Chapter 41
NIKOLAI
The yacht bobbed gently in the harbor, pristine white against the gray Hudson waters. From my vantage point in the warehouse across the dock, I watched through binoculars as staff moved across the deck, preparing for tonight’s event.
A government gala. Or so the invitations claimed.
VIP only.
Ambassadors, diplomats, high-ranking officials.
The kind of event Vladimir Volkov would never miss.
The kind of event that would stroke his massive ego and make him feel untouchable.
Yes, because the rich and powerful enjoyed parading themselves like fucking peacocks, not missing a single opportunity to flash their influence and Rolexes.
And that was exactly the kind of setup we’d created to allure Vladimir Volkov.
A net with strings so tight he couldn’t escape.
The kind of event that didn’t. Actually. Exist.
“He’s ten minutes out,” Adrik said behind me, checking his phone. “His car just passed the checkpoint.”
“Good.” I lowered the binoculars, turning to face the man who’d once betrayed me. Who’d dove into frozen water to pull me back from death. Who’d earned his way back into my trust one painful step at a time. “Everyone in position?”
“The women are ready. Sasha just gave me the okay. They’ll arrive five minutes after Vladimir boards.”
“And the crew?”
“All ready. Captain, staff, everyone knows exactly what to do and how generously compensated they will be for their loyalty. The moment we give the signal, they’ll take us out.”
“Perfect.” I raised the binoculars again, scanning the dock. Vladimir’s men were already there, positioned at strategic points. Six of them that I could see. Probably more hidden somewhere around the perimeter.
But they wouldn’t matter soon.
A black car pulled up to the dock. My dearest fucking father stepping out, dressed in an expensive suit, looking every inch like the respected ambassador he wanted everyone to see him as. Two bodyguards flanked him as he approached the yacht.
The captain greeted him at the gangway, all smiles and respect. Vladimir said something that made the captain laugh. Then he boarded, his guards following.
“He’s on,” I said.
Adrik pulled out his phone, sending a single text.
Three minutes later, another car arrived. Then another. And another.
Women emerged from each vehicle. Twenty of them in total. All wearing red dresses.
You want poetic, Father? It doesn’t get more fucking rhymey than this.
Some were women Vladimir had trafficked. Others were wives, daughters, sisters of men he’d destroyed. Each one had a reason to hate him. Each one had earned the right to watch him fall.
And leading them all was Sasha.
Her blue hair was stark against the red dress, the same shade as the one she’d worn when Vladimir had tortured her. She walked with her head high. Defiant and ready to take her revenge.
“Let’s go,” I said.
We left the warehouse, crossing the dock with determination. The women were already boarding, a sea of red flooding onto the white yacht. Vladimir’s men watched, confused but not alarmed. What threat could twenty unarmed women in evening gowns pose?
I boarded last, nodding to the captain.
He pulled up the gangway and signaled to the bridge, making the engines rumble to life.
Vladimir’s men, still stationed on the dock, suddenly understood, running towards the yacht that had pulled away from land.
They reached for their weapons but couldn’t fire a single one.
Don Battaglia and his men were stationed on the warehouse’s rooftops, sniper rifles in hand, taking them out in one go like a beginner’s game being played by pros.
I turned my attention to the deck, where Vladimir had emerged from the main cabin. He’d been inside, probably checking the guest list, wondering why no other diplomats had arrived yet.
Now, he stood frozen, staring at the sea of women in red dresses surrounding him.
His face went as white as the ghosts he used to control me with.
“No,” he breathed. “No, can’t be.”
The crowd of women parted, like the Red fucking Sea, and I smiled at how damn poetic this all was. Just like Daddy liked it.
I walked through them, my footsteps steady on the deck, slow and deliberately calm.
Vladimir’s eyes met mine, and I saw the moment he understood exactly what this was.
“Hello, Father.”
“Nikolai.” His voice was steady, but I could see the fear underneath. The calculation. Already trying to figure out how to manipulate his way out of this. “What is this?”
“Justice.” I gestured to the women surrounding us. “You remember Sasha, of course. And these other ladies… Well, they all have something in common. Can you guess what it is?”
Vladimir’s jaw clenched. “You can’t do this. I have men on the dock. They’ll report this. They’ll–”
“They’ll what? Storm this yacht after coming back from the dead?” I smiled. “Dead blood is poison in the veins, you should know that. You’re very alone, old man.”
“I’m an ambassador. You kill me, there will be consequences. Wars have started over less.”
“Only if anyone finds out you’re dead.” I moved closer, each step a symphony of menace and settled score on the wooden deck.
“And something tells me your government won’t look too hard for a man they’ve been trying to distance themselves from for years.
Trafficking. Extortion. Murder. Your sins are extensive, Father. Even your protection has limits.”
“Nikolai, listen to me!”
“No.” I cut him off. “You listen. You’ve spent your entire life hurting people. Destroying them. Using them. And tonight, it ends.”
Vladimir’s eyes darted around, looking for an escape that didn’t exist. Then they landed back on me, and I saw him shift tactics.
“You need me,” he said. “Your mother. Anya. Their bodies. I’m the only one who knows where they’re buried. You kill me, and that secret dies with me. You’ll never give them a proper burial. Never have closure.”
The words hit exactly where he intended. I felt the old pain flare, the desperate need to know, to find them, to finally lay them to rest.
But then I thought of Adrianne. Of the ring on her finger. Of the life waiting for me in New York.
Of Anya’s voice in the frozen lake.
Let me go. Live. I forgive you.
“You’re right,” I said quietly. “I’ll never know where they are. And that will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Vladimir smiled, that disgusting grin that told me he thought he’d won.
“But you know what will haunt me more?” I stepped closer.
“Letting you live. Letting you continue to hurt people. To destroy lives. To make more victims like the women standing on this deck.” I gestured around us.
“My mother and sister are gone. I can’t save them.
But I can save every person you would have hurt tomorrow. ”
“Nikolai, please.”
“I choose the living over the dead.” I turned to Sasha. “He’s yours.”
Sasha stepped forward, and Vladimir’s eyes widened with genuine fear.
“No. Sasha, please. I never meant to hurt you. I was just…”
“Shut up.” Her voice was cold and steady. “You tortured me for days. Burned me. Beat me. Violated me in ways I’ll spend years recovering from. All to control my brother. All for power.”
“I can make it right.”
“There is no making this right.” She pulled a knife from somewhere in her dress. “But this? This is a start.”
Vladimir looked at me, desperate now. “Nikolai, you can’t let her do this. You’re not a killer. You’re better than me.”
“I’m exactly like you,” I said. “That’s what you never understood. You made me in your image. Brutal. Ruthless. Willing to do whatever it takes to protect what’s mine.” I smiled. “The only difference? I choose who deserves my mercy. And you don’t.”
I stepped aside, and Vladimir tried to run.
But the women closed in, a circle of red surrounding him. Nowhere to go. No escape.
Sasha moved forward, knife in hand.
“This is for every woman you hurt,” She said. “Every life you destroyed. Every scream you enjoyed.”
She struck.
Fast. Precise. The knife sinking into Vladimir’s stomach.
He gasped, stumbling back. His hands went to the wound, blood spilling between his fingers.
“And this,” Sasha said, striking again, “is for me.”
Vladimir fell to his knees, blood pooling on the white deck. He looked up at me, his eyes pleading.
“Please,” he choked out. “Nikolai, please. I’m your father.”
“No,” I said. “You’re the monster who destroyed my family. And now you’re done.”
I watched as the life drained from his eyes. As his breathing spiked until it stopped.
As Vladimir Volkov, the Ambassador, the monster, the man who’d haunted my nightmares my whole life, finally died.
The women were silent, watching. Bearing witness, and getting some kind of closure that would never erase what he’d put them through.
Then Sasha turned to me, blood on her hands and dress, and smiled.
“It’s done.”
“Yeah.” I felt something loosen in my chest. Something I’d been carrying for so long I’d forgotten what it felt like to be without it. “It’s done.”
Adrik appeared at my side. “What do we do with the body?”
I looked at Vladimir’s corpse. At the man who’d killed my mother, destroyed my sister, tortured Sasha, and tried to take Adrianne from me.
“The ocean,” I said. “Dump him in shark-infested waters and make sure to lather him up well enough so that they don’t smell the rot on him. Let him disappear like he made so many others disappear.”
“And the women?”
I turned to face them. Twenty women in red dresses, all looking at me with expressions ranging from satisfaction to relief to something that might be gratitude.
“You’re free,” I said. “All of you. Whatever he had on you, whatever hold he had over you, it’s gone. You want to go home? I’ll arrange it. You want new identities? I’ll provide them. You want to disappear? That’s your choice. But you’re free now. All of you.”
And finally, so was I.