Chapter 14 #3
"Because I'm terrified!" His voice rises. "Sera, you don't understand what these people are capable of. The things I've heard. The things they do."
"I know what they're capable of." I touch my bruised face. I deliberately didn't wear makeup. "Your friend beat the shit out of me."
Gabe goes pale. "Jesus Christ."
He doesn't ask if I'm alright. I'm not surprised by that, which is horribly sad.
"Tell me what happened," I say quietly, trying to control my emotions. I'm oscillating between anger and grief so quickly I'm worried I won't be able to function soon. "Tell me the truth. All of it."
He looks at the guards. "Can we have privacy?"
"No," the guard says.
Gabe swallows. Looks back at me. "I fucked up. Okay? I fucked up bad."
"I know you owe the Morozovs money—"
"It's not just money." He leans forward, his voice dropping.
"They wanted information. About the Nero family.
Routes. Shipments. Weaknesses." He starts tapping his foot, looking over at the guard.
"I got a job on the docks a few months ago, unloading shipments, so I think they thought I'd be. ..useful."
My blood goes cold. I've known the reality of Adrian's real work for forty-eight hours, but in that time, I discovered that the kind of things Gabe is admitting to—well, they're going to get him killed. "Shit, Gabe."
"I didn't have a choice!" He's pleading now. "They said they'd kill you if I didn't help. Said they'd make you pay my debts."
"So you became a spy?"
The guard's back straightens, and Gabe whimpers in fear.
"I tried! Fuck, I did. But I couldn't get close. Nero's got their own people, and I'm just a low-level guy. I don't have access to anything important." His hands shake. "I gave them some stuff I overheard. Small things. Nothing that would really hurt anyone. Just enough to keep them off our backs."
I want to believe him. Want to think my brother isn't a complete moron, and yet, something he says isn't ringing true.
"You sold me to them," I say slowly. "Dimitri was waiting for me."
"I didn't!" Gabe's eyes are wide. Desperate. "I swear, Sera. I didn't know they were going to grab you."
"I told you weeks ago that one of them came to the bookstore."
He glances away. "He doesn't work for Alexei."
I laugh bitterly. "Fuck, Gabe. Please do not tell me that you owe someone else money."
"I don't."
I'm shaking with anger.
"I don't believe you."
"Please." He's crying now. Actually crying. "You have to help me. Talk to Nero. Clearly, he likes you. Ask him to help."
"I'm not going to do that." I twist the ring on my finger, and Gabe's eyes immediately go to it.
"What the fuck is that?" The tears dry up, and immediately, his demeanor shifts. It happens so quickly that I feel like I'm getting whiplash.
"A ring," I say coldly.
"Yeah, no shit. Whose?"
I narrow my eyes at Gabe. "Don't curse at me."
"Who!" he yells.
The guards move closer, and I don't miss how Gabe's eyes widen.
"Adrian and I are married. As of last night, I'm Mrs. Nero."
I don't know what I expect, but it's not for Gabe to start laughing.
"What the fuck is so funny?" I snap. I'd been expecting questions, a lecture, more anger. Not for my brother to think my predicament is hilarious. "The last forty-eight hours have been a fucking nightmare, Gabriel."
Gabe doesn't stop laughing. In fact, he's leaning back, hands in prayer position.
"Don't you see?" he whispers. "All our problems are solved. You're his wife. How the fuck did you pull that off?"
My eyes narrow. "Are you listening to me?" I snap. "Adrian Nero is my husband. Do you know what that means?"
"It means he'll listen—"
"He doesn't listen to me." I'm screeching at this point. I'm so loud and angry, I'm surprised Leo hasn't rushed in. "He owns me." The words taste bitter because they are true. "Just like he owns you now."
He sobers up immediately. "Sera, come on—" He gives me a small smile. "You managed to get him to marry you. You can convince him—"
"I can't help you, Gabe." I step back. "I'm sorry. But I can't."
"Then I'm dead." His voice is hollow. "You know that, right? Either the Morozovs will kill me for failing, or the Neros will kill me for betraying them. I'm dead either way."
I swallow thickly because I know that he's right. I simply don't know what else to do. Because Adrian won't let him go, and if he does, his enemies will take Gabe out.
"Maybe you should have thought of that before you started playing both sides."
I'm so fucking annoyed at him, I want him to suffer. Not permanently, but he doesn't need to know that. I don't think Adrian will listen, but maybe we can make a trade.
"Sera—"
Whatever he was going to say is cut off by the sound of breaking glass.
Then gunshots.
So many gunshots.
One of the guards is hit and blood sprays across the room.
Leo moves instantly, grabbing my arm and pulling me down behind the couch.
"Stay down," he orders.
More gunshots. Closer now. Someone is screaming. Is it Gabe?
"What's happening?" I cry, my ears ringing.
"We're under attack." Leo's already on his phone. "Adrian, we have a situation. Safe house three is compromised." A pause. "Yes, she's with me. No, she's fine. For now."
He hangs up.
The door bursts open. One of Adrian's guards stumbles in, blood pouring from his shoulder.
"They're in the building," he says. "At least six of them. Maybe more."
"Morozovs?" Leo asks.
"No idea. Couldn't get a good look."
More gunshots. So close I can hear the impact of bullets hitting walls.
"We need to move," Leo says. He looks at me. "Can you run?"
"Yes."
"Good. Stay behind me. Do exactly what I say. Understood?"
"What about Gabe?" I ask.
"Not my problem."
I stop. I can't leave without my brother. A bullet lands in the couch, blowing a hole through it.
"Think about your child, Sera."
I nod.
He starts to pull me up when something explodes down the hallway. The force of it knocks me back down.
My ears are ringing. Smoke is filling the room.
Leo is shouting something, but I can't hear him. Can't think. Can only react.
I don't see Gabe, and I feel my heart sink.
Guards are everywhere. Some dead, blown to pieces, and the ones still standing are exchanging fire.
I see Leo reaching for me.
And then everything descends further into chaos.
It's like being in hell.
Bullets spray through the doorway. One of the guards goes down. Then another.
Leo shoves me toward the bedroom. "Get in there and lock the door!"
"What about—"
"NOW!"
I stumble backward, my ears still ringing, my heart pounding so hard I think it might explode.
I reach the bedroom doorway.
Turn back one more time.
See Gabe on his feet, somehow free of his restraints, running toward the window before jumping out.
I scream.
See Leo firing at shadows in the smoke.
See the blood spreading across the carpet.
Then someone shoves me hard from behind. I fall into the bedroom. The door slams shut.
And I'm alone in the darkness with the sound of gunfire echoing through the walls.
I crawl to the corner. Make myself as small as possible. Press my hands over my ears.
But I can still hear it.
The gunshots.
The screaming.
The sound of my entire world falling apart.
Again.