Page 22 of Bratva Holiday

Fucker was edging me, and goddamn, didn’t I fucking love it?

“If you guys are finished, can we get started now? I’d like to hurry it up so I can put my win on the board,” Aleksandr called out. Even if I couldn’t hear it in his voice, that smirk on his face was all smug and confident. He thought he already had it in the bag.

“And I can’t wait to see your face in the dirt!” Lukyan yelled back.

Aleksandr’s smirk widened. “It ain’t gonna be you who puts me there, baby brother.”

“Watch me, you big behemoth!”

“Okay, okay. If you lot are done with this horrible round of trash talking, we can get started,” Mikhail declared.

Aleksandr chuckled. “Lukyan’s done.”

“Oh, I’m gonna make him eat that fucking smirk.” Lukyan growled under his breath.

“Can’t wait to see it, baby,” I said, having full confidence in him. His plan would work. I was sure of it.

“Lock up!” Mikhail announced. We all strengthened our stance, gripping the rope tighter in our hands. “In front of you, you’ll see a rope spread out in a straight line. That’s your barrier. If you cross it, you’re immediately disqualified. The red flag in the center between you needs to cross your rope barrier for you to be declared the winner. Clear?”

“Clear!” we all screamed out.

Mikhail raised a gun into the air. “On my mark!” Because Mikhail was evil, he dragged it out, letting the wait stretch for an annoyingly long time before⁠—

Bang!

I pulled as hard as I could. Behind me, Lukyan grunted, yanking with all his might. Across from us, Aleksandr and Drea did the same. Drea was considerably shorter than Aleksandr, but that didn’t seem to affect their teamwork at all. They both pulled in sync in quick, sharp bursts, slowly but surely pulling Lukyan and I forward. My muscles burned under the unrelenting pressure to keep the rope where it was, but I didn’t give in, digging my heels deeper into the grass for purchase.

Loud, roaring cheering came from the sidelines.

“On my count.” Lukyan grunted. “Three…”

I ran over the plan in my head one more time.

“Two…”

I blew out three quick breaths, getting ready.

“One…”

I locked in, staring Aleksandr and Drea down.

“Now!”

I loosened my hold on the rope and rushed forward at the same time as Lukyan did, making sure to stop just before the rope barrier on the grass. The sudden shift made Aleksandr and Drea lose their footing, crashing to the ground.

“Pull, pull, pull!”

I gripped the rope tightly and started pulling back with everything I had, baring my teeth in exertion. Because Aleksandr and Drea no longer had a solid foundation, they weren’t able to counter us, their feet slipping and sliding as they tried to get up, the rope yanking them along.

“Go, Lukyan and Lyla, go!” Illayana roared from the sidelines.

Her words of encouragement spurred us on, fueling our fire. Lukyan and I growled in effort, pulling and pulling and pulling⁠—

“Winners! Lukyan and Lyla!” Mikhail’s voice rang out loudly through the air.

I stared at the red tape now officially on our side. Shock blasted through me. I dropped the rope.

Holy fuck. We did it. We actually did it.