Page 35 of Bratva Knight

Strike.

Strike.

Strike.

“Damn it, Tatiana. Enough!” She aimed a kick to my side and I grunted at the impact, my arm curling around her leg to hold her still. Her balance was perfect, despite the fact that she was standing on one leg and wearing six-inch heels.

“What the fuck are you doing here, Nikolai?” she growled, her fists up, guarding her face.

“You really need to ask?” She tried to yank her leg out of my grasp but I held on tight, refusing to let go.

She wanted a confrontation? Well, she was fucking getting one.

“The second you agreed to do this, you should have known I’d be here. You seriously think I’d let you walk into a potentially dangerous situation without me?”

“Let me?”

Fuck. Wrong words to say to Tatiana.

The thunderstorm of anger that rolled over her was enough to scare even me.

“Now, wait a second. Just calm—”

She twisted, placing her hands on the ground to stabalise herself as she swung her free leg around to kick me right in the fucking face. The force of the blow rocked me, making me lose my grip on her and tumble to the ground. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

Goddamn it. I forgot how hard she kicked when she was pissed off.

Tatiana pounced on me, the sharp edge of a blade pressing to my throat, making me stiffen.

Okay, she’s moved past the stage of “pissed off” and entered right into “totally bat-shit fucking crazy” territory.

Her legs were either side of my body, her soft curves moulding against me like she was made for me, fit me perfectly. It wasn’t the first time Tatiana had held a knife to my throat, and I highly doubted it would be the last, either.

“You think I need your protection,Nicky?”

I narrowed my eyes and she glared back.

“Need? No.” I grabbed her wrist, twisting the blade away from my neck and rolling us so I was now on top, the blade pressing againstherthroat instead.

Her breath hitched, eyes dilating.

“But Iwantto be there in case you do. You expect me to eat, sleep, doanythingknowing you could be in danger?”

“I expect you to trust that I can handle myself,” she hissed. Her elbow swung up, clocking me in the nose. My head snapped back and she throat punched me.

I choked, the knife slipping through my fingers as my hands collared my throat. Tatiana was skilled enough to make sure her strike wouldn’t cause damage, but it still hurt. A lot.

She shoved me hard in the chest and I fell back. We scrambled, Tatiana getting to her feet and me only just managing to make it to one knee before she swung a powerful roundhouse kick to my face.

I blocked, my arm coming up to protect the side of my head. Then I went on the offensive, leaping to my feet to attack. Back and forth, back and forth, we traded blows, moving inch by inch across the gravel driveway. Arturo’s guards watched us with bewildered expressions, not quite sure what to make of the whole thing.

“I don’t see what the big deal is,” I grunted, rearing back to avoid her strike and then throwing a punch.

“The big deal is—” she deflected my punch, guiding my fist past her body as she twisted away. Then she kneed me in the stomach, making me groan. “—that I came here to get away from you.”

I rammed into her with my shoulder and she lost her balance, falling ass-first into a giant, muddy puddle.

“Ugh, Nikolai!” she screeched in horror. “Do you have any idea howexpensivethis fabric is?”

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