Page 37 of Bratva Knight

“You really want to test how much I despise that fucking nickname, Tati?” I threatened.

Her outrage turned to an angry glare. “Fine. Consider it…‘retired’,” she mocked, using air quotes.

I smiled brightly, flashing my teeth. I’d won. For the moment, anyway. Knowing Tatiana, though, she was already in the middle of planning my death. Specifically, how to make it look like an accident. Shedespisedinsects of any kind. Especially if they were the type that had one too many legs. Illayana and Lukyan used to tease her all the time about how she’d be able to handle torture and never break, but if someone brought a spider into the room, she’d crumble.

Tatiana climbed into the driver's seat and I followed, getting into the passenger side.

“Maybe I should drive,” I said nervously, watching her put her seat belt on.

“You swore you wouldn’t try to take over.”

“I’m not. I’m just offering to drive.”

“And I’m just offering to punch you in the throat. Again.”

I slammed the door shut and quickly put my belt on as she started the car. Her hands ran over the steering wheel admiringly, an eager look on her face.

Back home, there was a kind of unspoken rule between all of us that Tatiana wasn’t allowed to drive. Ever.

She knew how to, of course. That wasn’t the issue. The problem was that she had a slight road rage issue, and by slight I meansevere.

I wasn’t the praying type, not by a long shot. But fuck, I prayed. I prayed to whatever deity there was in the sky that we made it to our destination in one piece.

Chapter Eleven

Tatiana Andreeva

“Thelightisgreen,you idiot, go!” I screamed, pressing down repeatedly on the horn as I glared at the car in front of me. Nikolai grunted when I took off, his body slamming back into his seat as I dropped my foot down on the accelerator.

I swerved in and out of the lanes, racing down the highway towards the apartment building directed by the GPS. Nikolai’s face was filled with unease, one hand on the roof and the other gripping onto the centre console like he was afraid he was going to fall out of the car or something.

I was well aware of the fact that he didn’t like my driving. Nobody did.

“Slow down, Tatiana.”

“That was a red light you just went through, Tatiana.”

“No, you can’t run down the cyclist just because he takes up half the lane, Tatiana.”

Blah, blah, blah.

At one point, Nikolai had even installed extra seat belts in his car because he wasthatterrified of my driving.

It wasn’t like I was a bad driver or anything. But I guess I wasn’t necessarily a good one either. Driving was therapeutic for me, believe it or not. And right then, I needed some fucking therapy.

Conflicting emotions warred inside me for supremacy. I was happy. Angry. Annoyed. Excited. Frustrated. Nikolai’s presence had surprised me. The last thing I expected was for him to follow me here, especially with everything going on with the Bratva at the moment. With his father.

The fact that he had spoke volumes, quelling some of that burning anger I still held towards him. Despite how hard I’m sure it was for him to leave his family at such a time, he’d done it. For me.

In a way, he’d been right. Ishouldhave anticipated his arrival because Ididknow him. I knew that the depth of his protectiveness had only gotten worse over time.

I’d mistakenly assumed, after our last conversation at his house, that he would understand why I needed to distance myself from him. What surprised me the most though was howgladI was to have him here with me. How…relieved I was. It had completely shocked me, to be honest, and was one of the contributing factors as to why I was so mad. I didn’twantto feel that way—like I needed him.

That’s what made the whole thing so fucking hard. Different parts of me felt different things. I just wanted to drop to my knees and scream for my emotions to get a fucking grip. It felt like I was being pulled into a thousand different directions, and I wasn’t sure where I was going to end up.

There was also the very troubling fact that I felt safer when he was around (physically, anyway. Mentally was a whole different story).

I knew I couldn’t rely on him again. Not when last time all it took for him to question me was some dickhead spouting false bullshit about me. How did I know that wasn’t going to happen again?

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