Page 54 of The Bratva's Beast
"How do you know about my burns?"
Chapter 29
Stepan
It's been nearly a week since we first slept together, and Hanna still avoided me like the black plague. I don't know how it happened, but things did not go the way I'd intended the morning after when I refused to answer her question about her burns. I'd deflected her question about how I knew about her burns, not wanting to confess to her about how I'd been basically stalking her for over a month. I wanted to enjoy our night of bliss, not toss a nuclear bomb into it.
I thought things would be fine the following day, but I woke up to an empty bed. Come to find out, Hanna had taken off before I woke. My Lexus LX was still missing from my garage, but I couldn't care less about her taking it and using it. I'd been more torn about her running away from me.
Then, I thought I could catch her at the office and pull her away to talk about things, but she'd somehow managed to successfully avoid me there, too. It was like I'd broken down the wall and closed the distance between us, only to have her put me on a rocket ship to the moon and build the wall of China between us.
Perhaps she needed space, so I gave her some space to give her time to process things and have a small break from me before trying to work out our relationship. That plan blew up in my face because the space did nothing but further the distance between us with how cold she grew towards me.
"What did Lev do this time for you to make such an ugly face?" Nikolai's playful jab pulled me from my thoughts.
Sighing heavily, I ran a hand through my hair and looked over to my older brother as he sat down at the seat across the patio table from me. The sharp scent of vodka hit my nose as Nikolai poured into a shot glass before me. "Not Lev." I sigh exasperatedly, burying my head in my hands for a moment before taking the shot, letting the smooth liquor go down like water without a twitch of my face. Setting the glass down, I ran a hand down the back of my head and gripped the back of it with an annoyed scowl.
"Oh? Really?" Now Nikolai was really interested because I had never had any trouble besides our brother Lev.
Letting out another heavy sigh, I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky momentarily, wondering how I ended up at Nikolai's place on a whim. It wasn't unusual for me to randomly visit him; our family was tightly knit with each other, always sharing nearly every aspect. We're also well involved with each other because we helped Nikolai run the family bratva, so there was that, too.
Slowly, I let my head fall level and looked at my older brother for a moment before speaking up. "How do you do it? I mean, I know you chose to chain yourself to Angel the night of the treaty, but how do you do it? How do you guys make your relationship work?"
"Ah, girl problems." Nikolai laughed teasingly at me before taking a drink himself. "I honestly don't know what to tell you bratik. Angel and I just make it work somehow. I mean, there's a lot of compromise. A lot. I give her a lot more space than I'd like, but she's an independent woman who doesn't enjoy having her space and life impeded on. We've just kind of learned to live with each other and appreciate each other."
"Okay, but when do you know when to not give her space? I'm giving Hanna so much space, but she just pulls away the more I give. I don't want to force my hand with her because she's not going to react well to me grabbing a hold of her life." I hadn't meant to let it slip that it was Hanna who's been the thorn in my side, but my frustration got the better of me.
Nikolai nearly choked on his drink when he heard the name slip from my mouth, coughing a little with a chuckling laugh. "Hanna? As in Angel's best friend Hanna? The crazy female Lev?"
I groaned, hanging my head into my hands. "Yes, that Hanna." The sting of pain was quick to bite the back of my head when I gripped at it with my fingers to vent out some frustration.
"Then just treat her like you would Lev, simple as that. You and I both know how things go with Lev. Yes, space is good and needed with him, but we also need a heavy hand with him after a while otherwise he shuts off completely. Just do the same with Hanna. Obviously if she's pulling away too much with the space you're giving her then that means it's time to grab her by the back of her neck and drag her back whether she likes it or not." Nikolai stated simply before his wife interrupted us.
"Grab who by the back of their neck and drag them where? You better not be talking about me or I swear I'll—"
He didn't give his poor wife a chance to finish her sentence. His hands shot out the moment she was within arm's range, and he pulled her squealing body into his lap with a smirk. Grabbing her face, he held her firm to his darkening gaze. "You'll what, lisichka?" The underlying edge to his playful voice made Angel shiver and shrink in his lap.
"N-nothing." She sputtered with a blush before settling in his lap, tucking her small body into Nikolai's overbearing one.
Looking over at me, she cleared her throat and recollected herself before speaking. "What are you guys talking about? I heard Hanna's name. Did she do something? Did she get into trouble?" The sincere concern Angel had for her friend warmed my heart.
I shook my head in response, chuckling softly before smiling at her reassuringly. "Hanna's done nothing wrong, and she's still perfect." Even if she pulled away faster than a rabbit making a run for it.
"Stepan's having trouble with his little crush on her, that's all." Nikolai shot me a smug smirk, making me narrow my eyes and cuss at him under my breath in Russian.
Angel's head tilted with her furrowed brows. "What's happening between you and Hanna?" Angel questioned with genuine curiosity.
"Did Hanna tell you about anything that happened a few nights ago?" I knew Hanna and Angel were tight as thieves, but I've also noticed how little Hanna tells her sometimes.
"Well, all she said was that you guys hung out after she cut things off with Logan. She didn't really want to go into any details when I pressed, so I just left it. Although, she sounded off, now that I think about it. All she really told me was that things were great and amazing, but that she really had to think about everything again because she doesn't want to get hurt." Angel replied to me after a moment of recollection.
"We slept together." I deadpanned, instant regret smacking me in the face like a bag of hammers when Angel looked at me with wide eyes as if I'd sprouted an extra head. Even Nikolai's face twitched with surprise when his eyebrow raised up.
"Stepan, what did you do?" Okay, now she looked and sounded like she wanted to spring across the table and rip my throat out.
Keeping my calm façade on, I gave her the whole—not detailed—truth of what happened that night.
"Stepan." Angel let out a long sighing groan as she ran her hand down her face. "I'm going to kill you if Hanna doesn't do it first."