Chapter 39 #2
I stuck my head out of the window just in time to see Kirill, Dom, bratva soldiers, and Theo’s men converging around the property.
Kirill emerged from the vehicle, his glare pinning me to where I stood.
“Lucy!” he roared. “Do. Not. Step. Out. So help me God!”
“Hurry!” I yelled before I turned to look at Aralina.
She was crouched on the wide ledge and crying, but they were tears of relief.
She signed quickly, “Jeremiah is scared of heights.”
Is that so? Then her being on the ledge made more sense. Somewhat.
“Put that gun down!” Theo shouted at Chloe.
“Do you have him under control?” she shouted back.
“Yes!”
But just as I leaned back from the window, Jeremiah knocked Theo over.
Footsteps stampeded up the spiral staircase.
“Shoot!” I screamed because the madness glowing from Jeremiah’s eyes was telling me he was lost to his psychosis.
Chloe fired. It hit Jeremiah on the shoulder, but he kept coming, his lips curled in a snarl.
Chloe and I had no room to back away.
She fired again. Hitting him on the upper chest but he came barreling toward us.
Theo was about to jump him when a force knocked Jeremiah sideways. His head jerked sickeningly before he fell over.
“No!” Theo howled as he rushed to his brother’s side.
Kirill, Dom, and Kolya spilled into the attic space.
My husband’s face was so scary, I almost hid behind Chloe, but he’d grabbed my arm and enclosed me in a tight embrace.
Kolya vanished out the window. Dom pointed his gun at Theo’s head. Theo’s security had a gun to my brother. Sato came up behind them…
And a Mexican standoff ensued.
“For God's sake, everyone lower your weapons,” Theo ordered, rising to his feet.
“I don’t know, King. Maybe we end this now,” Kirill said.
Theo's jaw hardened, but the movement by the window had all of us turning, and everyone lowered their guns.
Aralina’s beautiful tragic form filled the frame. With blonde hair a mess, her eyes red from crying, she was shaking uncontrollably. She was wearing a coat, but it was frigid outside, and her lips were cracked and devoid of color.
Since Theo was next to the window, he helped her inside. He was the only one wearing a wool overcoat, so he took it off and wrapped it around her. Aralina seemed to welcome the added warmth.
“Take your hands off—”
“Shove it, Zahkarov. She doesn’t need to see the bloody mess you created.”
Okay, that made sense, but I was sure Aralina, like me, was used to seeing dead bodies, just not her boyfriend’s.
Ugh, I needed a double pain pill to process this bloody clusterfuck.
What now? Was Kirill or Kolya going to get rid of the witnesses?
Kirill didn’t let go of me even when he hugged his sister and murmured reassuring words to her. Then he nodded for Sato to take her away.
Next, Dom approached. He was eyeing Kirill’s tight grip on me with amusement. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“You know me.”
He gave me a quick squeeze on my shoulder. “Go easy on her, Zahkarov.” There was a warning in my brother’s tone. Then he turned and left.
“Lucy,” a trembling voice said behind me.
I forgot Chloe!
“I shot him twice,” Chloe said, staring at Jeremiah’s lifeless body. Kolya was hunched over it, probably devising ways to dispose of him.
“I wasn’t the one who killed him,” she whispered.
“No, you didn’t,” Kolya said. “I did.”
“What? I thought you did?” I asked Kirill.
“I’m a better shot,” Kolya responded in a cool voice, reaching for Jeremiah’s neck to feel for a pulse.
“The fuck you are,” my husband shot back.
Theo stood there looking down at his brother’s body. Regret and resignation were a cloud hovering over him, his frame rigid with tension. He signaled his men to take Jeremiah’s body away.
“Not so fast.” Kolya rose to his feet and glowered at Theo. “You think I didn’t detect a faint pulse.”
“He’s alive?” Kirill asked quietly.
“What if he is?” Theo challenged.
“He killed my men and terrorized my sister.”
“You think I’m going to hand over my brother to you?” Theo shot back. “There are consequences if Jeremiah or I disappear. You should ask your brother Maksim about the repercussions that may arise to your own bratva if that happens.”
Kirill stilled beside me.
“He’s bluffing,” Kolya sneered.
Without waiting for my husband or his enforcer to give him leave, Theo moved to the stairs. “I’ll be in touch. I’m sure neither of us wants a scandal to come out of this.”
Then his eyes searched for Chloe, who seemed to want to disappear into the walls. “I’ll be in touch with you too.” But he didn’t turn his back on Kirill and held his eyes.
Kirill tipped his chin. “Fine.”
Kolya’s lips curled back, and it appeared he was going to defy my husband, but Kirill body-checked him. “You'd better go before I change my mind,” he told Theo. “This one doesn’t always follow orders.”
He was referring to Kolya. He was the only one in the bratva who had the audacity to defy Kirill. Surprisingly, my husband didn’t mind; he was even amused to let Kolya run it his way. I had no doubt that if Kolya did shoot the Kings, Kirill would sigh and deal with the consequences later.
When Theo left with his men and a barely breathing Jeremiah, I didn’t realize how tense I’d been and released a relieved breath.
“Why the fuck did you let them leave?” Kolya growled.
“I’m not risking a shootout with my wife in the crossfire.”
But Kolya’s eyes bypassed me and narrowed on Chloe.
My husband and his enforcer exchanged terse words in Russian. It was time I made an effort to learn the language.
After their exchange, Kolya prowled toward Chloe. “Give up the gun, princess.”
“Don’t call me princess,” she snapped, moving out of his grasp.
Kolya raised a brow. “Don’t cower.”
“I didn’t cower when I shot Jeremiah!”
“It’s my gun.” I pried the weapon away from Chloe before she shot Kolya in irritation.
“Kolya!” Kirill gritted. “I don’t need more problems. Take care of her. I need a chat with my wife.”
“I’m not leaving with him.”
“You think you have a choice?” Kolya smirked.
“All right.” I massaged one side of my temple. “Enough with the high-handedness.”
Kirill glanced sharply at me. “Looks like I need to be stricter with you.”
“We got Aralina back—”
Kolya clasped Chloe's arm, but she shook it off. “I said…I’m not leaving with you!”
“Text Trevor…he should be with Dom.” This reminded me not to forget the purse I’d dropped before I went up to the attic.
Kirill’s arm tightened around me. “Trevor again,” he muttered.
I glared at him. “What’s your beef with him?”
Kolya was looking at Kirill in bafflement. “Yeah, comrade, he helped us piece this together.”
“He did?” I grinned.
I swore I heard Kirill growl.
“Trevor said he’s about to come get me.” Chloe looked up from her phone. “I’ll—”
“I’ll take you,” Kolya said.
“I’m not sure—” I started.
“Leave them,” Kirill gritted. “I’m not having you rush off to Trevor when I was the one who was out of my mind with worry.”
“You better deliver her straight to Trevor,” I told Kolya with an edge of warning.
He grinned maniacally at me before he escorted the reluctant Chloe from the attic. She looked like I had betrayed her and let her leave with the grim reaper. Wait. Of course, Chloe was aware of Kolya’s past. His arrest and release were splashed all over the news.
I glanced up at Kirill. “I should thank Trevor for—”
“I’d shut up while you’re ahead, wife.”
I recognized Kirill’s tone. He was hanging on by a thread, but why? I was safe. Aralina was safe. He should be hugging me and kissing me.
“Can we get out of this creepy attic, then?” I whispered.
“It didn’t seem creepy to you when you recklessly left with Theodore King and entered this mansion. You didn’t even stop when you saw the carnage on the stairs.” Kirill finally released me, took a step back, and scraped his face in frustration.
He was pissed, but I also caught his fear and frustration.
I smiled at him tentatively. “I’m okay.”
“You…how can I trust that you won’t do something this foolish again?
Should I lock you up in a tower? Just FYI, the thought crossed my mind.
” He advanced on me, but I didn’t quail.
Kirill was ragey, but it came from a place of profound concern for me.
Dare I even say, love? “I’ll keep you on an island, hmm?
Not even your beloved Trevor can find you! ”
I squinted at my husband. “This has gone on long enough. Why are you so fixated on Trevor?”
He erased the distance between us. “Why?” he enunciated.
Eyes blazing. “Why?” he repeated. “I’ll tell you why.
First. You work with him closely. In a basement where I have no way of reaching you.
Second, when we had that fight? He helped you escape!
” His voice rose. Then, as if he realized he’d lost control, he turned away and started pacing.
“And thirdly...” By this time Kirill was breathing hard, like he’d just completed the 100-meter dash.
A ferocious look darkened his face. One I couldn’t decipher.
He wasn’t mad at me. He was mad at himself. Maybe for his ridiculous jealousy.
He pinned me with a glare. “When you finally woke up from your coma, his name was the first word out of your mouth.”
My stomach dropped and my heart cracked open imagining how betrayed Kirill must have felt after sitting by my bedside for days, waiting for me to wake up. “No…”
“Yes.”
“I said hi.” I struggled to remember that moment when I opened my eyes. “Seeing your face…I was so happy to wake up and see your face, Kirill. At no time was I thinking of Trevor.”
“You must have dreamt about him,” he grumbled, but he stopped pacing and stood motionless.
I knew what to do. My dear husband was waiting for me to soothe him.
He appeared haggard. Skin stretched tautly across his angular face, the sharp blades of his cheekbones and jawline starker than usual.
And his eyes were drowning pools of chilling turbulence.
“I don’t remember dreaming during my coma. Something else must have triggered it.”
This time I was the one who erased the gap between us, and I gently laced our fingers. “You kept this all to yourself the whole time?”
“It wasn’t your fault,” he gritted, looking everywhere but into my eyes. Like he was embarrassed for feeling this way.
“I really don’t know why I said his name first,” I whispered. “I’m sorry.”
He exhaled heavily and finally, finally, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me to his chest. “Not your fault,” he repeated. “Sloane and Bianca were visiting, and they were talking about the Mistress Strangler—”
I stilled, that worry, guilt, and confusion I was feeling for saying another man’s name upon waking up quickly dissipating. My semi-conscious brain probably made the connections even then because I’d discussed the case with Trevor. “Oh…then…I feel better.”
“You feel better about saying his name?” Kirill raised a brow, but the aggrieved look on his face had lessened.
“If I recall right, there were times I struggled to open my eyes and I heard voices sometimes, and music, but I didn’t dream about Tre—”
“Let’s not mention his name ever again.”
I clamped my mouth shut, but I couldn’t help the corners of my mouth kicking up.
“But I have other things to say to you.” He held me tighter.
I sighed happily. He was about to tell me I meant the world to him. “You find the most fabulous place and time to tell me these things, Kirill Zahkarov.”
His gaze sharpened. “We’re going to discuss your recklessness.”
Oh shit.
The ringing of the phone interrupted the oncoming lecture. It appeared Kirill recognized the ringtone because he immediately answered it.
He listened intently. “We’re on our way back to Manhattan.” Pause. “Okay, New Jersey then.”
Ivan and Irina’s house.
After ending the call, Kirill guided me to the stairs. “We need to leave.”
“That’s what I was trying to say—”
“This discussion isn’t over.”