Page 166 of Bratva Menace

Like I was.

So, I’d accused Illayana of stealing my dagger to have an excuse to show them the security footage. To show them the very first glimpse of my one true fucking love.

“You’ve seen this?” my brother asked, concern on his face.

“Yep.” I couldn’t keep the excitement from my face even if I tried.

Nikolai groaned. “Why do you look like that?”

“Like what?” I smiled innocently.

“Like you’re giddy with anticipation. You shouldn’t be. This woman broke into your room and watched you sleep for over an hour. She’s dangerous. And crazy.”

“I know.” Isn’t that awesome? “My two favorite things. I can’t wait to meet her.” Properly.

“Before you leave, there’s something else we need to discuss.” Aleksandr held my gaze, and I thumped back down into my seat.

“What did I do now?” I sighed, because let’s face it, I was the preferable fuck up in this family.

“You haven’t done anything⁠—”

“For once,” Nikolai added with a chuckle, and I cut him a glare.

“It’s about your stalker.”

Inside my soul lit up like a fucking Christmas tree, but I had to play it cool. I couldn’t let them see how the mere mention of her excited me to no end. “What about her?”

“Did you know she was the one who sent the location of Talon’s island to Drea? Or that she was the sniper who saved you in the arena?”

I widened my eyes, even though I had already expected as such. “She was? How could you possibly know that?”

Drea was the one to answer. “Because I didn’t order anyone up there. Neither did Arturo, Mikhail, or my brother.’

“Okay? I don’t get what the big deal is. If what you’re saying is true, it means she saved me. Saved us.”

They should all be singing her fucking praises, not talking about her like she is some sort of problem to take care of.

If it wasn’t for her, we’d all be dead.

“The big deal is, that woman is highly trained, highly skilled, has managed to sneak in and out of the property completely undetected, and we still have no idea who the fuck she is. The big deal is that she is a massive, massive threat, and the moment she realizes she can’t have you will be the moment everything changes.”

He was talking about the arranged marriage with Anya. Offering to take Aleksandr’s place had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Aleksandr and Nikolai both couldn’t do it now that they were head over heels in love. As someone hopelessly in love, I understood the pain it would cause them, having to marry another. I couldn’t do that to them, and if no one married Anya, Grandfather would kill Illayana.

I didn’t have a choice. I had to take his place, otherwise, my sister would die.

Not to mention the fact that it was my one chance to show my siblings I wasn’t as unreliable as they all seemed to think I was.

I had a plan.

There wasn’t much longer to go. I would do my duty to my family, marry Anya, and then, once my grandfather was dead, terminate our arrangement and finally be with Lyla again.

I was well aware of the fact that it was a risky plan, but any plan with so much at stake was a risky one, no matter what it was.

I couldn’t get out of marrying Anya, as much as I wanted to. But there was nothing saying I had to stay married to her after. Especially once Sergei was dead.

The only variable in the whole equation was Lyla. I’d been edging her for months, pushing her to act. She hadn’t yet, and the suspense was killing me.

She had to have something planned, but what?