Chapter 52 #3
“She was mine!” Ivan roars as I finally get to my feet. His attention is still on Dom as I fight to get my breathing under control. The pain is manageable for now, which means I need to move while I can.
“I see now that my biggest mistake was letting her go. Had I kept her, none of this would have happened. There would be nobody to stand in my way.”
Ivan pulls the gun from Leo’s head, but doesn’t move his foot enough for him to get a breath in. The color is draining from his face, and I know from experience that it’s from a lack of oxygen. Ivan isn’t just aiming to restrain him anymore.
He doesn’t care if he kills him. That might even be his plan.
The next words from his mouth affirm just that.
“So let’s start this over, shall we? I’ll handle the three of you, and when I bring you back broken and claim the Italians murdered our children, Mikhail will have no choice but to step down!
I’ll finally take my place at the head of the family, the place I deserve, and I’ll handle the fucking Italians while I’m at it! ”
His attention is still on Dom before his eyes flick down to Leo.
“I never really needed an heir, anyway.” He tells him, proving me right in the worst way.
When they had explained that Ivan wanted me for power, I’d known well enough that he’d never intended to hand over his rule to Leo.
He’d known it too; I’d seen it in his eyes, he just didn’t want to believe it.
Now, I’m not sure he can even understand him with the air being choked from his lungs, but it doesn’t make it better.
My feet are sure as I barrel toward him, quiet and quick despite the pain that throbs in my chest. Years of torture, pain, and sadness built me for this moment.
Ivan turns his gun my way, his gaze turning with it, and I see my mistake a moment too late.
Ivan knew I’d come to save Leo. He'd counted on it. The same way he’d counted on me coming down to save Hazel instead of turning tail and running to save myself.
My humanity saved me all those years in the rings.
The need to save those who couldn’t save themselves, but he will use it as my downfall.
The shot rings out, and I don’t even try to move. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. I’m on a direct path toward this bullet the same way it’s now on a direct path to me and….
I’m okay with that.
If I have to die, at least it’s doing what I swore to do, saving those who couldn’t save themselves.
I can die saving the people I love.
Thanks to the guy's adamant request that I learn about guns, I know which one Ivan has. It’s one of the same ones that Rick loves so damn much, a Glock 21. I’ve fired it, disassembled it and put it back together, and most importantly, I know how many rounds it can hold.
Thirteen.
He fired eleven while down here with me, two of which grazed me. The rest were scare shots or shots that he fired off when he didn’t know where I was. Which means, at best, he has two left, maybe less if he’d shot prior to our standoff. I can’t be sure if he did or didn’t, but it doesn’t matter.
Two shots won’t stop me. I’ll make sure of it. Between the low light and the fact that I’m moving, I doubt he’ll get me anywhere that will drop me in one hit.
I don’t need to live past saving them and dragging his ass down to the pits of hell with me.
Pain hits me like a bolt of lightning striking a concentrated point. Ripping through me with enough force that it pulls a feral scream from my lips, but I don’t slow. If anything, I use it to push me faster.
I feel the warm blood soak through the thin, sheer material of my dress, right above my left hip. Ivan laughs as he watches me advance on him, raising his arm in an attempt to aim for my head.
If I believed in God, now would be a perfect time to pray. Instead, I tuck my head low and step to the side slightly, forcing him to move with me. I watch as his lips pull in annoyance, but he lowers his gun slightly. Even dripping blood and in pain, I can’t help the smile that pulls at my lips.
No headshot for you.
“I’ll meet you in hell, дядя,” I say, as his finger presses down on the trigger once again. Gritting my teeth, I brace for the pain.
But it never comes, or at least not in the way I expected it to.
My arm scrapes across the jagged ground as I skid across it and out of the bullet's path. I give myself two seconds to make sense of it, looking around to find Dom beside me, his eyes wide as he stares back at me. His relief is quickly replaced with panic as his eyes rake over me, checking for injuries and stopping on the blood that’s rapidly rushing down my leg from where I got hit with the first bullet.
I smile at him, grateful for the first time since he told me I have a brother. And now, thanks to him, maybe we can begin to fix things between us.
I’m back on my feet, pushing forward again even as he reaches out to grab me, but his hand closes around air as I rush toward Ivan, intent on finishing this.
Unfortunately, I hadn’t planned on this happening tonight. I’d thought we would take Ivan down together, or at least somewhere at Elio’s, where I had access to more. Luckily, it doesn’t matter where I go. I always have something on me, just in case.
My dress might be short, but it was enough to hide a blade, and not just any blade, but the one Zander gifted me. Reaching down for it, my fingers wrap around the hilt, and something about this feels so right.
Ivan turns his gun to me, and now I am close enough for him to splatter my brains on the wall. He thinks he’s won. I can see it in his eyes as he pulls the trigger again.
His gun clicks, and I let out a fucking roar as I lunge, tackling him backward onto the harsh ground behind him.
Now, I’ll show him the monster he created.