Chapter 30
Viktor
I looked down at the black blade at my feet.
I had no choice. I bent down and picked it up.
"No!" Hazel screamed from the iron chair. She shook her head violently, gasping as she stared at me, thrashing against her restraints. "Viktor, stop!"
I gripped the blade and straightened.
How the hell did it come to this? I thought I'd calculated everything, accounted for every variable. But now I stood in this goddamn abandoned shipyard, holding a knife, about to slit my own throat in front of the woman I loved.
Fucking ironic.
I looked up at Hazel. Tears streaked her face, her eyes swollen and red, hair plastered to her cheeks. But even like this, disheveled and broken, she was still the most beautiful woman in the world to me.
"Don't watch." I kept my voice as gentle as I could. "Hazel, close your eyes. Don't look."
She sobbed, shaking her head frantically, tears streaming down. "No, Viktor, please—"
Adam slammed the gun butt against Hazel's head. She cried out, her body convulsing from the pain.
"Enough with the bullshit." Adam's patience wore thin. "Hurry it up, Viktor. I can't wait to watch you die in front of this bitch."
I took a deep breath and pressed the blade against my throat.
The cold steel kissed my skin, bringing a strange clarity. I applied pressure. The sharp tip broke through, warm blood seeping out immediately.
I drank in the sight of Hazel one last time.
She didn't listen.
She stared at me, eyes wide, as if trying to burn my image into her memory.
Tears blurred her vision, but she kept watching, unblinking.
What a shame.
I wanted to keep some dignity in front of her at the end. Didn't want her to see me like this.
I pressed the tip deeper into my neck. It pierced the skin, going in a few more millimeters. Blood flowed. I looked at Hazel one last time.
Then she shook her head at me, just slightly.
Before I could process what she meant, Hazel moved.
Everything happened fast.
She'd somehow loosened the rope on one leg. She suddenly threw her weight backward, using her leg muscles to explode upward.
Then she slammed the back of her skull into Adam's face.
"Bitch!" Adam cursed through the pain.
The sudden impact made him stumble back two steps. His left hand released her hair, his right hand—holding the gun—jerked away from her head.
Perfect window.
I yanked the blade away and charged forward at full speed.
If I had a gun, I could've blown Adam's brains out right then. But I didn't have a fucking gun. Just this goddamn knife. Cold steel meant I had to get close, and Adam was too far.
I pivoted toward Valentina instead.
Shock still painted her face. She hadn't processed the shift.
I closed the distance in three strides, grabbed a fistful of her waves, and yanked back hard.
She'd never been trained for this. She managed one short scream before I hooked my left arm around her throat and pressed the blade against it.
"Drop the gun, Adam!" I roared, my voice echoing off the steel beams. "Let Hazel go! Or I slit your daughter's throat right now! You don't want to lose another kid, do you?"
Valentina trembled violently in my grip.
Her hands clawed uselessly at my forearm. She stared at her father, eyes wide with terror. I felt her heartbeat hammering against my arm, her carotid pulsing frantically.
Adam had steadied himself by now.
He wiped the blood from his nose casually and raised the gun again.
Pointed it at me.
Seeing me hold Valentina hostage with the blade, he didn't show a trace of panic. He smiled.
"You're joking, right, Viktor?" Adam kept smiling, that disgusting confidence still plastered on his face. "You're threatening me with her? You think I give a shit about her?"
Valentina's body went rigid. She opened her mouth, voice hoarse. "Adam... save me..."
"Sorry, Valentina." Adam cut off her plea, shaking his head with what looked like mild regret. "I never cared about you. Never cared about your cheating whore of a mother either. If your brother hadn't died by Viktor's gun ten years ago, I wouldn't even remember you existed."
Valentina's eyes went wide. She stared at her father in disbelief, tears spilling instantly.
Even I felt a flicker of sympathy for her.
This woman had given Adam everything—betrayed the Rossi family, betrayed me. She'd been willing to use her own womb and future just to earn a father's approval.
And what did she get?
She got her father admitting she was nothing but a disposable tool.
I stared coldly at Adam.
This old bastard's cruelty exceeded even my expectations.
I'd seen plenty of ruthless men, but someone who could casually throw away his own daughter like this? First time.
I'd actually thought his hatred for me had some personal edge to it—like he was some kind of devoted father.
Turned out he only valued the son who'd been sharp and useful, who could bring him profit. But his daughter? He was this heartless.
Fucking disgusting.
Adam continued, voice dripping with cold calculation.
"Now you've completed your task. You're no longer useful. Rest in peace."
No hesitation. He lowered the barrel and pulled the trigger.
I shifted instinctively, using Valentina's body to block the trajectory.
The bullet punched through Valentina's right leg, shattering bone.
I didn't think Adam would actually shoot Valentina. He didn't even bother pretending. Just fired.
This old psycho genuinely didn't care if his daughter lived or died.
Valentina screamed, bloodcurdling and raw.
I released my grip and pulled the blade back. Her right leg gave out completely, blood gushing, spattering the ground.
She crumpled, curling in on herself, hands clamped over the wound, staring at Adam in despair.
Adam didn't spare her another glance. He swung the gun back to Hazel's head.
"Now your leverage is gone, Viktor." He fixed his eyes on me, voice savage. "Back to the script. Kill yourself."
No choice. I pressed the blade against my throat again.
"Would've been faster to just shoot me earlier," I taunted.
"Where's the fun in that?" Adam grinned. "I want to savor your death. Games are more interesting. Entertain me, Viktor."
My mind raced through every possible counter.
Too far. The knife couldn't reach. Adam's gun pressed against Hazel's skull—no chance to rush him. If I charged, he'd just squeeze the trigger, and Hazel's head would explode.
Damn it. Everything had led to a dead end.
Then Jack's voice crackled faintly in the rice-grain-sized military-grade earpiece buried deep in my ear canal.
"Sniper's locked on."
The device was completely hidden in my ear canal. Impossible to detect without professional scanning equipment.
Jack had arrived. The sniper had Adam in his crosshairs.
They were finally in position.
I smiled slightly.
Adam didn't catch the subtle shift. He lost patience, finger tightening on the trigger.
"Enough. Since you can't do it, I'll send your woman to hell first!" he snarled.
I laughed. "Afraid you won't get the chance."
A muffled crack from outside. Large-caliber round shattered the high window glass, hit Adam's right wrist with surgical precision.
Adam's wrist exploded. Bone fragments and flesh sprayed. His entire hand tore apart. He screamed. The gun flew from his grip and clattered across the floor.
The tables turned.
I dropped the blade, lunged for the fallen gun, and squeezed the trigger twice.
Adam's screaming stopped. His body jerked backward. His legs buckled. He collapsed onto the dust-covered concrete.
I lowered the barrel and ran for the chair.
Blood still seeped from my neck. Blood loss made my muscles shake. I forced myself to focus, working the thick knots binding Hazel's wrists.
"It's over." My voice came out ragged. "Hazel, it's over."
"Are you... are you okay?" Hazel sobbed, voice breaking. "Your neck..."
"Just a scratch." I kept working the ropes. "Don't worry."
The moment her arms came free, Hazel threw them around my neck, buried her face in my shoulder, and broke down completely. I wrapped my left arm around her waist, kept working on the ankle ropes with my right.
"Viktor... run..." Valentina's weak voice came from behind.
I whipped around.
Adam—who'd been flat on his back—had rolled over onto his stomach. Black blood frothed from his mouth, but the old bastard wasn't dead yet. With his remaining left hand, he tore open his suit jacket.
He clutched a detonator, eyes crazed, thumb slamming down on the button.
Shit! That cunning bastard had rigged the place with explosives!
Valentina, sprawled on the ground, let out one last hysterical scream.
"Go to hell!" She summoned her last reserves of strength, grabbed my dropped blade, dragged her mangled leg forward, and plunged it into Adam's body.
The explosion followed.
I made a split-second decision. Pulled Hazel into my arms, spun toward the open door leading straight to the ocean, and ran.
At the edge, I didn't hesitate. Jumped with her in my arms.
The instant my feet left the ground, a deafening explosion erupted behind us.
The shockwave—mixed with metal shrapnel and scorching air—slammed into us. A jagged piece of metal punched through my coat, pierced my lower back, and tore through my abdomen.
Searing pain nearly knocked me unconscious mid-air.
We crashed into the freezing ocean.
Water surged skyward. High-salinity seawater flooded the massive wound. Warm blood gushed out, spreading rapidly around us.
The impact tore Hazel from my grip. The waves dragged her in another direction.
I forced my eyes open underwater, searching for her. Salt burned my eyes. Everything blurred. I saw floating debris, saw burning wreckage from the shipyard, but no Hazel.
I surfaced, gasping.
"Hazel!" I roared her name.
Only the sound of waves answered. Nothing else.
My heart nearly stopped.
Her file said she'd taken swimming lessons. She could swim. She'd surface. She had to—
But the surface remained empty.
The worst possibility hit me.
She'd probably been knocked unconscious by the shockwave when we hit the water. Then sank straight to the bottom.
No time to think.
I sucked in a deep breath and dove.
The wound in my abdomen screamed in the seawater. Blood loss blurred my vision. I didn't care. I swam down hard, searching the black water for her.
Then I saw her.
Hazel was sinking slowly. Eyes closed. Body limp. Like a broken doll being dragged into the abyss.
I swam with everything I had, grabbed her arm, wrapped my arm around her waist, and kicked upward. My lungs burned. My brain spun from oxygen deprivation.
But I couldn't stop.
Finally, we broke the surface.
I gasped, holding Hazel's face above water. Her lips were purple. She wasn't breathing.
"No, no, no—" Fear cracked my voice.
I pinched her nose, pressed my mouth to hers, forced the last air from my lungs into her.
But Hazel didn't respond. Desperation made my body shake uncontrollably. I kept going.
"Please..." I murmured. "Please, Hazel, wake up..."
After three attempts, Hazel suddenly coughed violently. Seawater poured from her mouth. But her eyes stayed shut. She didn't regain consciousness.
"It's okay." I held her tight. "It's okay, baby. I'm here."
I dragged her toward a piece of debris I'd spotted earlier. Used every ounce of strength I had left to lift her body out of the water and push her onto the board.
But I had nothing left to pull myself up. Half my body stayed submerged. Blood leaked from the abdominal wound. My limbs went numb and stiff.
My head started spinning. My vision darkened.
I wasn't young anymore. Making it this far was already something. But at least Hazel was safe.
I reached up, touched the ends of her hair on the board one last time, savoring the final moment of closeness.
Then my fingers slipped. I sank.
Gravity pulled me toward the abyss.
Cold, black seawater swallowed me whole.
I drifted further and further from my precious treasure.
But I was content. At least she was alive.
That was my last thought before losing consciousness.