Chapter 34
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
Win
I’d like to send Katarina away with the other women. I can’t stand the thought of her being hurt again.
I might be one of the most powerful men in the world, but I’m not stupid enough to try and tell Katarina what to do.
The woman owns me.
Around the island in the kitchen of Ryker’s penthouse apartment, my brothers strategize a plan. They are debating the merits of all of us remaining on the top floor versus being closer to the ground.
I listen as they debate it out, settling myself on the couch, pulling Katarina into my lap.
“I need a weapon,” she murmurs into my neck.
“You know how to shoot?”
“Enough.”
I wrap my arms around her, kissing her temple. “I don’t like it.”
She lifts her head. “Did you keep me here to use me as bait again?”
I grunt with a frown, “I kept you here so you didn’t cut off my balls.”
She smiles, settling back against me. “I’ll be all right with a small pistol, Win. If I’d had one in the ballroom, this would likely be over.”
I hate that she’s right. It likely would. But also… “Killing should not be a mark on your soul, Katarina. Leave that to me.”
“Win, I’m not the sort of woman who will cry over lost innocence—”
“I know. But you have to understand,” I stroke a hand down her hair, “I wouldn’t just die for you, sweetheart. I’d go to hell for you. Killing is my job.”
She gasps and then her mouth finds mine, the kiss hot enough to burn the building down.
To my left, I hear a throat clear.
Fuck them.
I slowly finish the kiss and then lift my head.
Katarina looks up at me with wide green eyes, the picture of seductive innocence. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I still want a weapon.”
“Going to hell isn’t enough to convince you to let me protect you?” I have to be honest, my pride is a bit hurt.
But Rush crosses over to us, pulling a small pistol from his breast pocket. “Here. This should do the trick.”
Katarina takes it from his hand, opening the chamber, and checking for bullets, before she deftly closes it again. “Thanks.”
I frown, because she clearly knows her way around a weapon, and likely she’s right. She should be armed.
Rush takes a seat across from us.
As the youngest of my brothers, I’ve always considered him a child. But what I see before me now is a man.
He scowls as he runs a hand through his dark hair.
Our family holds a secret, like many do. My mother and father separated for a few years. In that time, she had my brothers Killian and Ryker with another man.
When my parents reconciled, they agreed to keep the secret, and they had Rush in their attempts to reconnect.
It was mostly a failed attempt.
The marriage remained intact, but they led separate lives, until my father finally drank himself to death.
But when I took over the dukedom, Rush was still in primary school.
Now, in his twenties, the dark look of worry that pulls out at his brow makes him look older. Harder.
“What have they decided?”
“They’re talking about dividing us and creating a diversion down on the second floor, while you and Katarina remain up here.” His frown tells me he doesn’t like the plan.
“And what do you think?”
His eyes widen in surprise.
I rarely ask his opinion. In fact, of all my brothers, he’s the one I speak to the least.
But it’s time to test the youngest Smith. “I don’t like it. I think we are, as we have always been, strongest together.”
I dip my chin in acknowledgment.
It’s a thoughtful and intelligent answer. “I agree.”
He cocks his head, his brows lifting like he’s surprised.
“What are you talking about over there?” Triston calls.
“Rush and I agree that we should stay together.” I kiss Katarina’s forehead, before I stand, setting her back down on the couch. I start crossing toward my brothers.
Triston grimaces. “We still don’t know how Sver got in the last time, but he came through the front door. There should be men to stop him before he makes it back up to the penthouse.”
Triston is excellent at the company’s risk management. But this plan creates two weaker fronts. “Any general would tell you, troops should rarely be divided.”
“We are fighting two enemies.”
“Still unclear,” I growl back. I know he’s likely right. But it’s not confirmed. And while Sver is here in Vegas, we have no idea where Ivan is currently located.
All reasons we’re stronger together.
“Here in Vegas,” Triston starts through gritted teeth, “I am the CEO.”
I glare. Triston, as second oldest, has always chafed under my authority. He opens his mouth, gearing up for a lecture on his authority.
But he never gets a chance.
A loud blast sounds through the room.
I spin, diving on top of Katarina, my body covering hers as dust fills the air.
“Win!” Triston shouts.
“Here. Everyone else?”
Each of my brothers calls out as the dust settles. But as the air clears, I see two men on the balcony. The glass held through the blast, but in unison, they kick out, sending the entire frame crashing in.
I roll Katarina off the couch and onto the floor, covering her again, as my brothers rush the intruders.
“Holy shit,” Katarina gasps under me.
“Are you all right?” I call back, soldier crawling toward the bedroom. Her arms are hooked around my neck, and I drag her with me as I go, trying to remove her from the fray.
Her arm must be killing her, but she answers, “I’m fine.”
The butt of the pistol she still holds digs into my neck. Rush was right to give it to her. Her head lifts and I know she’s watching for enemies, ready to strike. She’s literally got my back.
But that’s when another crash fills the room. The door to the stairwell bursts off the hinges, crashing into the kitchen.
I drop again, my arms caging Katarina’s head as my body presses hers into the floor.
I can’t see anyone. I have no idea who is attacking, who is alive, and who is dead.
But just as I start toward the bedroom again, just trying to get Katarina out of the room, I hear a voice boom, “Ivan!”
I look to my left and Ivan stands fifteen feet away, his gun trained at my head.
To my right is Sver, his gun drawn as well.
I rip the pistol from my belt, pointing it at Ivan.
At the exact moment, Katarina points hers at Sver.
“Kitten,” I growl. She can’t kill either of these men. It’s a deep feeling. It’s my job to bear those kinds of scars. She should never.
“It’s me and you until the end,” she gasps, her gaze fixed on Sver.
“Katarina,” Sver’s gaze darts to her. “My daughter.” Katarina hesitates then, her arm dropping as she shivers underneath me.
“She’s always been mine,” Ivan spits. “Give her to me.”
“Over my dead body,” I grit out as I squeeze the trigger. But as my gun goes off, so do several more, shots ricocheting all over the room.
I hear the bullets whiz over my head.
And when I lift it again…both Sver and Ivan have dropped to the ground.
Rush moves first, kicking the gun from Ivan’s hand and then places a hand at his neck. “Dead.”
The room stills.
Around us, several men lay wounded or dead, but all eyes are on Ivan.
“Brothers?” I call out.
Tris responds first. “Here.
“Here but wounded,” Gris grits out. “Bullet to the leg.”
“Here,” Rush answers.
“Here,” Killian shouts. I look up to find him already tying off Gris’s leg. “Didn’t hit an artery.”
“Here,” Dimitri adds last. “Bullet to the shoulder.”
Katarina begins wiggling under me, but I don’t let her up. It’s still too dangerous. Some of Ivan’s men are frozen against the wall, not able to escape but not willing to fight.
“Sver?”
“Here,” the man calls back in his thick Russian accent. “Dying.”
“Let me up,” Katarina begs. “I need to see my brother.”
“Round up Ivan’s men,” I bark. “Hands tied behind their backs. Dimitri, how bad is it?”
But it’s Killian who answers. “He’ll survive but he’s going to need surgery.”
Katarina kicks under me.
“Winston,” Sver calls to me. I look over at him, my hands coming to either side of Katarina’s head. In my mind, she still needs me to protect her.
“What?” I bark, my eyes narrowing.
“My war with Ivan reaches back decades. It had to be me who ended him.”
Is he trying to tell me he delivered the death shot? I jerk my chin, acknowledging the gift he’s given me.
“Take care of my daughter.”
Katarina bucks under me again. I love this woman. But I know she’ll rush toward her brother or Sver. And both would put her in unnecessary danger. “Always.”
“And tell her I’m sorry that I didn’t do better.” He lowers his head, his eyes closing.
Katarina’s hand fists into my shirt, her head burrowing into my neck, as she lets out a feral moan.
“Kitten,” I murmur. “Please understand. One of these men could still shoot you.”
“It’s not that,” she whispers into my neck. “I thought I was alone. For so long and now…I have you, and it turns out, I had Sasha, Dimitri, and even Sver, all along. How did I not see?”
I drop my head, my nose brushing the shell of her ear. “Maybe you’re finally open to love. I know that’s how I feel.”
Her arms squeeze around my neck. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
I hear the wail of sirens off in the distance.
It’s over.
And…
My life is just beginning.