Bratva Bride (Bratva Series Book 1)

‘What in the fresh hell is this?!’ Lukyan shrieked. He slowly lowered his gun as his eyes jumped between Arturo and I.

It took every bit of self control I had not to laugh at the expressions on their faces.

‘Zander?’ Nikolai arched an eyebrow, facing him.

Aleksandr sighed. ‘Let’s all go downstairs. Might as well fill you both in.’

‘I don’t want to go downstairs,’ Lukyan narrowed his eyes at Arturo. ‘I want to know what this dude is doing in my fucking house and in your goddamn bedroom, Illayana! He’s Cosa Nostra!’

Arturo tensed at my side, his big body going rigid. He glared those gorgeous blue-green eyes at Lukyan, grinding his teeth together. ‘Watch it,’ he sneered. ‘I don’t give a fuck if this is your house, you will not speak to her like that.’

Nikolai and Aleksandr both groaned. It was probably the worst thing you could say to Lukyan, and we all knew it.

Lukyan stood up straighter, puffing out his chest. ‘I can talk to her anyway I damn well please! She’s my sister!’ he snapped.

‘Guys, come on,’ I said, trying to defuse the situation.

Arturo’s arm tightened around my shoulders briefly before he growled and stepped towards Lukyan, ‘Not anymore, you can’t.’

‘Oh yeah? And what the fuck are you going to do about it?’ Lukyan mocked. He took a step forward, copying Arturo, closing the empty space between them entirely.

They stood toe to toe, neither one backing down. I looked to Aleksandr who was standing next to Nikolai, off to the side. Both had moved out of the danger zone when shit started to get heated. He didn’t seem fazed by the new turn of events though. Nope. Not at all. Actually, if I didn’t know better, I’d say the fucker was excited.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Aleksandr did always love a good brawl. The bloodier the better, according to him.

‘Shouldn’t we stop this?’ I hissed at them.

They both just shrugged their shoulders.

Argh, fucking useless.

‘If you weren’t Illayana’s brother and killing you wouldn’t incite a war, I’d slit your fucking throat,’ Arturo growled.

Lukyan took a step backward, his eyes flashing with excitement. He had a broad smile on his face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a blade.

‘Well, let’s ignore all that then, shall we? Right now, I’m just a man who wants you to get the fuck out of my house.’ He twirled the blade around his fingers, something he always did when he was excited. “Come on big boy, let’s dance.”

‘Lukyan. Enough,’ a deep voice commanded. I didn’t have to turn around to know my father had joined us.

Lukyan stiffened, his eyes darting to the approaching figure behind me. He cursed in Russian as he put his knife back in its sheath. He did not look happy to have been interrupted but then again, he’d always been that way. You tell the kid not to do something and it’s all he wants to do.

My father stepped up to my side, wearing plain grey sweatpants and a dark t-shirt. The only time you’d see him out of a suit was right before bed. His black hair was still damp from his shower and the pronounced lines on his face showed how exhausted he was.

He flicked his eyes over Arturo briefly before pinning his gaze on Lukyan. ‘Go on, get out of here. I’ll explain everything tomorrow.’

‘But-‘

‘No buts, Lukyan!’ Father snapped. ‘Go and go now. You two as well.’ He flicked his wrist at Aleksandr and Nikolai. They all bowed slightly before making their exit.

Lukyan scowled at Arturo, giving him the middle finger as he walked away.

Arturo chuckled. ‘I like him,’ he whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine. ‘He reminds me of Vincenzo. Brothers – you love them, but you can’t help but want to beat the shit out of them at the same time.’

‘Lukyan has that effect on people,’ I replied, laughing.

‘Oh, I can tell.’

He turned to face my father full on, eyeing him curiously. “I have to say, you’re taking my presence here quite well. I thought you would have had me shot the second you found out I was here.’ His eyes lit up with excitement, like he found the idea entertaining.

Crazy. So fucking crazy. But my kinda crazy.

My father shook his head, chuckling softly. Something he would do when a child said something amusing. ‘Do you really think you were able to get in here without my knowledge?”

Arturo’s face dropped instantly, his smile disappearing.

‘You were good, very good,’ Father continued. ‘But one thing you’ll come to realize eventually is that there’s always someone out there better than you. That just happens to be me in this circumstance.’

‘How? How did you know I was here?’ Arturo asked, narrowing his eyes.

Father tsked. ‘Maybe one day I’ll tell you. For right now, it is late, and I don’t trust you enough to let you stay in my home. Say goodbye, Illayana, Arturo is leaving.’

‘But there’s things we need to discuss, Father. Details about what’s to happen next,’ I replied, my brows wrinkling in confusion.

‘All plans will be made shortly and swiftly, but not now. Say goodbye, Illayana, I will be escorting Arturo to the front gate in thirty seconds.’ Father clicked his fingers and two of his soldiers moved to stand next to him, one on each side.

I narrowed my eyes but didn’t argue. I knew better than that.

I turned to Arturo and when our eyes locked I felt that now-all-too-familiar feeling of my stomach fluttering. ‘I guess I’ll talk to you later?’

His lips curved up into that trademark smirk of his as he spoke his final word in Italian.

‘Presto.’Soon.

“Tell me everything!” Tatiana said excitedly, holding her cup of coffee in one hand and a biscotti in the other. She dunked the biscotti in her drink and slurped it into her mouth as I took a sip of my own coffee.

After Arturo left last night, I called her and asked her to meet me at our go-to café. She was all too eager. She was the first person I called when I needed someone to talk to, someone to help me sort through the chaotic thoughts flowing through my mind. She always gave me her brutally honest opinion, no matter how rude or bitchy it might come across. If she thought you were wrong, she told you. If she thought you were acting crazy, she told you. If she thought you weren’t acting crazy enough, she told you. And she didn’t care if she offended you in the process. She didn’t have a filter, was unceremoniously blunt and always spoke her mind. And I loved it.

Excitement flashed across her heart-shaped face, her dark, brown eyes watching me over the rim of her cup. Her long, platinum blonde hair hung in ringlets down her back and she was wearing a simple blue sundress that fell to her knees. She looked like a delicate little angel, but anyone who knew her knew she was the complete opposite.

“What were they like? Were they as hot as they look online? Come on, tell me everything!”

I shook my head, laughing softly. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were obsessed with them.”

“Oh, I am. I wanna spread my legs and have their babies.” She took a chunk out of her biscotti, crunching on it loudly.

One of the elderly women at the next table gasped and stared at Tatiana in shock. She didn’t even notice.

“Which one?” I asked curiously. The last thing I wanted was my best friend crushing on my fiancé.

Tatiana placed her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her hand, staring off into the distance with a dreamy expression. “The younger one. Vincenzo. He’s gorgeous. I’d let him fuck me anyway he liked and wouldn’t even care if he didn’t call me back the next day.”

“Well, who knows, maybe you’ll get your wish. You’ll see him at the wedding.”

Tatiana sat up straight, her entire attention on me. “Wedding? Whose wedding?”

I smirked into my cup. “Mine.”

“What?!” she yelled, gaining the attention of the entire café. “You’re getting married?! To who?!”

“Who do you think?”

“A De Luca?” she breathed in reverence.

I tapped my nose and put my coffee back on the table. I picked up my BLT and took a bite, laughing silently at the look of complete bewilderment on my best friend’s face.

She raised a hand and shook her head. “Hold up, hold up, hold up. How did this happen? Aren’t they Cosa Nostra? Don’t they have some deep-seated tradition in the famiglia about only marrying other Italians?”

“They do, but Arturo doesn’t care. They need my father’s guns to help fight off the Outfit and in exchange they are offering access to their territory as well as Chicago when the Outfit is out of the picture.”

“Alright, I’m following so far. How did the topic of marriage come up? That’s a pretty big leap in the opposite direction.”

I nodded, taking another bite. “We’re officially entering into an alliance with them. One of the ways to solidify that is with marriage. Alessandro’s only daughter is ten years old, so she’s out. That leaves me.”

“Wow. So is this like, against your will?”

Scoffing, I wiped my mouth with a napkin, taking another sip of my coffee. “You think I’d ever do something I don’t wanna do?”

“True.” Tatiana exhaled. “Holy moly, this is insane! When’s the big day?”

“Less than a week.”

Once my father heard my decision to marry Arturo, he immediately sent word out that a union between the Bratva and La Cosa Nostra was taking place. He gave me a week to plan the wedding, which was fine with me because I only wanted something small.

For the second time in the span of five minutes, Tatiana yelled at the top of her lungs. “What?! You can’t plan a wedding in seven days! Are you crazy?”

Pushing my plate away, I leaned back in my chair. “Yes, I can. You know me. I don’t need or want a big flashy wedding. I’ll be fine with something small and to the point.”

“Oh my god, you’re gonna give me an aneurysm,” she muttered, rubbing her temples. “You’re the Pakhan’s only daughter. You can’t have a mediocre wedding. I won’t allow it.”

I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means I’m going to plan it, dumbass. And it’s going to be grander than Meghan and Harry’s royal wedding.” She nodded slightly, like she’d made up her mind about something and finished off her biscotti.

Groaning, I ran my hands down my face. If she was planning my wedding it meant it was going to be beyond over the top. Her extravagance knew no bounds.

“We’ve got so much to do and so little time to do it in.” She pulled out her phone. “We need to plan the menu, pick the flowers, locate a venue, choose the bridesmaid dresses, send out invitations, find a wedding dress for you-”

“Alright, stop,” I barked. “No, no, and hell no. This is exactly what I didn’t want. I don’t want to plan it. Thinking about it gives me a headache. If you wanna do it, fine. But I don’t want to be involved.”

Tatiana stared at me like I was losing my mind. “You don’t want to plan your own wedding?”

“No. I don’t care about any of that stuff, T. The only thing I care about is wearing my mother’s wedding dress. Everything else is inconsequential.”

A flash of sadness streaked across her face and then she locked it away. She knew I didn’t like to talk about my mother or her death. It was a no-go subject for me. “Okay, do I have full reign over the wedding?”

I sighed. “Yes. Do what you want, just don’t make it tacky.”

She glared at me. “Tacky? Bitch, do you even know me?”

I laughed and finished off the rest of my coffee. Tatiana had impeccable taste and had a real knack for interior design. If anyone could make my wedding a spectacular extravaganza, it was her. Not that I wanted something big like that, but there was no way she’d let me have something small.

“You’ll have to coordinate with Nikolai, he’ll most likely be in charge of security for the event.”

Tatiana pursed her lips. “Do I have to?”

I shook my head, chuckling softly. “Yes. Something as big as a wedding between two mafia families has to have some top-notch security. That’s Nikolai’s department. You can’t plan it without running everything through him.”

She grumbled under her breath.

“Unless you just wanna skip the whole big wedding thing and do something small?” I asked hopefully.

“No,” she said quickly and sighed. “I’ll sort it out.”

The bell over the café door dinged, announcing the arrival of a new patron. Heavy footsteps thudded in the small space. The familiar hint of my brother’s cologne hit my nostrils a second before a shadow loomed over our table. I looked up and saw Nikolai.

Speak of the devil.

“Nik, hey. What are you doing here?”

Tatiana stiffened slightly and looked up from her phone, glaring at my brother. Nikolai locked eyes with her and sexual tension crackled in the air between them. I rolled my eyes. Neither one wanted to admit that they wanted the other. Instead, they played this ridiculous game of pretending that they didn’t like each other. But anyone who spent more than a second in their presence knew they were hot for each other. Everyone except for themselves.

They both looked away at the same time.

“Father wants you. I’m here to take you home,” Nik said, eyes on me.

“Uh, why? What’s going on?”

“He didn’t say. Just told me to come get you.”

“But I drove my car.”

“Leave it. We’ll get it later.”

I frowned. This was weird, but I knew better than to ignore a direct order from my father. I shrugged my shoulders and packed up my things, putting my keys, phone and wallet back into my purse and slinging it over my shoulder.

“Sorry, T. I’ll talk to you later?”

Tatiana smiled. “No worries, girl. I’ll call you after my run later tonight.”

Nikolai scowled at her. “You shouldn’t be running at night, it’s dangerous.”

Tatiana smiled brightly but it looked forced, fake. “And?”

“What do you mean ‘and’? It’s not safe, so don’t do it.”

“You’re not the boss of me, big guy. I’ll do what I want.” She waved us off and focused on her phone, effectively ending the conversation. “Off ya go, before Daddy gets mad.”

Nikolai growled deeply, his jaw clenched and teeth grinding against each other. “Tatiana-”

“Aw, leave it alone, Nik. The more you tell her not to do it, the more she wants too. You’re just making it worse. Come on, let’s go. Catch ya later, T.”

“Bye,” she called out, eyes still glued on her phone.

I dragged Nikolai out of the café and over to his car.

“Why’d you do that? You think it’s alright for her to go running late at night on her own?” Nik grunted, opening the driver’s side door.

“I think it’s none of your business what she does,” I said, walking around the car to the passenger’s side. I arched an eyebrow. “Why do you care, anyway?”

He didn’t answer, just grumbled under his breath and got in the car.

When we got home, I went straight to my father’s office. Nikolai left to do his own thing. I knocked on his office door and stepped inside when he bellowed, “Enter.”

As usual, my father was planted behind his big mahogany desk in his classic three-piece Armani suit. There were two other men in the room along with him, one of them I knew. Adrian Alexeev, my father’s main bodyguard. He was tall, pushing 6’5 I’d say, and built like a pro football player. He had short black hair and deep brown eyes. He had a scar that started a few inches above his left eyebrow, down to just underneath his eye. It gave off a real ‘Scar’ from The Lion King vibe. He was dressed in a plain black suit with no tie.

The other man I had never met before, and I was sure of it. He was a bit shorter than Adrian, but he looked just as deadly. He had blonde hair that was styled neatly and blue eyes. His nose was slightly crooked, like it had been broken several times. He was dressed similar to Adrian; black pants, black dress shirt.

“Father,” I said, coming to a stop in front of his desk. “You needed to see me?”

He placed the papers he was reading down on the desk and looked at me. ‘These are your new bodyguards.” He nodded to the two men in the room. “They’re to go everywhere you go. You know Adrian and this is Lorenzo from the Cosa Nostra, Arturo sent him to be your other guard.”

Lorenzo bowed his head slightly, making sure to maintain his posture beside my father’s desk.

I frowned. ‘Guard? Since when do I need a guard?’ I asked, confused.

‘Since we announced your engagement to Arturo. The merging of our families has brought forth some. . . problems.’ Father reached for his glass, half filled with vodka, and took a swig. Adrian and Lorenzo stayed unmoving, hands clasped behind their backs. The epitome of professionalism. ‘It’s nothing we didn’t expect. Just people unhappy with you marrying outside the Bratva. Especially when there are plenty of eligible Russian men available for you to marry instead. But I would be a fool not to take precautions. And I am no fool.’

‘But Father, you know I don’t need a guard. I can take care of myself.’

‘Nevertheless, you will have them. And I’ll hear nothing else on the matter, understood?’ He narrowed his eyes at me, his voice deep as he issued his command.

I clenched my teeth to refrain from lashing out. ‘Understood,’ I growled.

He nodded and motioned towards the door. ‘Good. Now go, I have work to do.’

I turned and walked out of his office, accompanied by my new guards. I definitely wasn’t happy about this situation. My father taught me how to protect myself. Taught me how to use a gun, use a knife. Taught me hand to hand combat. For years I trained every day honing those skills until I became just as good as my brothers. If my brothers could walk around without any guards, I didn’t see why I needed them, not when I’m completely capable of taking care of myself. But I knew better than to balk at my father’s orders.

When we left my father’s office I turned left, heading down the long corridor towards the kitchen, my new guards in tow. “This is ridiculous,” I grumbled under my breath, aggravation gnawing at my bones.

Adrian chuckled. “You know it’s only because he cares about you, Illayana.”

“I know that, doesn’t mean I have to like it.” I stopped and looked at Lorenzo. “Arturo sent you?”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded.

I winced. “Please don’t call me ma’am. I’m twenty-one, not sixty.”

“Apologies, Miss Volkov.”

“Illayana is fine.”

“Miss Volkov,” Lorenzo repeated, not willing to refer to me with such familiarity.

I shrugged my shoulders and continued on to the kitchen. “Whatever works for you.”

Lukyan was at the kitchen table, leaning back in his chair with his feet kicked up on the table. He had his hands clasped behind his head as he balanced on the two back legs of the chair with ease. He was wearing a sharp grey suit with a black tie and his long hair was tied at the nape of his neck.

When I entered the kitchen, he scowled at me. He dropped the two front legs of the chair back to the ground with a loud thud, picked up his coffee on the table and turned around, giving me his back.

Okay, so he’s still a little upset.

When Lukyan realised I had accepted Arturo’s proposal and would be moving to New York, he had been in a perpetually sour mood – but only towards me. In a way, I could understand. Out of all my brothers, I was closest to Lukyan. For the first ten to fifteen years of our lives, we were basically inseparable. We did everything together. We terrorised the place with our pranks and crazy personalities. He was finding it hard to accept the fact that I would be leaving. I guess he thought I would always be here. I did, too.

I sighed and moved to stand next to him. He didn’t acknowledge my presence, just continued to sip on his coffee.

‘Lukyan.’

Nothing. Fucking crickets.

‘Lukyan,’ I said a little harder this time.

Still, the fucker stayed silent.

‘Come on Lukyan, we both know you can’t keep this shit up forever. I’m going to go out and do some shopping, wanna come? I’ll get you a donut from The Grind. I know how much you love their donuts.’

‘I don’t want a fucking donut,’ he grumbled, glaring at his coffee cup.

Yeah fucking right. The kid lived for anything sweet. I swear, sometimes he was like a child stuck in a grown ass man’s body. He would choose lollies and chocolate over a decent meal any day.

‘Fine. I’ll be back later then.’ I turned and started walking away. Just before I left the kitchen, I heard Lukyan’s voice.

‘What kind of donut?’

I kept my back to him, hiding the smirk that was on my face. I knew he couldn’t resist. ‘Any kind you want.’

He stayed silent for a few seconds and then I heard the sound of his chair sliding across the marble floor. The scent of alcohol and cigars hit me like a title wave as he moved to my side.

‘This doesn’t mean I forgive you for leaving,’ he said, nose in the air. ‘I just want a fucking donut.’

‘Uh-huh.’ I smirked as I made my way out of the kitchen, heading towards the front door.

“What’s with the shadows?” he asked, referring to Adrian and Lorenzo following behind us.

I groaned. “Father’s stuck me with guards.”

“Ha! Seriously? Suck shit,” he laughed.

“Shut up,” I grunted, elbowing him in the ribs.

He pranced forward and turned, walking backwards down the corridor. “So, you drew the short straw, huh, Adrian? Went from guarding the big boss to his precious little flower? Sucks to be you.”

“I am not a precious little flower!” I blasted, leering at him.

Adrian just shook his head. “It’s an honour to watch over Illayana,” he replied to Lukyan, not rising to the bait.

Lukyan scoffed. “Yeah right.” His eyes flicked to Lorenzo. “And who are you?”

“I’m Lorenzo,” he replied, not bothering to say anything else.

“Right. And?”

“And nothing Lukyan, would you just shut up?” I growled.

“Temper, temper,” Lukyan smiled, turning back around.

Once we stepped outside, Lorenzo moved to the black Range Rover parked in the driveway and opened the door to the backseat.

‘Thank you, Lorenzo.’ I jumped in, taking a seat, Lukyan joining me. Adrian took to the driver’s side while Lorenzo sat in the passenger seat.

‘Where to first, Illayana?’ Adrian asked, his voice laced with his thick Russian accent. He manoeuvred the car with ease down the driveway and onto the road.

‘We’ll go to The Grind first please Adrian, so we can get my stupid brother his donuts.”

He chuckled, his hands moving effortlessly over the steering wheel as we made our way to the city. ‘Didn’t you just buy a pack of twenty-four esterday?’ he asked Lukyan, glancing in the rear-view mirror.

‘Yeah. Yesterday,’ Lukyan scoffed, rolling his eyes.

‘Seriously, with all the crap you eat how are you not severely overweight?’ I chuckled. The kid ate more than everyone in the house combined and it was mainly junk food.

Lukyan shrugged his shoulders, a smile on his face.

After twenty minutes, we pulled into the street The Grind was located on. As per usual, there was nowhere to park. Parking in Las Vegas was a total nightmare. We usually had to park a couple blocks away and walk, which I never minded.

Adrian managed to find a park only a block away. As soon as the car stopped, Lorenzo was out and opening my car door. I stepped out and smiled at him.

‘You know you don’t have to do that right? I can open my own door.’

‘I know, Miss Volkov,’ he replied.

Adrian walked in front of me, his big body shielding me from anything and everything, while Lorenzo stayed behind me. Lukyan was at my side, trying hard not to run ahead as we walked down the street.

The footpath up ahead was blocked, several workers milling around laying a new round of cement. Lukyan groaned, annoyed at the hold up. He looked left and signalled for us to follow him. He stepped into an alleyway littered with rubbish and garbage bins.

‘We’ll go around.’ Lukyan moved further into the alley, with me at his side and my guards behind me.

‘Well, well, well. What do we have here?’ A man stepped out from behind a dumpster, followed by four more men.

I instantly tensed, my hand moving to grip the knife at my waist. Why the fuck didn’t I bring my gun? I’m usually always strapped.

Lukyan immediately stood taller, his big body looking every bit as lethal as I knew it was, his face laced with menace and hands moving to grasp the gun strapped to his chest holster.

I looked behind me to see another five men coming from where we just entered. They were the workers from the main street.

Fuck. It was an ambush.

Lorenzo and Adrian pulled their guns, taking aim at the five new arrivals, their backs pressing tightly to mine. Shit, this wasn’t good. We were outnumbered.

All of them had masks on and were dressed in black pants and long black shirts. The only part of their bodies you could see where their eyes. The fuckers were even wearing gloves.

I tried to control my heartbeat and breathing, making sure to keep a level head. I watched Lukyan in my peripheral vision. His eyes were roaming all over the men in front of us, looking for weaknesses.

The man who spoke stepped ahead of the others, standing a few feet in front of me.

‘Well, if it isn’t the Russian whore,’ he spat. I could hear the faint traces of a Spanish accent under his words. The Los Zetas?

Lukyan tensed at my side and growled low in his throat, moving to stand in front of me protectively. I patted his chest, stopping him and he halted.

‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ I asked, calmly.

Even from where I stood, I could see the man’s lips curve up into a smile underneath his mask.

I felt Lorenzo and Adrian at my back and a part of me was so fucking thankful that my father had pushed for me to have guards. Not that I’d ever admit it. I was stubborn like that.

The man’s eyes stayed glued on me as he addressed his men. He spoke in Spanish, clearly assuming we couldn’t understand. ‘Take the girl alive. Kill the rest.’

My eyes flicked to Lukyan and he nodded slightly, signalling he heard and understood what was said. I wasn’t sure if Adrian or Lorenzo could speak Spanish and I didn’t want to risk that they couldn’t. I kept my eyes on the man in front of me as I spoke.

‘Sii pronto. Hanno sparato per uccidere gli ordini.’Be ready. They have shoot to kill orders. I said to Lorenzo in Italian.

Lukyan spoke to Adrian in Russian.‘Oni planiruyut ubit’ nas i zabrat’ Ileana. prigotov’sya’.They plan to kill us and take Illayana. Get ready.

All at once the men sprang forward, attacking. I didn’t have time to think about anything else but the situation in front of me. I could only hope that Adrian and Lorenzo could hold their own. I couldn’t worry about the other five men behind me as well as the five in front of me.

Four men jumped for Lukyan, while the man who spoke walked slowly towards me, taking his sweet fucking time. They thought I wasn’t a threat, that much was painfully obvious. The fact they stuck four on Lukyan and only one on me clearly showed that. Well, they’d see soon enough.

Gunshots rang through the small alleyway and sounds of fighting reached my ears, but I blocked it out. Blocked it all out and focused on the fucker who thought he could take me down. I didn’t have the time or luxury to screw around. Lukyan had four guys coming at him, I needed to get rid of this guy quickly so I could help him. Knowing Lukyan, he’d take all four of them head on without using his gun, because the fucker liked to fight with his hands. It wouldn’t be the first time. He only used his gun in dire circumstances. He was a knife man.

The second the man stepped within my reach, I attacked. I struck my hand out, delivering a solid palm strike to his nose. His head whipped back and I heard his nose break, but I didn’t give him a chance to retaliate. I swiftly followed with a punch to his sternum, a blow to his kidneys, a kick to the kneecap and finished off with a solid uppercut. All in under five seconds.

He grunted as I delivered each blow, pain rippling through his body. Without losing momentum, I dealt him a solid roundhouse kick right in the chest, sending his body flying back and sprawling to the ground. The sound of more gunshots came from all around me but I didn’t have time to stop and look. I needed to finish off my opponent before he recovered.

He was lying on the ground, eyes closed, groaning in pain. I nudged him with my heel and his eyes shot open.

‘Quien es la puta ahora?’Who’s the whore now? I said in Spanish, my lips curving into a smile.

Before he could respond, I picked up my foot and drove my spiked heel deep into his throat. He choked, a painful gurgling sound slipping past his lips as blood poured out of his mouth. Blood spurted out everywhere as I pulled my heel out. His hands wrapped around his throat, his eyes wide open with fear. I wish I could have stayed to watch the life drain from his eyes but there wasn’t time.

I turned and ran to Lukyan. He had already taken out one of those fuckers, leaving three left. He was holding off two of them, blocking their attacks while the third was circling him, trying to find an opening to attack. I pulled a knife out and jumped onto his back, wrapping my legs tightly around his torso. Before he could react, I pulled his head back and used the blade in my hand to cut his throat swiftly.

As his body fell, I leapt forward, flipping in the air, and landed solidly on my feet. I turned around just in time to see Lukyan drive his knife deep into a man’s heart. He kicked his body, pulling the knife free at the same time. The last man remaining ran forward, trying to catch Lukyan off guard.

Not on my fucking watch.

I threw my knife hard, aiming for the fucker. It flew through the air and struck him in the head, directly between his eyes. Knife throwing was one of my best skills.

We both immediately moved to help Adrian and Lorenzo. They had each taken down one man, leaving three left. They were both covered in blood, holding a knife in each hand. The ground was littered with guns, obviously having been knocked aside during the fight. Lukyan jumped to help Adrian, who was squaring off with two men while I moved to Lorenzo.

The man was distracted, his focus stuck firmly on Lorenzo. He didn’t even see me coming. I dealt a swift kick to his legs, bringing him to his knees. I quickly pulled another blade from my waist and drove it deep into his back, severing his spinal cord. He screamed in agony as I twisted the knife deeper and deeper, until it couldn’t go any further. I kicked him in the back and he fell to the ground face first.

I went to move onto the next when I realised there was no one left. Adrian and Lukyan stood side by side, breathing heavily, blood dripping from the knives in their hands. Bodies were lying everywhere, pools of blood beginning to form.

A painful groan came from behind me. Lukyan’s eyes snapped to where the sound was coming from and he moved swiftly to the man’s side. He picked up the back of his head and was about to slit his throat open before I spoke.

‘Wait,’ I said, breathless.

‘Why?’ Lukyan growled, looking at me, the rage from the fight still burning in his eyes.

‘Don’t you think Father is going to want to speak with him?’

A sinister smile spread across his face as he pulled my knife from the man’s back and flipped him over. The man groaned again, his face contorted in pain. Lukyan gripped his chin roughly, forcing the man to look at him.

‘You’re going to wish I had killed you. My father will have no mercy,’ Lukyan spat.