Chapter 21 – Jennie
I don’t know how long I’ve been here.
My arms are numb, my body screaming with every shallow breath. My head throbs like it’s cracked open, and my throat is so dry it hurts to even swallow. The ropes have rubbed my skin raw, and the chair beneath me feels like it’s been carved from concrete.
I try to keep my head up, but it lolls forward anyway. I’m so damn tired. So damn weak.
Yegor paces in front of me like a lunatic, muttering things I can’t make out, his fingers twitching at his sides. He keeps running a hand through his hair, the other gripping a gun he hasn’t used yet. Yet.
He stops now and then to glare at me, his lips curling in some twisted mockery of a smile. “Not long now,” he says to no one. Maybe to himself. Maybe to me. I don’t ask. I don’t speak. I can barely think.
Then—Gunshots. Close. Loud.
My heart jerks into my throat. A scream. Not mine. A man’s. Then another shot, followed by the crash of something heavy hitting metal.
Yegor freezes. “What the fuck?”
He rushes to the door, peeking through the crack like he’s trying to guess if hell itself just arrived.
He doesn’t get the chance to check properly.
The door bursts open with a violent crash—wood splintering, metal flying. Yegor stumbles back, lifting his gun—
And there he is.
Adrian.
Gun raised. Covered in blood and dirt, but not his own. His chest is heaving, his eyes locked straight on Yegor like he’s already decided how this ends.
I want to cry. To scream. To reach for him. But all I can do is let a broken sob catch in my throat as tears burn down my cheeks.
Adrian’s eyes flick to me for the briefest second—just enough to see me tied, bleeding, still breathing.
Then he speaks. Voice like gravel, thick with rage.
“You’re dead.”
And in that moment, I know exactly who Yegor should fear most in this world. Yegor freezes for a heartbeat—but it’s only that. One second later, his arm jerks, and before I can even blink, he’s got the gun pointed at my head.
I don’t think. I just react.
My eyes slam shut, and a scream tears from my throat.
A gunshot cracks through the air. I brace for pain—sharp, searing, final.
But…nothing.
No pain. No burning. No darkness. Just silence.
I open my eyes, blinking hard, heart hammering in my chest. Yegor is on the ground several feet away, his body twitching once…then going still. Blood pools beneath his head from the clean, gaping hole just above his right eye.
Adrian stands behind him, gun still raised, smoke curling from the barrel. His jaw is tight, and there’s no satisfaction in his expression—just cold, ruthless silence.
Yegor doesn’t even get a final word.
All that hate, all that planning, all that vengeance—
And he dies like a rat.
Anticlimactic.
I watch his chest rise once…then never again.
And I feel nothing. No pity. No horror. Just a cold, eerie relief wrapping itself around my trembling body.
He’s gone. Adrian killed him. For me.
Adrian rushes toward me the second Yegor stops breathing.
He drops to his knees in front of me, eyes wide and frantic, his hands already at the tape over my mouth. “You’re safe now,” he breathes, his voice shaking as he peels it off gently. “I’m here, kotyonok. I’ve got you.”
He moves fast, his fingers trembling as he undoes the ropes around my wrists and ankles. My body is screaming, every joint aching, my skin raw. But I don’t care. None of it matters. Because Adrian is here.
And the moment my hands are free, I throw myself into his arms. I don’t even think—I just collapse into him, sobbing uncontrollably, clutching the front of his shirt like it’s the only thing holding me to this world.
He wraps his arms around me like a shield, pulling me tight, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other holding me so securely I feel like nothing could ever reach me again.
“I’ve got you,” he keeps whispering, his voice low and hoarse against my hair. “You’re okay now. I’m here. No one’s ever going to touch you again.”
I cry harder, shaking, the tears blinding me. I’ve never felt this kind of relief in my life. Not just safety—but him.
Adrian. Alive. Real. Holding me.
His grip on me is strong, but gentle, his touch reverent. He cradles me like I’m made of glass, holding me to his chest as he slowly rocks us back and forth, trying to calm the violent tremble in my limbs.
“You’re safe now,” he whispers again and again, like a prayer, like a vow. “None of it can touch you. Not anymore. I’ve got you, kotyonok. I swear on my life.”
I bury my face in his neck, inhaling the familiar scent of him—leather, gunpowder, something dark and steady and him. My fingers clutch at his shirt, and I can feel his heart pounding under my cheek. He’s shaken too. But still, he holds me like I’m his whole world.
“I thought I lost you,” he murmurs, voice cracking as he presses a soft kiss to my temple, then another to my cheek, then my forehead. “I thought—I didn’t make it in time.”
“You did,” I whisper, barely able to get the words out. “You came.”
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his eyes searching mine. “Always,” he says, and then he kisses me.
It’s not rough or urgent like before. This one is slow, tender, full of emotion he’s never been able to say out loud.
His lips tremble against mine, and I feel the way his shoulders shudder as he kisses me like he’s grounding himself.
Like this moment, me, is the only real thing he’s sure of right now.
When he pulls back, his forehead rests against mine. “I’m never letting you out of my sight again,” he breathes.
And for once, I don’t want him to.
He tries to lift me, and I whimper in pain. He freezes, and his body tenses suddenly. I feel it before I see it—something primal rippling through him.
He growls low in his throat and pulls away from me, stalking toward Yegor’s lifeless body. And then, without warning, he raises his gun and starts firing.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Each shot echoes like thunder in the warehouse, the force of his rage shaking through the air. He keeps shooting, over and over again, long after Yegor is dead.
“Adrian!” I gasp, my voice cracking, terrified at the way his fury explodes out of him.
He finally stops, breathing hard, gun still raised and smoking. Then, as if something snaps back into place, his eyes fly to me. Horror flashes across his face.
He drops the gun.
“I’m sorry,” he says, rushing back to me. His hands are shaking as he touches my face. “I’m sorry I scared you.”
But I’m not afraid of him. Not now. Not anymore.
I place my hand gently on his cheek, feeling the rough stubble, the warmth of his skin, the emotion trembling under the surface. “I love you, Adrian,” I whisper.
He stills. His eyes widen, searching mine. “Say that again.”
“I love you.”
A breath leaves him in a choked laugh, and then he’s smiling—really smiling—and it’s a beautiful, broken thing.
“You’re more dangerous than anyone I’ve ever killed,” he murmurs, his voice soft, reverent. “Because now you have the one thing no one’s ever had.”
He leans in, pressing his forehead to mine, both of us breathing each other in like we’re oxygen.
“My heart,” he says. “You have my fucking heart, Jennie. And I love you more than I love my own life.”
Before I can respond, we hear sudden sounds—shouts, fast footsteps, chaos crashing in from outside like a wave.
Adrian stiffens instantly, his instincts taking over. In a heartbeat, he shoves me behind him, his hand firm but careful. “Stay down,” he growls, already pulling another gun from the holster strapped to his thigh.
The metal glints under the dim light as he levels it at the door.
It bursts open.
He fires.
“FUCK!”
The shouting turns to swearing as the dust settles, and Adrian’s finger eases off the trigger. Familiar silhouettes stand frozen in the doorway.
Lukin curses again, ducking behind a crate. “You bastard! You almost shot me!”
Kaz waves the smoke from his face. “Jesus, Adrian. Maybe a warning next time?”
Zalar steps inside, scanning the scene calmly despite the wreckage and bullet holes now decorating the door frame.
Adrian lowers the gun, his chest still rising and falling sharply. “You should’ve announced yourselves.”
Lukin mutters, “We did. You were too busy playing Rambo to hear.”
Kaz nods toward me, relief softening the hard lines of his face. “Is she okay?”
Adrian turns to me without hesitation, holstering the gun. “She’s safe.”
And then, as if the world pauses for a second, he steps aside so they can see me properly.
Kaz whistles low. “Damn, you really went through hell, huh?”
I nod slowly, unable to find words, still clinging to Adrian’s arm like it’s the only thing keeping me steady.
Lukin straightens and exhales. “Let’s get the fuck out of here before Zoe realizes I’m gone.”
Adrian looks back at me, and without waiting for anyone else, he scoops me up into his arms again.
“I’ve got her,” he says, and no one argues.