Page 129 of Bratva Knight

I barked out a laugh. “Oh my god, yes. Do you remember how pissed our fathers were when they found out?”

She snorted. “Like I could forget.” She waggled her fingers. “Father ended up breaking two of my fingers in the ring as punishment.”

I sucked air in between my teeth. “Right. Forgot about that. Damn, your father can be such a hardass sometimes.”

“Only when you disobey one of his orders,” she shrugged. “Okay, the coast looks clear. Let’s go.”

We sprinted across the front yard towards the main gate, constantly looking over our shoulders like we expected to see Illayana’s guards chasing after us at any moment. We couldn’t hold back the giggles as we ran. It was like we were kids again. The nostalgia it brought forth was unbelievable, and it honestly helped in distracting me, from getting sucked into all of the negative thoughts my mind insisted on throwing in my face.

The guards at the maingate gave us odd looks as we bolted towards them, almost tripping over each other.

“Open it, open it,” Illayana ordered, bouncing on her feet, excitement literally rolling off her.

We didn’t even wait for it to fully open. The second it started to move, we squeezed through the small gap and burst out the other side.

“Which way?!” I yelled, my head snapping left to right.

“I don’t know!” she laughed. “This way!” She went right and I followed after her, both of us howling with laughter. We raced down the road like we were getting chased by a madman with a chainsaw, and only started to slow down when the house was far off in the distance.

“Okay, okay, I think we’re safe,” Illayana panted, switching to a light walk.

I did the same. “I wish I could be there to see their faces when they find out you’re gone.”

“Me too.” She put her hands on her hips and steadied her breathing as she walked. “I do feel a little bad though. They’re gonna freak out.”

“Eh. They’ll get over it. Should we just jog to my house and back? Maybe we’ll get back before they even notice.”

She nodded. “Yeah. That sounds good.”

“You set the pace. I’ll follow.”

“Alright.”

We jogged at a light, easy pace. It was late in the afternoon, so it wasn’t too hot (which was good, because Illayana got kind of crabby in the heat). My mind would go to wander, but it was easy to snap it back to the moment by counting my breaths and focusing on my steps.

It was exactly what I needed. I’d been so distracted with everything in my life that I hadn’t gone for a proper run in almost a month. I forgot how much it soothed me. The only downside was that I didn’t have my music, but that was okay.

We made it to my house in record time, went in to grab a drink of water and then left again, all in a rush. Now that the adrenaline of running away had worn off, I think Illayana was determined to get back before her guards noticed she was missing. Although she was desperate for some time away from them, I knew she’d feel guilty if Arturo found out and punished them because she decided to ditch them. She still felt bad about what he did to them when Rayna kidnapped her.

Stupid bitch. I was glad she was dead. The only negative was that I didn’t get to see it.

I was so zoned out and in my own little world, I didn’t notice the van until it was too late. It swerved right in front of us at breakneck speed, almost smashing right into us.

“Watch out!” I yelled. We dove separate ways, only just managing to avoid it. I rolled along the road, pain flaring all over me as my skin scraped across the asphalt.

I winced, placing my hands on the ground and trying to push myself up.

What the hell?

“Get the fuck off me!” Illayana roared.

My gaze snapped to her in panic. Four masked men were shoving her into the van.

“Hey!” I ignored the pain and got to my feet, rushing over. The door slammed shut right when I reached it and my hands smacked against it. “Hey! Let her go!” I went for the handle, frantically trying to open it, but it was locked. I smashed my fists against the door. “Let her go!”

The van started to move and I ran with it, pounding on it viciously. “Illayana! Illayana!” It picked up more speed and I tried to keep up, running fiercely beside it for as long as I could, but it quickly sped off down the road with a screech.

I reluctantly came to a stop, unable to go any further. I stared after the van, breathless. “Illayana,” I panted heavily, watching the van disappear out of my line of sight.

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