Page 26 of Bratva Knight

I knew my brother well. If something happened to our father, he would blame himself, regardless of the fact that it wasn’t his fault. He would just see that he had the chance to save him, and he didn’t take it.

Illayana huffed, hands on her hips. “We should have killed him. Or at least captured him. Letting him go was a mistake.”

“No amount of torture would have gotten Dominik to talk,” I said.

“You don’t know that. I’ve picked up a thing or two from my time in the Cosa Nostra. I could have gotten him to talk. Maybe.”

I doubted it. Dominik might be a self-centred, backstabbing, arrogant asshole, but he had the Volkov resilience. We could have taken him apart piece by piece and I don’t think he would have said a damn word.

“Speaking of Cosa Nostra,” Aleksandr began, giving Drea a small smile of appreciation before turning to face Illayana. “You should probably head back soon, don’t you think? You’ve been gone for nearly a week.”

Arturo returned to New York a few days ago to handle business. Illayana had chosen to stay behind to help search for Father, but she couldn’t stay forever. Her place was by her husband’s side, helping him in his fight against The Outfit.

“Nope.” Illayana stretched her arms above her head, her bones cracking. “I told Arturo I’m staying until we find Father. It’s okay, though. Tatiana is going to help out until I get back.”

I tensed, my eyes snapping to her in shock. “What did you just say?”

“Tatiana.” She said her name like I didn’t fucking know who she was. “She’s going to New York early before her classes start, to lend a hand with The Outfit.” Illayana frowned. “What? What’s with the face?”

Anger ran red through my brain. Tatiana was going to dowhat? It's not that I didn’t believe in her. She was smart, capable. She had a unique ability to see things other people might not notice. Her skills weren’t the issue. The fact that she was putting herself in danger was what made rage run rampant in my veins.

My hands balled into fists, teeth grinding.

Aleksandr glanced at me nervously. “Give us the room.”

Illayana frowned again, this time at Aleksandr. Her eyes darted between the two of us as I began to pace. I couldn’t stand still. The thought of Tatiana in danger filled me with such fear and restlessness, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. It was like a huge, heavy weight was sitting on my chest, smothering me.

“Why?” Illayana asked, confusion in her voice.

“I need to talk to Nik alone. Go. Now, Illayana.”

Her lips pursed in agitation but she didn’t ask anymore questions. Drea gripped Aleksandr’s shirt and yanked him down to her level, planting a kiss on his cheek. My brother rolled his eyes, acting as if he didn’t enjoy the display of affection, but the small smile on his face said otherwise. She whispered something in his ear before letting him go. She nodded to me in farewell and then walked towards Illayana, looping her arm through hers.

“We haven’t really had a chance to talk. Let’s get to know each other. Aleksandr tells me you like to spar when you’re annoyed. Want to go a round?”

Eagerness sparkled in my sister’s eyes. She did love a good brawl, especially when she wasn’t in a good mood.

After Drea lead Illayana out of the room, Aleksandr closed the door and turned to face me.

“Don’t. I don’t want to hear it.”

“Tough,” he snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. “You need to go.”

I stopped pacing, surprised by his words. “What?”

“I know you, Nikolai. There’s no way you’ll be able to focus on anything except Tatiana, now that you know she’s involving herself in dangerous business. You’ll be of no use to me so distracted.”

“I can’t just leave.” Just the idea of it made a ball of guilt lodge itself deep in my stomach. I’d feel like I was abandoning my father if I did that.

“There’s nothing you can do here that you can’t do there. Take all the shit you need with you. See what you can find out about the MC gangs Dominik has under his thumb and send the data back to me. I can have Lukyan do all the groundwork. You keep telling me I need to give him more responsibility.”

“You do. But I—”

“Plus, I need you to vet some new potential clients in New York. So it’s a win-win situation.”

My brows lowered. “That’s Valentino’s territory.”

“Not anymore. He got sloppy and got himself caught by an undercover cop in his ranks. He’s been charged with arms trafficking, murder, racketeering and about a dozen other offences. He and everyone in his organisation are going away for life. That frees up his territory, and I want to claim it before anyone else does.”

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