Chapter 27 - Nikolai
The sight of Danielle strapped to that table burns straight through me, and for a moment, the entire world narrows into pure, blinding rage.
I see the restraints cutting into her wrists so clearly, along with the terror on her face, while the fluorescent lights overhead make her look like some kind of experiment.
Not far, Volodin’s body bleeds across the concrete floor. He obviously did something Malenkov didn’t like.
I was almost too late.
Not completely, but close enough that the realization nearly tears me up from the inside out. This never should have happened, and she never should have been touched by any of this.
If I had been a moment later, this would have ended very differently.
Malenkov is already trapped in the room as gunfire cracks through adjoining corridors while my brothers and our men clear the remaining rooms, but none of it reaches me properly.
All I see and hear is Danielle and the frantic sound of her breathing.
Then Malenkov moves, and the last of my restraint goes up in smoke.
I go after him immediately, slamming him hard into the nearest wall before he can fully turn, driving him against the concrete with enough force to crack his head sharply against it. I wrench him into position and jam my gun directly beneath his jaw.
Rage vibrates through my entire body, and it takes everything I have not to empty the magazine into him.
I want to kill him so violently he’ll remember it into the next life, and I don’t want to think twice about the mess it will make.
“How fucking dare you,” I snarl, finger itching to pull the trigger at the thought of everything Dani has been through tonight, all because of him.
Malenkov grunts against the wall with blood at the corner of his mouth now, but despite the position he’s in, he still smiles red. It nearly pushes me over the edge.
“You care about her that much?” he asks roughly, looking more amused than someone in his position should be.
I shove the gun harder beneath his jaw, hearing how his neck protests with a subtle pop. “You’re dead.”
“I don’t think so.”
That’s when I glance over to see his gun raised and pointed right at Dani, where she’s still lying there, trapped by the restraints.
I stop at once, all too familiar with this predicament.
Malenkov freezes too, breathing hard now. He knows he has the advantage with her head right in his line of sight, turning the tables before I can come up with a quick solution.
If I pull the trigger now, there’s a very real chance his reflexes go with it, and all it takes is one shot to ruin everything.
My entire body locks with restraint, forcing myself to reel it in regardless of how badly I want this to end.
Malenkov notices immediately and smiles wider. “How unfortunate.”
I want to break every bone in his body, but instead, I force myself to hold still despite the fury threatening to drown me alive.
“Lower the gun,” I say coldly, tone clipped. “And maybe you’ll walk out of this alive.”
It’s a lie, and we both know it.
Malenkov laughs softly despite the blood streaking down his chin now. “You’re too righteous for this world, Lukov. I’m surprised it hasn’t killed you already.”
“Righteous isn’t the word I’d use.”
“No?” His eyes gleam in that rat-like way of his. “You built an entire secret operation trying to play hero while pretending you weren’t still one of us. I can’t tell who you’ve been trying to impress.”
The words reach old wounds I don’t have time to bleed from right now, and ones that don’t need addressing when Dani is still suffering.
“No one. You harvest innocent people for profit. There’s nothing complicated about what you are.”
His expression hardens, apparently not liking that response. “You should’ve minded your own business.”
“That became impossible the second you started carving through vulnerable people like livestock.”
He grits his teeth slightly beneath the barrel pressed against him. “You cost me millions.”
“You deserve worse.”
I mean every word. No matter how long it took, no matter how careful I had to be, I would have destroyed him eventually. It was only a matter of time, and now, I have no qualms about burying him for good.
Men like Grigori Malenkov don’t stop on their own. They consume everything around them until somebody finally puts them in the ground, and nobody wants to do that more than me.
“I was going to end this either way,” I tell him coldly. “You just made the mistake of touching her first.”
Something shifts in his expression then, and it looks a lot like understanding. He knows exactly how personal this has become, and maybe if he had the chance to go back, he never would’ve pursued her or Arthur.
Behind us, I hear Danielle struggling against the restraints, but my eyes don’t stray, and neither do his.
Malenkov’s gun shifts almost imperceptibly toward the sound, forcing more tension to coil up within me, ready to strike.
My heart nearly stops when something metallic flies by me and slams hard into the side of Malenkov’s head with a sharp crack.
He jerks in surprise, hitting the wall again in a brief daze as the metal tray clatters to the floor.
The distraction lasts less than a second, but it’s all I need.
I pull the trigger point-blank, and the gunshot explodes through the room, hitting its mark without hesitation.
With a sickening whack against the wall, Malenkov goes limp instantly as the light leaves his eyes, and his body crumples heavily against the concrete floor at my feet while blood spreads rapidly beneath him.
Dead. Finally.
For one suspended second, I just stare down at him while my breath comes out harder than before in the sudden quiet, adrenaline roaring through my bloodstream so loudly I can barely think straight.
Then Danielle makes a broken sound somewhere behind me, and when I turn to see her yanking the restraint from her other wrist, the thoughts finally click together.
She did it. Somehow, she slipped from one and distracted him long enough for me to finish this.
Everything else disappears again immediately, and I’m moving before conscious thought catches up with me.
By the time I reach the table, Dani already has most of the restraints undone, but I shove the last one free myself with shaking hands, seeing with tunnel vision.
“You’re okay,” I say hoarsely, even though I’m the furthest thing from calm right now. “…It’s okay.”
The moment she can, Danielle practically collapses toward me, and I catch her instantly.
Pulling her tightly against my chest, my hands shake despite every effort to steady them while she clings to me just as hard. The feeling of her alive and in my arms nearly undoes me completely.
“I’m sorry,” I hear myself saying immediately, barely thinking the words before I’m saying them. “Fuck, Dani…I’m sorry.”
Her breathing is ragged against my throat, but even that adds another layer of relief to the pile.
“You’re okay,” I murmur desperately, holding her tighter. “You’re okay now.”
But even as I reassure her, I know how close this came, and that alone makes the nausea curl in my gut.
I can still see the restraints cutting into her skin, and I can imagine walking into that room seconds later than I had. There wouldn’t be anything left of this building if that had been the case.
“I thought—” My voice roughens around the edges, almost hurting to speak. “I thought I lost you.”
Dani exhales, but it comes out more shaky than anything else. “I was so scared.”
The admission destroys something inside my chest, and I close my eyes briefly, pressing my forehead against her hair while relief and guilt tangle together inside me all at once.
Around us, the warehouse is finally settling as our men clear the remaining rooms while Roman barks orders somewhere nearby, but all of it feels irrelevant now. None of it matters as much as the woman in my arms and feeling her warmth against me.
I pull back just enough to look at her properly.
Fear lingers in her eyes, along with the understandable shock, but she’s alive. Even if that’s the bare minimum, it means less heartache for everyone involved.
It takes everything in me to talk despite the lump in my throat. “I should’ve protected you better.”
“Nikolai—”
“I mean it.” I cut in, cupping her face carefully despite the blood still streaking my hands. “I let them get close enough to touch you, and that’s on me.”
Her expression softens painfully despite everything she’s just endured, looking at me like I’m the one thing keeping her head above water. “You came for me. That’s what I care about.”
As if there was ever another possibility, or even a timeline where I would settle for anything less.
I stare at her for a second too long before the truth finally tears free without restraint.
“I’m in love with you.”
The words leave me before I can reconsider them, both utterly raw and absolute, and Danielle goes completely still in my arms.
For the first time in years, I genuinely don’t care about the vulnerability of that confession, or how it shatters every hardened image others have of me. I can’t care while knowing I cannot survive losing her, and tonight has proven exactly that to me.
“I should’ve said it sooner,” I admit quietly with a gentle stroke of my thumb across her cheekbone. “I should’ve said it before any of this happened.”
Emotion flickers through her eyes so quickly I almost miss it, then her fingers tighten in the front of my shirt like a quiet declaration of her own.
“I don’t want to be away from you right now,” she whispers, sounding just as sincere.
Relief crashes through me so hard it nearly drops me to my knees, but I keep myself steady for both of us. “You won’t be. I’ll make sure of it.”
Pressing a kiss against her forehead, I pull her fully against my chest and soak in her presence like I’m starved for it. As I hold her there in the aftermath of bloodshed and violence, and everything that nearly destroyed us both, I make myself one final promise.
No matter what it takes, nobody will ever get that close to taking her from me again.