Chapter 28
Yarik
T he silence after the gunshot feels deafening. Katya lies motionless on the white floor, her blood spreading across the pristine surface like spilled wine. Sarah trembles in my arms, the gun having fallen from her hands moments after she pulled the trigger.
“It’s over,” I whisper against her hair, though my shoulder throbs where Katya’s bullet found its mark. “You’re safe now.”
Footsteps pound up the stairs as my men finally reach the upper floor.
Valentin appears in the doorway, weapon drawn, and takes in the scene with professional assessment.
He sweeps the room systematically before holstering his gun, noting Katya’s body, the blood on my shirt, and Sarah’s shocked stillness.
“Status?” he asks, pulling out his radio to coordinate with the teams below.
“Threat neutralized.” I help Sarah to the chair she vacated during the fight, noting how she can’t stop staring at Katya’s still form. “What’s the situation downstairs?”
Valentin speaks rapidly into his radio in Russian, then turns back to me. “All Nikitin operatives have been neutralized, and we’re wrapping up at the warehouse where we found Roman and his Greek associate. The clean-up crew has been handled.”
He shows me photos on his phone displaying the accelerant containers still stacked around the warehouse where Roman and Yeorgi died.
“We’re going to finish what the Nikitin cleaner started and torch the warehouse.
Roman and his associate, along with the cleaner, ostensibly died in the fire, and any evidence burns with them. ”
I nod my approval. “What about connecting it back to us?”
“Nothing traces to us, and Roman was using multiple aliases with connections to various criminal enterprises. The authorities will assume it was a deal gone wrong or retaliation from one of his other ventures.” Valentin pockets his phone and checks his watch.
“Katya’s gun was unregistered, so when the warehouse burns, any forensic evidence, like the bullet in Roman, disappears with it. ”
I nod, understanding the elegance of the solution. The Nikitin family values business over sentiment, so they’ll accept that Roman went rogue and paid the price for his unauthorized operations. “How long do we have?”
“Perhaps twenty minutes before the fire department arrives, which gives us enough time to extract you both and complete the scene staging. Fortunately, the Nikitin family, save for Katya, is in the city apartment, so there were no casualties among them. That will make it easier to come to a resolution with them about this situation, since one could argue Katya brought it on herself with scheming.”
I snort. “I’m sure that old bastard, Leonid, was in on it, but this will let him place all the blame on Katya.”
He nods and glances at Sarah, who hasn’t spoken since the shooting. “Does she need medical attention?”
I study Sarah’s pale face and the scratches on her cheek from the fight. “She’s in shock but physically, she’s fine.”
“Then we leave now.”
I help Sarah stand, wrapping my jacket around her shoulders to cover the tears in her shirt.
She moves like someone sleepwalking, following my guidance without question or resistance.
We exit through the back entrance, avoiding the main areas where Valentin’s men are staging the crime scene.
The cool night air hits us as we reach the vehicles, and Sarah finally seems to come back to herself.
“Where are we going?” she asks, her voice hoarse from screaming.
“Somewhere safe, where we can talk.”
The drive takes forty minutes through winding back roads to a property I own under a shell company.
While Luco drives, one of our medical staff on retainer cleans, stitches, and bandages my shoulder.
It was a clean through-and-through that will only require bandage changes and antibiotics for the next couple of weeks.
I accept the first antibiotics and a couple of NSAIDs but nothing stronger.
I want a clear head when I’m going to be the only guard at our safe house, though I don’t expect any trouble.
We arrive at the property, which is a small cabin surrounded by woods, completely off the grid and unknown to anyone except Valentin.
It’s the perfect place to disappear until the immediate crisis passes.
“Drive Dr. Abshi back to the city and send a vehicle back for our use,” I say to Luco, who nods.
Once we’re clear of the SUV, he flips a U-turn in the long driveway and drives away.
There’s no key, but the biometric panel is secured behind the mailbox mounted to the exterior, so I flip it up and press my palm to it.
The door opens smoothly, and I enter first, ensuring the cabin is as I left it.
It’s deserted, so I return for Sarah standing in the doorway.
“It’s safe to come in.” I hold out a hand, and she takes it.
Inside, I guide her to the couch and start a fire in the stone fireplace. The flames create an atmosphere of warmth and security that’s completely at odds with the violence we just escaped.
“I need to clean your wounds,” I say, noting the cuts on her wrists from the rope and the scratches on her face. I should have had Dr. Abshi do it, but he’d barely finished treating me when we arrived, and I wanted to get her inside. They’re superficial, and I can handle the task.
She nods mutely, still processing everything that’s happened. I retrieve a first-aid kit from the bathroom and return to find her staring into the fire with a vacant expression.
“Sarah.” I kneel in front of her, gently taking her hands in mine. “You’re safe now since Katya is dead, Roman is dead, and the threat is over.”
“I killed her.” The words come out flat and emotionless. “I looked her in the eyes and pulled the trigger.”
“You defended yourself and saved both our lives.”
“Does that make it easier?” She sounds almost academic when she asks, but there’s a brittle note to her tone that indicates she might break at any moment.
I consider the question while cleaning the cuts on her wrists with antiseptic. “No, taking a life is never easy, no matter the circumstances, but you did what you had to do.”
She winces as I apply bandages but doesn’t pull away. “What do we do now?”
I like how she says “we.” “We’re going to figure out what our future looks like without having to look over our shoulder, worrying about the past.” I set aside the first-aid supplies and take her hands again.
“I’m done with the Nikitins, done with political marriages, and done with putting business before what matters. ”
“What matters?” Her voice wobbles slightly.
“You.” I lift her hands to my lips, ignoring the twinge in my shoulder, to press gentle kisses to her knuckles. “You matter more than any alliance or business arrangement.”
She searches my face with desperate hope. “You’re sure about this? I can’t do this again, Yarik, and I can’t be with someone who puts me second.”
“You’ll never be second, not to business, not to family obligations, and not to anything.” I move from the floor to sit beside her on the couch. “There’s something I need to tell you that I should have said weeks ago.”
Before I can continue, she interrupts. “There’s something I need to tell you too, something I’ve been afraid to say.”
“Tell me.”
She takes a shaky breath, her hands trembling in mine. “I’m pregnant.”
I jerk like she actually struck me. “What?”
She swallows, looking nervous. “Almost thirteen weeks now.” She looks down at our joined hands. “I know the timing is terrible, and this complicates everything.”
I stare at her, trying to absorb this revelation. Sarah is carrying my child, and the woman I love, the woman I almost lost tonight, is pregnant with my baby.
“How long have you known?”
“I found out about three weeks ago.” She looks up at me with tears threatening to spill. “I didn’t want you to force yourself into feeling obligated, and I wanted you to choose me because you loved me, not because I was carrying your child.”
I cup her face in my hands, forcing her to meet my direct stare. “Do you think that would have changed how I feel about you if I had known?”
She shrugs, which makes my shoulder ache since our hands are still joined. “I don’t know, but maybe. People say things change when there’s a baby involved.”
“You’re right that things do change.” I lean forward until our foreheads touch. “They become more important, more precious, and more worth protecting.”
She closes her eyes, leaning into my touch. “I was so scared you’d think I was trying to trap you.”
I immediately reject the idea. “How could you trap me when I was the one who forgot a condom a few times in the heat of the moment? The only thing that scares me is the thought of losing you again.” I pull back to look into her eyes.
“Sarah, I love you. It’s not because you’re pregnant, or because of any obligation or duty, but because you’re the first person who’s ever made me want to be better than I am. ”
She blinks, looking like she doesn’t really believe me. “You love me?”
I squeeze her hands a bit harder, needing her to believe me.
Earnestly, I say, “I’ve loved you since that night by the pool when you trusted me enough to let me comfort you, and I’ve loved you through every stolen moment and every conversation we’ve shared.
” I trace my thumb along her cheekbone. “I should have told you sooner and should have ended the engagement with Katya the moment I understood how I was feeling.”
Her expression is difficult to decipher. “Yes, you should have, so why didn’t you?”