Page 17 of Bratva Holiday

“As always?” I joked.

He offered me one of those rare smiles—the smiles he saved only for me. “As always,” he whispered in agreement.

Butterflies bloomed in my stomach. How this man could have such an affect on my body astounded me. It made me thankful everyday that he decided to kidnap me.

Mikhail blew his whistle in three quick bursts. “Everybody, line up!”

All of us rushed forward, lining up in the same orientation as last time. Dimitri and Autumn were at the top of the line, then Aleksandr and I, Nikolai and Tatiana, Lukyan and Lyla and finally, Illayana and Arturo.

For the first game, there was almost a lightness. A fun, carefree atmosphere. Things were serious, but at the same time, not that serious.

That was all out the bloody window now. Every single one of us was locked the fuck in, ready to take out the win. Except they were all wasting their time, because like I said before, this was our win.

Mikhail took up position in front of us, his face lit up, as if he was enjoying this far more than he should have been. Then again, if I were a spectator in chaos, I would probably be enjoying myself too.

“Alrighty-rooskie. We are about to kick off game two, the egg toss. You will each be handed an egg. To keep it fair, there are markers spaced out at regular intervals down the field. You must throw the egg to your partner, and after each successful catch, your partner must step back to the next marker before throwing it back to you. This game is no contact. I repeat: No. Contact.”

Lukyan’s hands flopped onto his hips, and he turned, staring pointedly at Arturo. “Ya hear that, Arty?”

He glared. “Call me Arty again, and I’ll throw the egg at your damn face. Fuck the win.”

“Arty, Arty, Arty,” Lukyan chanted, and then he leaned forward, tapping his cheek twice as if to say, go on then.

Arturo stepped forward, and Illayana slapped the back of her hand on his chest. “Don’t let him get in your head! That’s what he wants! We’re winning!”

Arturo grumbled something unpleasant under his breath and reluctantly got back in line.

As Mikhail spoke, going through the last of the rules, I pulled the packet of Skittles from my back pocket and popped a few into my mouth. The burst of sugar was exactly what I needed. My stomach was no longer causing me problems, thank god.

Mikhail gave the all-clear to get into position. I tucked my candy back away and Aleksandr and I slapped palms. He clutched my hand before I could pull it away and bent down, pressing his lips to my skin.

“Sorry in advance,” he murmured, pressing another light kiss to my skin.

I chuckled. He had no need to apologize. Like I said, I understood the competitive nature between siblings. The desire not to let them get a leg up. Otherwise, they would never let you live it down.

Using my other hand, I held the side of his face, his strong jaw cradled in my palm. His eyes closed as he pushed his face deeper into my touch, as if he couldn’t get close enough. “Let’s kick some fucking ass.”

He hit me with that beautiful smile again, and I was powerless not to smile back. Seeing him happy made me happy. It was a side of Aleksandr the world never got to see, a side only for me, and fuck, didn’t that make me feel special as all hell?

“If it’s okay with you, lovebirds, we’d love to get started. Unless you just want to forfeit now?” Illayana joked, a smirk on her face.

“Why would I forfeit?” Aleksandr grunted, straightening to his full height. “We both know I’m going to win this one.”

“I think your father and I have this one in the bag,” Autumn commented.

There was a beat of silence, and then everyone laughed.

“What?” she questioned, her gaze swinging from person to person. “Why is everyone laughing? I’m serious.”

“We know.” Lukyan snickered. “That’s why we’re laughing.”

“No offense, Autumn, but you and Father fight too much to be an effective team,” Nikolai said logically.

Autumn stuttered. “T-that’s not true.”

“It kind of is.” Dimitri agreed with Nikolai. “You never want to take my advice.”

Autumn’s hands snapped to her hips. “Because your advice is wrong 99 percent of the time.”