29. Renat
RENAT
M ira stands in the doorway of the maintenance shed, her face pale but determined. Behind me, Vadim straightens his torn jacket, blood still trickling from his nose.
"I can explain—" she starts.
The sound of car engines cuts through her words. Heavy doors slam outside. Footsteps crunch on gravel—multiple sets, moving fast. Vadim's smile turns predatory.
"Too late for explanations." His hand moves to his jacket. "They're here."
The shed door bursts open. Three men pour inside—Lev Karpin and his enforcers. Dima Karpin positions himself behind Mira, blocking her exit. His cousin Alexei takes the other side of the room. Lev himself fills the doorway, silver hair gleaming in the dim light.
Vadim draws his gun in one fluid motion, the barrel finding my chest. "The horse lost, Renat, under your name. These gentlemen want answers."
"It's not true!" Mira screeches as one of the men jams a gun into her ribs.
My world tilts. The pieces start falling into place, forming a picture I don't want to see. "Mira?"
She lifts her chin, meeting my eyes. "Rusalka won that race. She beat every horse on the track."
"We all saw it, bitch. She lost." Vadim's finger hovers over the trigger.
Mira's voice gains strength. "I swear… Rusalka wore Thunder's Shadow's number. I swapped them."
Lev steps deeper into the shed, his presence making the space feel smaller. "Explain." Blood thrums past my eardrums and I can hardly believe what I'm hearing.
Mira swallows hard. "The numbers. I switched them before the race. Rusalka ran under Thunder's Shadow's number."
The confession guts me. She fixed the race under my nose and I never saw it? "You did what?"
"Renat, please." Her gray-blue eyes are desperate. "Rusalka had it. She had everything it took to win. We just… we fixed the race incorrectly."
"Fixed the fucking race, you little cunt," Dima snarls.
"Thunder's Shadow was favored but…." Mira turns to face him. "Rusalka was faster, stronger, better trained. But nobody would bet on her because she wasn't the favorite. So I made her the favorite."
"By lying." Vadim's voice cuts through the tension. "By making us all accomplices to fraud."
"By ensuring the right horse won the race." Mira's jaw tightens. "The horse that crossed the finish line first earned that victory."
"It looked to me like Thunder's Shadow took that victory… And the entire audience saw it too." Lev's voice is ice. "You're telling me you want me to believe your little mare is wearing a fake number, that you fooled the entire commission?"
"I saved my life." The words tear from Mira's throat. "And I saved the ranch. The debt called for the winning horse. That horse won even if it was the wrong number."
"That number," Alexei growls, "wasn't the number assigned to your horse. She's worthless to us. She came in third in the eyes of the world."
"My horse isn't worthless. She proved that today."
The tension in the room coils tighter. Dima has his gun trained on me while Lev circles closer to Mira. She doesn't back down, doesn't flinch, even as three dangerous men close in around her.
"Why?" I have to ask. Have to understand. "Why would you risk this? Do you understand you could face prison time for this fraud?"
Mira's eyes find mine. "Because I was terrified she would fail.
Terrified she wasn't ready. If Rusalka ran under her own number and lost, you'd kill me.
So I gave her Thunder's Shadow's number and him hers.
I thought he would win. He was favored. When the race was over, the right number would win and the debt would be settled. "
"The debt," Lev says quietly, "required an honest victory. Not a shell game."
"The victory was honest. Rusalka earned every stride of that race. You saw her run, you just thought it was Thunder's Shadow."
"I saw her run under a lie." Dima moves closer to her. "You made us look weak. Made us look like fools who got beaten by nobodies."
"You didn't get beaten. Your horse won."
"Our horse wearing a bad number." His hand moves to his gun. "That's not the same thing."
I watch Mira's face as the weight of her situation settles in. Three armed men surrounding her, all of them wanting blood. Dima's weapon still aimed at my chest. No way out that doesn't end in violence.
"There has to be another way to resolve this." I keep my voice steady. If what Mira is saying is true, the commission will sort it out. And Rolan will back her up. I will make him.
"There is." Vadim's smile is cold. "The way I already told you."
"No," I growl. "There has to be another way."
"The only way," Lev interrupts, "involves the girl paying for her deception."
"What deception?" Mira's voice rises. "I told you the truth. Rusalka won because she was the better horse."
"You lied about which horse was which." Lev pulls his weapon. "That's fraud, girl."
The gun appears in his hand smooth as silk. He presses the barrel against Mira's temple. She goes rigid, but her eyes stay locked on mine.
"Stop." I take a step forward. Dima's gun swings to track me.
"Stay back, cousin. This doesn't concern you anymore." Vadim's warning is nothing to me.
"The hell it doesn't." I draw my own weapon, aim it at Lev's chest. "Lower your gun."
The shed explodes into chaos. Alexei draws his weapon, aims it at me. Lev shouts something in rapid Russian but keeps his gun pressed against Mira's head.
"You don't know what you're doing…." Vadim's voice is deadly quiet.
"You're letting them terrorize an innocent woman." My finger finds the trigger. "Tell them to back off."
"She's not innocent. She's a cheater and a liar."
"She's the woman I love." The words leave my mouth before I can stop them. "And I won't let you hurt her."
For a heartbeat, nobody moves. Then Vadim laughs.
"Love? You think this is about love? She used you, Renat. Made you think with your cock instead of your brain."
"Her horse did what she said it would."
"But made fools of us all." Dima's voice is venom. "That requires payment."
"The payment was the race. The horse won. The debt is settled."
"The horse won," lev's voice cuts through my argument, "under false pretenses. The debt stands."
I keep my gun trained on Lev while addressing Mira. "Tell me this is the truth."
She nods, even with Dima's weapon against her skull. "The fire at the barn was planned. My father helped me. We needed a distraction while I switched the saddle cloths."
My heart drops. "The fire was intentional?"
"We had to create confusion. Had to make sure nobody was watching when I pinned my number to Thunder's Shadow and gave Rusalka his."
"You burned the barn?" The sweet, innocent woman I thought she was dissolves in front of me and I see her for the truth she's been hiding. Mira is fierce, and I never gave her credit for it.
"A small section. Controlled. We knew the fire department would come, that everyone would be focused on the flames instead of the horses."
Vadim's smile widens. "Arson and fraud. This gets better and better."
"It gets desperate," Mira corrects. "I was so afraid Rusalka would fail. So afraid she wasn't ready for this level of competition. But I knew if I could give her the chance, if people expected her to win instead of lose, she'd prove herself."
"By cheating," Alexei growls.
"By leveling the playing field. Thunder's Shadow was the favorite because of his bloodline, his reputation. Not because he was faster or stronger. Rusalka had to run twice as hard to get half the respect."
"So you stole the respect instead." Dima's free hand draws back. "Time to pay for that theft."
His palm connects with her cheek hard enough to snap her head sideways. The sound echoes off the shed walls. Blood trickles from the corner of her mouth.
"Stop!" I swing my gun toward Dima, but Alexei already has his weapon aimed at my head.
"Don't move," Alexei warns. "Or I'll drop you where you stand."
Vadim chuckles. "See how quickly your loyalty shifts? One pretty face and you forget everything the family taught you."
"The family taught me to honor my word. The horse won. The debt should be paid."
"The horse cheated. The debt stands." Lev's voice is final. "And the girl pays for her deception."
Dima grabs Mira's chin, forces her to look at him. "Last chance. Admit you cheated us, and maybe we make this quick."
Mira spits blood at his feet. "I won't apologize for giving my horse the chance she deserved."
"Wrong answer." Dima's backhand catches her across the other cheek. Her head whips to the side, more blood spattering the concrete.
Red floods my vision. "Take your hands off her."
"Or what? You'll shoot?" Vadim's voice holds amusement. "We both know you won't pull that trigger."
He's right. I can't shoot Lev or this place will erupt. But I can't watch them hurt Mira, either.
Dima raises his hand again. This time, his fist connects with Mira's jaw, snapping her head back. She staggers, catches herself against the workbench.
Dima demands, "No more games. No more lies. Tell me plainly you cheated and I'll make it quick."
Mira wipes blood from her mouth with the back of her hand. Her voice comes out thick but steady. Dima's face darkens. He shoves the gun barrel against her mouth. Mira's eyes go wide with terror, but she doesn't break.
Her gaze locks on mine. In her eyes I see fear and determination and trust. She's trusting me to understand, to believe that what she did wasn't about deception but survival.
But she won't give them what they want even with cold steel against her lips.
"She can't talk with a gun in her mouth," I say desperately.
"She can nod." Dima's finger finds the trigger. "Or she can die with the truth."
That's when something inside me snaps.
I don't think, don't calculate odds or consider consequences. I just move.
My gun swings away from Lev toward Dima. Alexei shouts a warning. Dima dives sideways. And I launch myself across the shed.