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and looked at my three new brothers-in-law. “Hiya, boys.”