Bratva Bride: Chapter 23

“Have you ever wondered what makes your skin stay on?”

I blinked, looking at Christian in shock.

What kind of fucking question was that?

“Uh, what?”

“Your skin.” He inclined his head to my bare arm, as if I didn’t know what skin was and he was pointing it out to me. “Have you ever wondered what makes it stay on?”

“No, I haven’t. Because I’m fucking normal.” I adjusted my position on the couch, eyeing my bodyguard suspiciously.

Christian smirked. “It’s a legitimate question. I’m sure I’m not the first person to ever wonder about it.”

“Ignore him, Illayana. He asks stupid shit like this all the time,” Luca said, glaring at his brother.

Christian looked offended. “Hey, my questions are awesome.”

Luca chucked a piece of bread smothered in jelly and it hit Christian square in the face.

He blinked in shock and then shrugged, pulling it off his cheek and stuffing it into his mouth. “Mmm, thanks,” he mumbled, chewing loudly.

I laughed softly, turning my attention back to the TV. I watched as Henry Cavill fought some fugly ass monster on the screen. Christian and Luca’s voices pitched higher as they argued in the background.

“Guys,” I scolded. They were interrupting my ogling of a shirtless Henry and it was seriously pissing me off. “This episode is almost over, just chill out.”

Instead, they got in each other’s faces, pushing and shoving one another.

Something smashed.

“God damn it! Now look at what you’ve done, you idiot!” Luca yelled.

“That was your fault! You pushed me!” Christian screamed back.

“You pushed me first!”

“Because you got in my face!”

“I’ll show you getting in your face,” Luca growled. He got Christian in a headlock, wrapping his arm firmly around Christian’s head, and squeezed tightly.

“Get off me, you asshole!” Christian grunted, trying to punch Luca in the ribs.

“Guyssssssss,” I ground out, my temper spiking.

Their bodies twisted and turned, ramming into my father’s thousand-dollar mahogany coffee table, knocking glass figurines to the ground. They smashed into the wall next, grunting and snarling at each other.

Christian bit Luca’s arm. Luca pulled Christian’s hair. They were like a bunch of teenage girls, fighting dirty, biting and scratching one another.

I had enough.

I got to my feet, grabbed a gun, pointed it up at the ceiling and fired twice. “Enough!” I bellowed.

They both froze in shock, Christian with his teeth latched onto Luca’s arm like a dog and Luca with a hand gripped in Christian’s hair.

I pointed at Luca. “You, over there,” I snapped, pointing to one side of the room. “And you, over there,” I growled at Christian, pointing to the other side of the room so that they were far away from each other.

I channelled my mother, her demeanour, the voice she used when she had to break up fights between my brothers and I, fights exactly like this. “Now,” I whispered menacingly.

They separated instantly, scurrying to opposite ends of the room.

Seconds later, men burst into the lounge room from all directions, guns drawn and ready for action, including my two other bodyguards, Lorenzo and Adrian.

I waved them away. “Everything’s fine. It was just me.”

Adrian assessed me, his eyes drifting up to the bullet holes in the roof and back down to me. He lowered his weapon. “Again, Illayana? You keep going like this and there won’t be anything of this house left.”

I scoffed and pointed to the front section of the house, the part that was burnt to a crisp thanks to those fuckers who bombed my wedding. “Really? Like there’s shit all left of it, anyway.”

If my mother was still alive, she’d be heartbroken right now. This house was like her fifth child. She loved it. Seeing it so broken, so destroyed, would have killed her.

Adrian shook his head and signalled for the men to return to their posts. “What happened?” he asked, studying the twins at opposite ends of the room, glaring at each other.

“You wanna know what happened?” I asked, my pent-up frustration reaching its limit. “Arturo left me with two overgrown toddlers who fight like little bitches.”

Christian gasped, his hand flying to his chest. “How dare you.”

Luca winced. “We’re sorry, Illayana. Sometimes we can get a bit out of control.”

A deep, throaty laugh echoed in the room, and I narrowed my eyes at the culprit. “What the fuck is so funny, Adrian?”

His shoulders shook from laughter, pure amusement flashing on his face. “You have no idea how much you look like your father right now. He had the exact same look on his face whenever you and your brothers used to fight.”

“We were nowhere near as bad as them,” I scowled, pointing at the twins.

“No, you were probably worse,” he chuckled, walking out of the room.

That dick.

If anyone would know, it would be him. He’s been in my life for as long as I can remember, always at my father’s side protecting him. He was like an honorary uncle.

Annoyed, I turned off the TV. The vibe was ruined. I was no longer in the mood to pant over the gloriousness that was Henry Cavill.

“Come on, we’re going out,” I said, tucking my gun back into my holster and heading for the front door. When Christian and Luca didn’t move I turned around, frowning at them. “Uh, hello?” I sang, snapping my fingers. “Earth to the twinsies.”

They exchanged a look with one another and awkwardly glanced my way.

I sighed. “What is it?”

“Arturo…he, uh-”

“He what?”

“He-” Luca bit his lip, afraid to talk.

“Just spit it out,” I ordered, my patience snapping.

“He said we had to stay here. That we weren’t to leave the house.”

“Alright, works for me. You guys stay here, I’ll be back later.” I didn’t want guards anyway, so if they didn’t want to come with, it was better for me.

I walked back towards the door and the twins moved fast, Christian slamming his body against the door and Luca jumping in front of me, palms out.

“That’s not what Arturo meant.”

“Then what did he mean, Luca? Because surely, you’re not about to tell me that my husband has ordered you to keep me here?”

Luca bit his lip and glanced to the side, avoiding my eyes.

That motherfucker.

“He’s just worried about your safety,” Christian interjected. “He doesn’t want anything to happen to you.”

“So he plans to keep me locked up at home every time he leaves?”

Christian gulped. “I…uh, don’t know?”

I glared, wrapping my fingers around my gun and pulling it out again. “Let’s get something straight, you two. I don’t give a fuck what Arturo has told you. You try to stop me from leaving this house and I’ll put a bullet in your asses. Got it?”

Christian stuttered. “Illayana-”

I pushed the barrel under his chin, tilting his head up as I pulled back the hammer and cocked the gun. “Got. It?”

Fear flashed in his eyes. He nodded fast. “Gotcha.”

Adrian walked into the foyer, eyes on his phone. He glanced up, frowned, then sighed. “What now?”

I smiled brightly, holstering my weapon. “Nothing. We’re heading out for a bit. We’ll be back soon.”

“Alright. Give me a few minutes to get Lorenzo.”

“Nah, it’s all good. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got these guys. That’s enough.”

Adrian tucked his phone into his pocket and crossed his arms over his chest, his expression hard. “Illayana, what did your father say?”

“Depends what you’re referring to. He says a lot of shit,” I replied evasively.

His brows snapped together. “You know what I’m talking about, young lady.”

“Don’t ‘young lady’ me, Adrian. I’m not a kid anymore.”

“Sorry, malen’kly. Little one. You’ll always be a kid in my eyes. And we both know that if you leave this house without all of your bodyguards, you’ll find yourself in the ring with your father.”

I winced. Fuck. He was right. My father would definitely punish me for that. The last time I was in the ring with him, he broke my nose. I wasn’t keen on reliving that experience.

“Fiiiiine. We’ll meet you in the car. Keys?” I held out my hand and Adrian eyed me suspiciously. “I swear, I’ll wait. Cross my heart.”

“You better.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys, dropping them in my hand. “Or I’ll kick your ass, too.”

Yeah, he probably would.

I gave him a salute. “Aye, aye Captain.” I turned and opened the door, heading outside.

“Aw, get fucked!” I cursed, slamming my hands on the steering wheel. I glared at the screen in front of me, the words ‘YOU LOSE’ taunting me like a motherfucker.

Christian sat beside me in his own car arcade machine, a smug smile on his face. “Told ya, women can’t drive.”

I scowled and got to my feet, storming off.

“Oh, come on! Don’t be cranky. No one likes a sore loser!” Christian yelled, following me.

I couldn’t help it. I was a sore loser.

Adrian, Lorenzo and Luca surrounded me, boxing me in as I moved around the arcade looking for a new game to play.

I needed a distraction, something to keep me occupied while my husband and family were out on this mission. At first that distraction was Henry Cavill, until the two idiots behind me ruined that. The next best thing was the arcade.

“Air hockey?” I asked Adrian, turning to face him.

He scanned the surroundings, his eyes sweeping over everything. “I’m here to guard you, Illayana. Not play games.”

“Can’t you do both?”

The other patrons in the arcade eyed Adrian, Lorenzo, Christian and Luca warily, keeping a wide berth from them all as they went to play their own games. I couldn’t blame them. To anyone else they’d look scary. Dangerous. Four six-foot somethin’ men standing around glaring at anyone who even came close to me. Well, everyone except for Christian. He was the only one willing to play games with me. But so far he’d beaten me at everything and I was sick of fucking losing.

I played a few more games – basketball, Time Crisis (a pretty intense shooting game which I totally kicked ass at) and Dance Revolution before I finally decided to take pity on my guards and leave.

As we left the arcade, I almost ran smack into-

“Rayna,” I sneered, managing to catch myself before I made contact with her.

“Cousin!” She smiled brightly but I didn’t believe it for a second. She hated me just as much as I hated her, so her fake ass smile wasn’t fooling me. “I’ve been looking for you. Oh, I can’t believe what happened at your wedding. It was just awful. Dreadful.”

She turned to the three women behind her, her bimbo posse who followed her everywhere she went, waiting on her hand and foot. A tall, lean man stood a few paces behind her, giving off the same dangerous vibe as my own bodyguards.

“My poor cousin had a major catastrophe at her wedding earlier today. I mean wow, I’ve never seen a wedding bomb out like that before.”

That little bitch.

I narrowed my eyes, her snicker grating on my nerves. Bimbo one, two and three cackled on cue, like a bunch of little old witches. I felt like strangling them.

“Yeah, it was a bit of a clusterfuck. Remind me Rayna, what happened at your wedding again? Oh, wait…” I raised my eyebrows and gave a condescending smirk.

Rayna sneered. “At least when I get married, it won’t be a total fucking disaster.”

“If you get married.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, nostrils flaring. A few tense seconds passed before she opened her eyes and stared at me. “I apologise for what I said. It was rude of me.”

Okay, that was a complete one-eighty.

“Do you mind if we have a word?” Her eyes darted to the four hulking figures behind me. “In private?”

Suspicion coursed through my bones but also…curiosity.

“That’s not going to happen,” Adrian barked, voice hard.

Rayna glared. “I didn’t realise the help was in charge. Is that how your father runs things, Illayana?”

Anger throbbed through me at her insolence. “Don’t think because we’re in public and you’ve got your bimbo posse that I won’t put you in your place,” I whispered darkly. “Because I will.”

Unease flitted across her face and she lowered her eyes to the ground. “I’m sorry. Please, Illayana. I really need to speak to you. It’s important.”

“If it’s so important, why can’t you just talk about it here, now?”

“Because, and I mean no offence when I say this, but I don’t trust your men. I’ve come across vital information that’s for your ears only. It concerns the family. I stopped by your house to talk to you about it but you weren’t there, so I tracked you down here.”

I was sceptical as hell. Rayna wasn’t to be trusted. At all. But if there was a threat to the family I needed to know.

“Alright. Fine.”

Rayna smiled and for once, it seemed genuine. “Thank you.”

“Illayana.” Adrian gave me a look that conveyed he wasn’t happy about this, but I just shook my head.

Even if Rayna tried something, I was confident I could take her.

“Let’s go over here.” I motioned for her to follow me. “You guys wait here; I’ll be back in a second.”

Adrian gripped my arm, stopping me. “I really don’t think this is a good idea.”

“Relax, Adrian. It’s fine.”

“Illayana-”

“Adrian.” I raised my voice, demanding his obedience. “I said it’s fine. Now, step back.”

He clenched his jaw, eyes burning in anger, but relented, letting me go. “Fine. If you insist on doing something this idiotic then you stay in my line of sight. You hear me? You’re not the only one your father will punish if something happens to you.”

I nodded. I was willing to compromise.

Lorenzo, Christian and Luca all looked as if they were going to protest too, but I gave them the Volkov stare, chin up, shoulders back, eyes hard, jaw clenched, stance strong and powerful.

They backed down.

“Come on, Rayna. Let’s make this quick.”

She followed behind me as I led the way to the front of the mall, stepping outside but staying within Adrian’s line of sight. The night was cold and dark, the moon shining brightly amongst the stars.

“Alright, you got me alone. Now, cut the crap and tell me what you wanted to tell me.”

Rayna smiled again and I shook my head.

“Quit the nice girl routine. You’re not fooling me and quite frankly, it just doesn’t suit you.”

“What? I’m genuinely happy that you’re letting me grace your all-mighty presence and talk with you.”

I rolled my eyes. “If you’re not gonna tell me anything substantial, then I’m leaving.”

I turned to head back into the mall and she gripped my arm. “Wait. Okay, sorry. I just can’t help antagonising you sometimes.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

“Can we sit?” She gestured to a seat a few steps away. It put me out of Adrian’s view.

“No. Talk here, now. Or I walk.”

She pursed her lips but nodded. “Look, this might sound crazy, but I think there’s a rat in the family.”

My brows slammed down in a frown. “Why would you say that?”

“Your wedding. I overheard a group of people talking about-”

Gunfire, followed by a loud ear-piercing scream cut through the air, coming from inside the mall. I spun around, my hand flying to the gun at my waist. There was a sharp prick in the side of my neck and I hissed, my hand slapping my skin on reflex.

I swayed, my body suddenly feeling unbearably light, my mind turning hazy, foggy. Like I couldn’t get a solid picture. My knees buckled and I fell backwards, crashing into something hard. A wall of solid muscle.

“Hurry up. Take her. Her guards won’t be distracted forever.”

Rayna’s voice echoed in my head, her words repeating over and over again, and I tried to cuss her out but all I managed was a low groan.

My body was weightless, big beefy arms circling me and lifting me off my feet.

I tried to fight. To punch, kick, claw, fucking anything but it was like my limbs wouldn’t listen to me. They were like jello, floppy and completely fucking useless.

Rayna’s face blurred in front of me, her face distorted yet I could still make out the bright as fuck smile on her stupid ugly face.

She betrayed me. She actually fucking betrayed me and now she was giving me over to God knows who.

“I wish I could be there when they kill you, to watch you die, but the knowledge of it will have to be enough,” she said, looking into my eyes. She glanced over my shoulder. “Okay, I’m ready. Make it look real.”

As I was being carried away, I watched Rayna get punched square in the face by a big, hulking figure. I was so out of it that I couldn’t even enjoy it properly.

My eyes suddenly felt droopy, sleep creeping up on me like a stalker in the night. I tried to stay awake, to fight the blackness quickly overtaking my vision, but it was no use.

I fell into a deep slumber and could only hope that when I woke up, I could get myself out of this bad situation.