Page 114 of Bratva Bride

“I know. Won’t it suck?” I laughed, giving him a hug.

He stiffened slightly but then relaxed, returning it for all of two seconds before he coughed awkwardly. “Alright, that’s enough.”

“Five more seconds.”

He gave them to me.

When I pulled back, I gave him a sad smile. “I’ll admit, I’m a little nervous. Here, I’ve never really had to make decisions, just follow orders. But there? There, I’ll be-”

“The Queen of La Cosa Nostra, a role you were born for.”

“I don’t know about that,” I mumbled, riddled with self doubt.

“I do.” He placed a supportive hand on my shoulder. “You’re beautiful, smart, strong and best of all, vicious. You’ll have New York eating out of the palm of your hand in no time. Just believe in yourself. Be confident. And I’ll always be here if you need help.”

I gave him another hug. “Thank you,Otets.”Father.

Nikolai burst into the room, panting hard. “Oh good. I made it.” He was out of breath and covered head to toe in sweat. “I was afraid I wouldn’t make it back before you left.”

“Where were you?” I asked, pulling out of my father’s embrace.

“My daily jog. I thought I’d have enough time to do my twenty miles and be back in plenty of time, but I ran into Tatiana outside.” His brows lowered into an angry frown at those last words and I laughed.

“You do this to yourself, you know. I don’t know why you let her rile you up so much.”

“She’s infuriating! She has no sense of personal safety and always gets herself into trouble.”

I swear, I had asked him this question a million times, but I couldn’t help asking it again. “Why do you care?” I smirked.

“I don’t care!” he shrieked, turning red. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. “Anyway, I made it in time to give you this.” He pulled out a small box and gave it to me.

I opened it and gasped. Inside was a gorgeous antique locket. The pendant had a stunning red jewel in the centre, surrounded by an intricate pattern of swirls engraved into the silver.

“It used to be Mum’s.” Nikolai reached over and opened the locket. Inside was a family picture of all six of us before our mother died. “I thought you should have it.”

I choked, gripped with emotion. Sadness washed over me and I cleared my throat, trying to push back tears.

“Thank you,” I whispered. I took it out of the box and held it up. “Will you?”

Nikolai took the necklace and I turned around. He clipped it around my neck, the weight of it soothing and comforting as I touched it with my fingers.

My father, who had remained quiet the entire time, looked at the piece of jewellery with glassy eyes. “It suits you,” he said softly.

“Is-is it okay? If I have it?”

“Of course. She would have wanted you to have it.” He cleared his throat and adjusted the lapels of his jacket. “Alright, you best get going before Arturo sends out a search party. Aleksandr will drive you to the airstrip. Adrian is already in the car-”

“Wait, Adrian?” I frowned. “Why is Adrian in the car?”

“He’s going with you.”

“But he’syourguard. I thought he was just covering me until I went to New York?”

My father shook his head. “He’s the best fighter we have in the Bratva. I want him with you, watching your back.”

“But I-”

“No buts, Illayana, this is the way it’s going to be. Now, one more hug.” He wrapped his big beefy arms around me one more time and kissed my cheek. “Give em’ hell.”

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