Page 128 of Bratva Knight

“Can’t,” I said, pacing again despite her words. “I told Nikolai I wouldn’t do anything to put myself in danger.” I held a hand up to stop her from saying what I knew she would. “Yes. I know it’s notactuallydangerous. But we both know how your brother feels when I go for a run, and I promised him.”

A cheeky smirk graced her lips. “I thought that was just if you ranalone?”

I froze. Technically, she wasn’t wrong. Nikolai would always flip out because I ran by myself. But if I went with someone, that wouldn’t be breaking my promise, would it?

I ran over and grasped Illayana by the face, squishing her cheeks. “This is why you’re my best friend!”

Illayana struggled. “Would you get off?!”

I laughed and planted a big, wet, sloppy kiss on her cheek. She shoved me away with a growl.

“How about you, Drea? Want to go for a run?” I asked as Illayana went to her closet to put on a pair of running shoes.

She shook her head. “I’m good. I want to stay here and wait for Aleksandr. He may come back while you’re gone.”

“Good call.” I looked to Illayana. “You wanna go now?”

“Yeah. I need to get out of this house.”

“I feel that.” I hadn’t left since Nikolai went on the mission. I called Belinda and told her I was having family problems and wouldn’t be able to make any of my shifts for the next week. She was surprisingly very understanding about it. She told me to take as much time as I needed, which I greatly appreciated.

Drea pointed over her shoulder at the door. “Do you want me to tell your bodyguards?” she asked Illayana.

“Fuck no,” my friend breathed out, a mask of horror overtaking her face. “I need to get away from them. They’re driving me crazy, following meeverywhere. I swear, they’re getting worse and worse.”

I laughed. “I would have thought that, after all this time, you’d be used to them.”

“Would you get used to never being able to piss in peace?” she snapped, annoyed. “It’s like, since your kidnapping, Arturo has gotten more paranoid that something is going to happen. That he’s told them to be extra vigilant. This room here is the only place I get to be alone without one of them breathing down my damn neck.”

“Touchy, touchy,” I joked, giving her a bright, beaming smile.

She snapped her fingers together in a “shut your mouth” kind of gesture. She looked at Drea. “Who’s out there?”

“The twins,” Drea responded. “They’re just sitting out there playing ‘Go Fish.’”

“Go Fish?” I laughed. “What are they, twelve?”

Drea tittered. “How do you plan to get around them? They’re right at the door.”

Illayana glanced at the window, mischievousness glinting in her eyes.

“You can’t be serious,” Drea gasped. “If you fall—”

“I won’t fall,” Illayana said with complete conviction. She tied her hair up into a high ponytail. “I’ve climbed out that window a thousand times. I just needyouto tell them I’m going to sleep and I don’t want to be disturbed.”

Drea shook her head in amusement. “Alright. But if something happens, I’m saying I tried to stop you, but you wouldn’t listen.”

“That is entirely believable,” I nodded.

Illayana walked over to the window and opened it wide. “We’ll be back soon.”

I gave a salute in farewell and then followed Illayana out. There was a drainpipe right next to her window that we used to climb down, one we’d used in the past to do this exact same thing when we were younger, when her father wouldn’t let us out.

There were a few guards circling the property, but they just shook their heads at us when they spotted us, not interfering. Illayana waited for me when she got to the bottom, narrowing her eyes in warning at the guards, a silent message to keep their mouths shut about what they saw. I suspected they would. My best friend could be kind of scary when she wanted to be.

I dropped down next to her and blew my hair out of my face. “This is kind of fun,” I whispered, smirking at her. Why I was whispering, I had no idea. It just seemed fitting for the moment.

Illayana smiled. “Right? It’s like that time we snuck out to go see that concert in the city.”

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