Chapter 25 #2
The door opens, and a woman enters. I recognize Katya Nikitina immediately. Yarik’s fiancée looks as perfectly composed as ever in an expensive cream-colored coat and black heels that clack with each step across the concrete floor like a countdown.
Alex stands and turns toward her with a polite smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. “Katya. You’re early.” He sounds faintly sullen, but his expression is warm.
She surveys the room with cool detachment, gaze lingering on me for a moment before returning to Alex. When she looks at me, there’s no recognition or acknowledgment of our previous encounters at the estate. I’m just an object to be disposed of. “Roman, I see you’ve retrieved our mutual problem.”
Roman. The name catches my attention, reminding me Demitrios called him that too.
Alex—Roman—moves toward her with the easy confidence of an equal partner. “She’s more stubborn than I expected, but nothing we can’t handle. Are the travel arrangements finalized?”
“There’s been a change of plans.” Katya reaches into her coat, her fingers trembling ever so slightly.
“What kind of change?” His voice carries a note of suspicion, and I see his posture shift slightly, becoming more defensive.
Instead of answering, she pulls out a gun and points it directly at his chest. The weapon looks enormous in her delicate hands, but she holds it with the steady confidence of someone who knows how to use it.
Alex stares at the weapon, confusion replacing confidence. “What are you doing? We’re partners. We agreed?—”
“We agreed you would help me eliminate obstacles to my marriage. You were useful for gathering information and creating problems for Yarik, but I never promised you a happy ending.” Her voice is conversational, like she’s discussing the weather rather than pointing a gun at someone’s chest.
The pieces click together in my mind. Katya has been using Alex all along, manipulating his obsession with me to serve her own purposes. She never intended to help him get me back. She just needed a convenient scapegoat.
Alex takes a step backward, his face flushing with anger and growing fear. “You can’t be serious. We had a deal.”
Her laugh is cold. “Did we? I remember offering you resources to pursue your little stalking hobby, not promising you a future. You were always going to be a liability, Roman. You’re too unstable, too obsessed, and too obvious.”
“I gave you everything. Access to Sarah, information about Yarik’s operations?—”
“And you left enough digital breadcrumbs to bury yourself.” She tilts her head slightly, studying him like a scientist examining a particularly interesting specimen.
“Photos, fake accounts, and threatening messages from multiple phone numbers easily tied back to burner phones purchased with your credit cards. All I had to do was watch you spiral and document your descent into madness.” The gun remains steady in her grip, pointed at his center mass
Alex’s face goes pale as he realizes the scope of her betrayal. “You’re going to kill me.”
“I’m going to tie up loose ends.” Katya’s finger moves to the trigger. “You served your purpose, but now you’re just a complication I can’t afford.”
“Wait—” Alex raises his hands, desperation creeping into his voice for the first time since I’ve known him.
The gunshot is deafeningly loud in the enclosed space. He crumples to the floor, clutching his chest as blood spreads across his black sweater in an expanding stain. He tries to speak, but only blood comes out of his mouth, dark and thick.
I watch him die with relief that the man who terrorized me is finally gone, and a tough of horror at witnessing such casual violence.
Katya doesn’t even look at the body as Alex’s breathing becomes shallow and then stops entirely.
She turns toward the door and calls out in the same tone she might use to summon a waiter, “We’re done here. Take her to the compound.”
Two men enter the room, both wearing expensive suits that suggest they’re more than simple hired muscle.
They approach me with professional efficiency, one cutting my bonds while the other keeps watch for any signs of resistance.
When they’re shifting me, I’m finally able to grasp the blade and remove it from my jacket.
As they help me to my feet, I slip the blade Nina gave me into my palm, concealing it as best I can. My wrists are raw and bleeding slightly from the rough rope, but my hands still work.
Katya watches the process with detached interest, like she’s overseeing the loading of cargo. “Be careful with her. She’s valuable.”
“Where are you taking me?” I ask, though I’m not sure I want to know the answer.
Her smile is sharp and predatory, transforming her beautiful features into something vaguely reptilian. “Somewhere Yarik will never think to look, so we can have a proper conversation about your future, or lack thereof.”
As they escort me from the room, I catch a glimpse through the high window and realize we’re still in the warehouse district. Alex only moved me a few buildings away from where he first grabbed me. If Yarik is searching the area, he might still be close.
Katya clearly plans to take me somewhere else remote enough that any screams won’t be heard.
I think about the blade hidden in my palm and the three lives inside me.
Alex is dead, which eliminates one threat, but Katya represents something far more dangerous.
She’s a woman with resources, connections, and a plan that apparently includes my death.
The cool night air hits my face as we step outside the warehouse, and I take what might be my last breath of freedom.
Whatever Katya has planned for me, wherever she’s taking me, I have to find a way to survive it for my babies, the future I want to build, and the love I walked away from but still hope to reclaim.
I have to survive this.