Page 19 of Bratva Menace

“Nothing. Jeez. Someone’s moody today.” A thought streaked through my head, and I whipped out my phone, checking my calendar. “Oh, no.”

“What? What is it?” Nikolai asked instantly, his face a mask of concern.

I swallowed nervously. “The Red Dragon,” I whispered, my voice trembling with fear.

Autumn’s brows slammed down into a frown. “The Red Dragon? Who’s that? I’ve never heard of that assassin before.”

“It’s not an assassin. It’s what they call me when I’m on my period. And I know what you’re trying to do. It’s not going to work. Unlike you, I’ve matured and can put my anger to the side.” Um, fucking rude. “What aren’t you guys telling me?”

I slumped in my chair. “You’re no fun anymore. What happened to the reckless Illayana? The fun Illayana? The Illayana who would shoot first before calming down?”

“She grew up. Maybe you should try it sometime,” she bit back.

“Ouch. And uncalled for.”

“Enough,” Aleksandr barked. He rubbed his forehead, a slight grimace on his face. He glanced at Father. Neither of them said anything. They just stared at each other, but I knew that stare held mountains of words none of us could decipher. They were having some sort of silent conversation the rest of us were not privy to.

Father nodded ever so slightly—barely a movement of the head—but it was clear he was giving his blessing for something.

Not that Aleksandr needed it. He was Pakhan. He could do whatever he damn well pleased. He could order our father to strip naked and do the Macarena if he wanted. Not that Father would do it, but you get the gist.

Aleksandr sighed. Drea rubbed his back supportively. He locked eyes with Illayana. Tension hung in the air.

Oh, she isn’t going to like this.

“Grandfather made it very clear,” Aleksandr began slowly, picking his words very carefully. “Either one of us marry Anya Tarasova, or something bad will happen to you.”

Up until that point, Arturo had sat calmly at Illayana’s side, not overly engaging in conversation except for a few comments and questions here and there. But at Aleksandr’s words, he snapped right into focus, like a snake coiled to strike.

A myriad of emotions streaked across Illayana’s face, as easy to read as a book. Shock. Confusion. Anger.

Guilt.

The guilt held as her gaze moved to me. “It’s because of me?” she asked softly.

I liked to rouse on her a lot. Pick on her and make fun of her. But it was all in good fun. No big brother really wanted to see their little sister hurt. Or…God forbid…cry.

I eased the situation with a joke that held a smidgen of the truth. “Let’s be realistic here. This is probably the only way I’ll ever get married anyway. I’m pretty sure I was destined to go down the bachelor route otherwise.”

Her face scrunched up. She didn’t like the idea that I was being forced into something I didn’t want to do because of her. I couldn’t really blame Illayana. I’d have felt the same way if our situations were reversed.

That slightly vulnerable look disappeared, replaced with a burning anger that threatened to set the room ablaze. “Fuck. That,” she snarled. “Your someone is out there, Lukyan. You shouldn’t have to give up your life because our bastard of a grandfather said so.”

I was pretty sure I’d already met her.

“What are you doing about this?” Arturo asked Aleksandr roughly. “You just going to sit there and allow that man to threaten your sister? My wife?”

Aleksandr sat up that little bit straighter and stared Arturo down, a heavy cloud of darkness surrounding him. Arturo stared back, unintimidated.

They were like two apex predators, locked in an intense battle where the loser had every chance of catching a bullet to the head.

I leaned toward Nikolai. “Care for a wager? I think Aleksandr will kick his ass,” I whispered, shaking a $100 bill in the air.

“Shut up, Lukyan,” Illayana snapped.

I poked my tongue out at her. “You shut up.”

Drea laid a hand on Aleksandr’s shoulder. Calmness seemed to wash over him right before our eyes. He ran his tongue over his top front teeth. “What I am doing,” he began, calm but cold, “is sending my youngest brother halfway around the world to kill him.”