Page 20 of All the Dangerous Things

“I’m just as stubborn as the two of you,” I muttered under my breath in English, my skull pounding from a massive headache and my entire face feeling like it had been run over with a semi.

Dmitry chuckled, and Nikolai cut him a scathing look.

Although both of the men were hardcore in everything they did in life, out of the two of them, Nikolai was the legitimate sociopath. And right now—as I stared into his wild-looking eyes—I could see the only thing on his mind was vengeance.

Before I knew it, Nikolai was standing mere inches from me, his breathing increasing the longer we stared at each other.

“???? ???? ?? ?? ?????????? ???, ??? ??? ? ????? ??????, ?????…”Even if you don’t tell us who did that to you, Tati…Nikolai ground the words out from between his clenched teeth. “?? ????????? ?????? ??????, ??? ?? ?????????? ????????, ??? ??? ???.”You know damn well we’re going to fucking find out who it was.

Yeah… I knew that, but that was a problem to worry about at another time.

“Maybe, brother,” I whispered. “But not right now. Not today.”

Nikolai looked crazed as he glared at me. I glanced down to see his hands curled into tight fists at his sides, his knuckles cracking as if he were preparing for any chance to destroy something.

Although my brothers were very protective over me, this wasn’t just about that. Dmitry and Nikolai had a darkness within them that made it impossible for them to live normal lives.

They needed an outlet for all the aggression, destruction, and violence they housed.

They needed something to tame whatever demonic creature they had inside each of them.

It was the same as the one our father had. It was as if the very devil himself possessed all of them, and that bastard was starved for another bite of human flesh.

But the difference between my brothers and our psychotic father was that they would never hurt the ones they loved.

They’d rather die slow and torturous deaths than cause the ones they held close any sort of pain.

“Please,” I said finally, and I reached out to take one of Nikolai’s hands in mine. After a second, herelaxed enough to hold it within his much larger one, but I could see how tense he was.

In my mind, I saw flashes of Gio’s massive, tattooed body hovering over mine as he crowded me by his front door. I thought about how he killed that man so effortlessly, as if he were just taking his next breath.

God, he’d been ruthless and brutal.

To save me. To protect me.

And it was clear it hadn’t affected him while he sat in his kitchen and drank his coffee. He acted like it was just another day and he hadn’t murdered someone.

Or more like murdering someone was a simple, everyday task he did, right along with getting dressed and brushing his teeth.

“I’m so tired,” I whispered, and I saw Dmitry move closer so he was standing just a foot behind Nikolai. “I just want to sleep. I just want to….” I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, my throat burning. I kept my expression neutral, so they wouldn’t see how much pain I was in.

“Tati.” Nikolai’s voice was deep and low, and when I looked at him, I could see how he scanned my face with his all-seeing eyes, his expression so worried.

“I know I can’t run from this conversation, but can we shelve it for right now? Can we talk about it later?”

There was a war waging on my brothers’ faces, as they clearly wanted to fight me on this, but after a second, Nikolai nodded. “I’ll call for a car to bring Amara.”

The way he spoke told me there was no point in arguing. I let go of his hand and took a step back, expecting them to move toward the front door, but Nikolai made himself comfortable on my couch.

Dmitry moved toward the front door but looked at me. “We aren't leaving,” he said, his voice firm.

I didn’t argue or tell them to go. I knew they needed to be here for me—and for themselves. I felt a cold, wet nudge against my hand and glanced down to see Sasha by my side.

“Go rest, little sister.”

I nodded at Nikolai’s softly spoken command but kept my focus on Sasha.

“I’m bringing the doctor too.” Dmitry’s tone was flat, as if he knew I wouldn't say shit about it.

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