Page 89 of Bratva Knight

Probably.

“It’ll be fine. Just stand when I do and I’ll block his line of sight.”

He nodded, looking a little queasy. I found the whole thing quite hilarious, to be honest. Turns out, Steve was one of those people who was all bark and no bite. The type who liked to act tough, but was nothing of the sort. The type to use whoever was around him as a human shield so he could run in the opposite direction when things got dangerous.

Nikolai would never do that. He’d runtowardsthe danger with a smile on his face.

I put the strap of my handbag over my shoulder and got to my feet. Steve followed, folding himself inwards to try and hide his frame behind mine.

“Maybe we can—”

I shook my head. There was no way in hell I’d ever meet up with this guy again, especially after this.

He looked regretful, indecision flashing in his eyes for a second before reality set back in.

“It was nice meeting you.” He offered me his hand.

I didn’t see the point in false pleasantries, so I said nothing as I stretched my hand out to shake his.

Something smashed, the sound of glass shattering making Steve jump back with a screech before our hands could touch. I looked over my shoulder, seeing a very smug Nikolai looking back at me with the remnants of his now-broken glass on the ground around his chair.

“Really?”I mouthed.

He just shrugged, all innocent like. Nikolai's possessiveness knew no bounds.

When I turned back around, Steve was gone.

I should have followed him out that door and not rewarded Nikolai's behaviour with an ounce of the attention I knew he was hoping to receive. There were a thousand different ways he could have handled the situation, and he chose to sit there, watching and intimidating Steve into leaving on his own. The power the man wielded…it was such a damn turn on.

You know you’re going to go over there, so just do it already.

I inwardly sighed. Yes. Yes, I did. The pull towards Nikolai was far too strong for me to even try to fight it. Every part of me wanted to be near him. It was like his presence was a drug, and I was dying for another fix. Itching to just be in his vicinity, to feel the addictive nature of his presence.

Nikolai watched me closely as I made my way over to him. His eyes swept me from head to toe in a slow, heated caress, like a lion sizing up his next meal. The trail of his gaze over my skin set my blood on fire. I felt dizzy from that feral look in his eyes.

I came to a stop opposite him. He finished putting back together his last gun and then stared up at me. Silence reigned between us, but it wasn’t an awkward silence. It was a building silence, like something big was about to happen between us.

“What are you doing here, Nicky?”

His eyes narrowed slightly. He cocked his head to the side, studying me with a predatory gaze. “I thinkIshould be askingyouthat question, love.”

My belly did a flip. God, I loved it when he called me that.

“Your little stunt just cost me a free meal.”

He raised a hand and signalled a waiter to come over. The waiter placed a bowl of steaming hot carbonara pasta on the table and walked away. My favourite. He’d planned to have that ready for me.Of course he did.

I arched an eyebrow. “A little presumptuous. You think I’m going to sit down and have dinner with you, after what you just did?”

The chair in front of me slid out after he kicked it underneath the table. His eyes flicked to it and back to me, telling—no,demanding—that I take a seat. He said nothing. He just stared at me, waiting me out. The sexual tension between us continued to build with each passing second.

“Sit,” he commanded, voice rough. Dark and dangerous.

I sat down.

He nodded, satisfied, and pushed his guns to the side. Another waiter appeared, dropping a meal in front of him before he quickly cleaned up the glass on the floor and disappeared.

“How did you know I was here?” I asked, digging into my food. I almost moaned. It was creamy and delicious.

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