Page 126 of Bratva Butcher

“You can use my entry if you want. I don’t mind. I was just visiting my boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” I was confused. Beyond confused. If she was visiting her boyfriend, why was she, for all intents and purposes, breaking in?

She nodded emphatically. “Uh-huh! My sweet Lukyan,” she sighed dreamily. “He was sleeping, so I didn’t want to wake him. He had such a tough day. My poor little baby. I just sat there and watched him sleep! He was so cute.”

“Watched…him…sleep,” I dragged out, trying hard to follow along with the conversation, but she was like one of those energiser bunnies. Just go, go, go. No stopping. “How long were you in there?” I’d arrived a few hours before, and hadn’t seen her go in, so that meant she would have already been inside—

“Four hours and twelve minutes! My longest record yet.”

Yet? She’d done this before. Several times. Who the fuck was this woman?

Memories and conversations from back in Talon’s cell came hurtling back to me. I remembered something was mentioned about Lukyan having a stalker.

Is this her?

“How did you get in there without being seen? What about the cameras? The dogs?”

She waved a hand through the air like those things were nothing. “The cameras are on a loop. I got the idea from a movie calledSpeed! Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves. Have you seen it? It’s pretty good. It’s way better than the second one! And the dogs look tough and scary, but they’re really sweethearts. They’re used to me, so they see me as a friend. It might be a little harder for you. But I sent them all to bed, so if you’re quick, you might be able to make it to the house before they come out. Who are you here to see? I hope it’s not my Lukyan because thenI’ll have to kill you!” she laughed, but I had a feeling she wasn’t joking in the slightest. She gave off batshit crazy vibes to a tee.

“Um, Dimitri.”

“The dad? Oof. You’ve got your work cut out for you there. He’s got issues upon issues upon issues. Not like my Lukyan. We’ve been together for a while now, you know? It’s coming up to our six-month anniversary. We’re going to celebrate big.”

“That sounds…nice.” She sounded delusional, if I was being honest.

“It does, doesn’t it,” she breathed out. “Anyway, Pops’ room is on the third floor, right-hand side, second door from the stairs. I’d avoid the shrine room right next to it, though.”

“Shrine room?” I questioned.

“Yeah. It’s pretty weird in there. I tried to go in there once, but it gave me the heebie jeebies. It’s like time just stopped in that room. Like no one has been in there in years. There’s so much layer of dust, you can’t even walk in without leaving footprints.”

I frowned, not really understanding much of what she was saying. “O-okay. Thanks for the advice.”

“No problem! The cameras will be on a loop for about another forty-five minutes. Is that enough time for you?”

There were so many things wrong with the conversation, but I just nodded and thanked her for the help.

She jumped onto her bike and gave me another smile, big enough to see straight through her mask. “It was so nice to meet you! Who knows, maybe the next time we meet will be at me and Lukyan’s wedding.” She leant forward and put her hand up over her mouth like she was telling me some sort of secret she didn’t want anyone else to hear. “I think he’s going to propose soon,” she giggled. “Bye!” Then, she sped off down the street.

I stared after her, blinking rapidly. “Oh, she’s motherfucking looney tunes.”

“Third floor, second door from the stairs. Third floor, second door from the stairs,” I whispered under my breath as I carefully moved up the stairs, one agonising step at a time. I’d managed to make it across the lawn and into the house without being seen, but it had been hard.

The dogs hadn’t come out of their little doggie houses, to which I was relieved, but the guards patrolling had been difficult to avoid. I had to get in some awkward as fuck positions to make sure I wasn’t spotted, but in the end, I’d managed to slip in without being noticed.

Since making it inside, I hadn’t seen a single guard. It seemed they only patrolled the outside, which worked well in my favor.

When I made it to the third floor, I turned right and stopped in front of the second door. If I believed Looney Tunes, Dimitri would be behind it. I placed my hand on the handle, but something was making me hesitate.

My gaze shot to my left. I eyed the door of the next room, Looney Tunes’ words streaking through my mind.

“It’s like time just stopped in that room. Like no one has been in there in years.”

Why? Why would there be a room in the house that no one had stepped foot in in years?It didn’t make any sense. Curiositygot the better of me, and I found myself unable to turn away from it.

Cursing softly under my breath, I moved to the next room and opened the door, slipping inside. It was dark. So dark, I couldn’t see a thing. I whipped out my small flashlight and turned it on, casting a small beam of light throughout the room.

Jesus, fuck.

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