Page 178 of Tarnished Tyrant (Zhukova Bratva 1)

Even though I already know.

I turn back towards Nikolai’s house just as he steps off the curb. His gun is raised and ready. Once he’s sure the only two men in the car are dead and no one else is nearby, he lowers it. His expression is surprisingly neutral, considering he just killed two people.

“Are you okay?” he asks. “Did they hurt you?”

Elise runs to hide behind him. “No, I’m not fucking okay. What the hell is happening?”

My little sister is sobbing. I can barely even move. Can barely think. Can barely breathe.

A second later, Arslan walks towards the scene. “Clean-up duty again,” he grumbles. “My favorite.”

His voice is thick with sarcasm, but surprisingly thin on shock and horror. Probably because he’s neither shocked nor horrified. This is normal for him. For both of them.

“We have to call the police, don’t we?” Elise asks. She looks from me to Nikolai. “Those guys. They’re—”

“Dead now,” Nikolai finishes. “They were going to hurt you, and I stopped them. I don’t think there’s anything for the police to do.”

She blinks at me. I just nod. There’s too much to explain. Too much I haven’t told her. It will be easiest if she just listens to Nikolai.

“Follow me,” he growls.

Elise is stuck to Nikolai like glue. In her mind, he just saved her life. But I trail behind, and Nikolai notices.

“Move quickly,” he barks. “We need to get inside before anyone notices us."

We follow him back into the house, walking straight up the driveway and through the front door.

How long was he watching us? Did he have eyes on us the entire time we were “sneaking” out of his house? Maybe he even laughed as we darted amongst the foliage. I can picture him, face aglow from the security screens, chuckling while we creep along likePink Panther-esque idiots.

This was all so stupid, wasn’t it?

Inside, Nikolai pushes me towards Elise. "Get her to bed and meet me back here."

I start to walk Elise to her room, but she shakes me off. "No. Talk. Do what you need to do. I’m… I'm okay."

I squeeze her arm. "What you just saw wasn't okay. You're in shock."

"Maybe. But I'm okay. I'll… I'll talk to you in the morning."

Numbly, she shuffles down the hallway and into her room. The moment her door is closed, I spin on Nikolai.

"You killed two people. In front of her! What the fuck is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong withyou?" he roars, looming over me like a thundering volcano, ready to burst. "After everything we talked about, after everything I did to bring you here and keep you safe, you turn around and throw yourself into the line of fire. Why?"

"You're the one who put us in the line of fire!"

"Because the Greek mafia was about to turn you into hostages to blackmail me. Or worse—they were going to dispose of you.”

I shake my head. “You don’t know who that was. Or what they were going to do.”

“That's what they do with problems, Belle. And you are one huge fucking problem. Take it from me."

My hand itches to hit him, but I know it won’t do any good. He’s steel and stone from head to toe, from skin to soul. “Then let us go! All you do is complain about how much trouble I am. So why put yourself through it?”

“I’m not putting myself through anything,” he hisses. “You’re putting me through it. You’re putting yourself through it, too. And Elise.”

“I was trying to be free!”

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