Page 13 of The Bratva's Beast
"I wouldn't celebrate yet." I chuckled with a light roll of my eyes.
Angel celebrated my successful hunt a little too early, taking it as a sign that the job was secured. She practically showed up at my place to drag me out for celebratory drinks when I told her about my success when I got off work.
"Oh come on, he praised you, which is a very good thing because he never really praises anyone new or anyone in general. Besides, there's no way you won't get the job after today. I mean, if he had any reservations about you then he would have given you the boot as I said before." Angel assured me with a chuckling grin before downing her drink.
"I still have a few more days left of the trial, so don't get too excited for me." I definitely didn't hype myself up about it.
Even if I was confident about getting the job, I didn't want to get my hopes up. Stepan could end up letting me go at the end of it all, even if I did everything by the book nearly perfectly.
Things rarely ever went right in my life, so I always saw the glass as half empty, unlike Angel, who tried to see the glass as half full.
"Quit saying that. You are basically hired, trust me." She assured me with a confident smile. "Now, you gotta drink some more to get that stick out of your ass." She scoffed playfully and pushed a drink towards me after the waitress dropped off another round. "Also, don't be stupid to pass up good-ass booze."
Well, I couldn't argue with her there. Attending any club with Angel often meant getting my drinks covered, but it was all the time now since she married the bratva boss, especially whenever we went to one of the clubs his family owned, like this one.
A smile lifts the corners of my mouth as my eyes twinkled mischievously. I took the shot glass with a mocking sigh and downed it before drumming my fingers on the tabletop.
"What's eating at ya?" Her playful tone died down to a soft, concerned voice as she looked at me quizzically.
Waving a dismissive hand at her, I pulled my best poker smile on. "Nothing, just keeping my hopes down, that's all." It wasn't a total lie; I was trying to keep my hopes from soaring, so if I did crash, then I wouldn't burn.
"Hanna, you can't pull shit past me after all this time. So, what's really on your mind girl?" Leave it to Angel to see right through me after all this time.
"Ange, it's nothing… Just something stupid that will probably pass on its own, I don't want to bother you with it." No point in bringing up something that would never happen or be temporary.
"Hanna." Angel's typical bright voice turned serious when she deadpanned at me.
I could feel my cheeks heat up as I averted my gaze from my best friend. "It's nothing, really, just a stupid little schoolgirl crush that'll go away on its own." I don't know if she heard me through the blaring music of the club, but I got it out and didn't want to repeat myself.
"Lev? Stepan?" I guess she did hear me if she asked for clarification with her teasing smirk.
"God, not Lev, we'd kill each other on our first date." I laughed softly with a shake of my head before grabbing another shot and drinking it.
Lev seemed fun, not going to lie, but I could never see myself with a man like him. As crazy as the relationship would be, I didn't want someone like him as a partner because he was too similar to me.
"Thank God, you have any idea what kind of hell would be brought onto the earth if you two hooked up and ended up together?" She seemed relieved with how her shoulders relaxed with her soft laugh.
"Oh please, I've got more of a leveled head than Lev. Give me more credit." Okay, that might have been a bit of a stretch because I could be just as bad.
"When you are not doing any official businesses and shit, you are on his level bitch." My best friend gave me a knowing look, one I couldn't dispute because of the truth behind it.
"Well, if you've a crush on Stepan then just ask him out." Angel made it sound like it'd be the easiest thing to do in the world.
"Me and him run in two different circles. Besides, if things work out like how we all want it to then he'll be my boss in the end. And like hell am I going to be that office cliché of banging my boss." Hell, as much of a loose cannon Lev was, even he was out of my league.
Unfortunately, life wasn't some stupid fairytale. There was no prince charming, no magical miracles, nothing. I was a peasant while Stepan was the fucking king. There's no way he'd spare a misfit like me a second glance in the game of courting. The second command to the Volkov Bratva had no business with some mercenary like me.
"No you don't. You're both mafia, so that puts you in the same arena already." Angel pointed out with a cheeky smirk.
"Technically I'm not, or won't be once we take down your stepmother and disband the triad. I'm just going to be a freelancing misfit then."Won't be long now until Angel disbands the triad after ripping it to shreds along with her stepmother.
"Then you'll just be a part of the Volkov Bratva like me. Nikolai will have no problems with you in our ranks given your skills and shit. Besides, if he has a problem with it then he can deal with me. I ain't letting my best friend land in limbo after we take down the triad." Angel's perfect little world seemed adorable sometimes, and sometimes I wondered how she could have such a good outlook on life given everything.
Well, never mind, the answer to that was simple: love. Angel used to have a more pessimistic outlook on life until she married Nikolai and fell in love with him. I wasn't jealous or anything because I was happy for her. She might not have had a shitty life like me, but she had her moments. So, she deserved a good man like Nikolai in her life.
Maybe in a happy world, Stepan could be my Nikolai.
How unfortunate.