Page 80 of The Bratva Betrayal

“No, but that relationship was never going to last. We both are aware of that.”

"You should be careful about deciding what I want."

"You should be careful about standing this close to me if you don't want me to decide anything."

His other hand comes to rest on the counter on my other side.

I'm not trapped.

I could walk out from under this if I wanted to. He's not holding or grabbing me, not doing anything except existing at close range.

I don't move, and he knows I'm not going to.

I watch him lean in as I remain frozen.

His gaze drops to my lips and stays there, and there's nothing ambiguous about it.

The knife remains forgotten in my hand.

"Wrong brother," he murmurs, close enough now that I feel the words. “Call it ego, Lisichka, but we both know who could make you come harder. Let me take that decision out of your hands.”

His mouth barely brushes my lips when the front door opens with, "Babe!"

Misha's voice fills the entryway, followed by the sound of keys hitting the console table, and I straighten so fast that I nearly catch Artem's jaw with my forehead.

He pulls back smoothly, and by the time Misha appears in the kitchen doorway, we're standing a perfectly normal distance apart, and I'm holding a knife and trying to remember what my face is supposed to look like.

Misha stops.

Looks at me.

Looks at the knife.

Looks at Artem.

"Did I interrupt something?" He sounds genuinely delighted by the possibility.

"No," I say.

"She came to see you,” Artem says at the same time.

Misha's eyes move between us, and then he smiles—easy, warm, and oblivious—and crosses the kitchen to kiss my cheek like this is a normal Tuesday and his brother and I were just chatting.

"You got my flowers," he beams. “Did you like them? Were you surprised?”

I look at him.

Then I look at Artem, who is watching me with steady, unreadable eyes.

"We need to talk," I tell Misha. “About⁠—”

"We do," he agrees happily. "I was thinking June."

I don’t put the knife away.

I’m debating whether I could get away with offing both of them and solving all of my problems.

18