Page 24 of Bratva Holiday

“Don’t need it to.” I shrugged. “Since the second round is a body tug-of-war, it wouldn’t work anyway.” I stared across the field at Nikolai and Tatiana as they got into position, picking up their side of the rope. “It might work against them, though?” I suggested, arching a brow.

“No way.” Arturo grunted. “They saw what happened, just like the rest of us. They’ll be prepared for it.”

“Orrrr,” Lyla dragged out, her cunning eyes on me, “the exact opposite. Because they just saw it, they won’t expect you guys to try the exact same tactic.” Sometimes, I swore she was a goddamn mind reader.

Illayana’s eyes lit up. She came in closer, lowering her voice. “You think they’ll think we won’t try it because they’ll think we’ll think they’ll know our plan, and because of that, not do it?”

Arturo’s brows snapped together in confusion. “Wait, what?”

“Yes. Exactly,” I whispered. “Trust me. It won’t even occur to them that you’ll try the same tactic.” I stepped back, my hands up in surrender. “But hey, this is your game. Do whatcha want.”

“Take your positions!” Mikhail called out.

Illayana tsked, grabbed Arturo’s hand, and dragged him over to the rope.

Lyla’s hand ran down my back in a soft caress, making goose bumps pebble all over my skin. “What do you think they’ll do?”

I turned, wrapping my arms around her. “They’ll do whatever Illayana wants to do. She’s the boss.”

“As all women are.”

I smiled and brought my lips to hers, kissing her softly. “No truer statement has been spoken, Huntress.”

A grunt from behind made me turn around. I smiled brightly.

Aleksandr stood there, all grumpy and sullen. I tried my hardest not to laugh.

No one said anything. Drea elbowed him in the ribs.

He grunted again and cleared his throat. “Good game.” Reluctance dripped from his tone, and it only made me want to laugh more.

“Never thought you’d say that to me,” I admitted.

“Why? I’m not a sore loser,” he said defensively.

My gaze swung to the scoreboard. “Reallyyyy?” I dragged out. “So those two cracks currently being covered by duct tape on the scoreboard are just⁠—”

“Accidents,” he spat.

Holding back my laughter this time was impossible. Aleksandr was the biggest sore loser out of all of us. As the eldest, he felt like it was his duty to beat us in everything. In skill-based games, he wasn’t used to losing, but when one opened up the number of players, the chances of winning decreased. It was just statistics.

“You guys did a good job.” Drea smiled. “Smart move.”

I swung my arm over her shoulder and leaned against her. “Thank you, big sister. What can I say? Constantly being underestimated has its perks.”

“I didn’t underestimate you.” Aleksandr frowned.

“Did you or did you not say”—I lowered my voice to a deep grunt—“‘Can we get started now? I’d like to hurry it up so I can put my win on the board.’”

“Why does everybody put on that voice? I don’t sound like that!”

“You sound exactly like that.” Drea laughed.

“Whose side are you on, woman?”

“Yours, baby. Always yours.” Drea moved and wrapped her arms around Aleksandr. She leaned up onto her tiptoes, placed a kiss under his jaw, and just like that, he relaxed, all tension visibly leaving his body.

I reached for Lyla’s hand and pulled her to me, her back flush against my front as I curled my arms around her. “You’ll have to teach me how you do that so I can calm him down when you’re not around,” I said to Drea.