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Just then, the barn door creaks open wider, and Sophia and Yulia step in, their eyes scanning the dim interior. The air’s thick enough to cut with a knife. I can almost hear their hearts pounding from here. They don’t see Katerina. Not yet.
I tap my earpiece again. Whispering even lower, “Sophia and Yulia are in the barn. Aleks still hasn’t shown. Katerina’s here; keep a fucking eye on her.”
I hear Zakhary’s voice crackling in my ear, “Got it, target locking on Katerina.”
“We are here,” Sophia says, walking in slowly, trying not to appear so obvious in looking around for danger. Holding hands with Yulia, they walk toward Katerina.
“Right on time,” Katerina says, grinning.
“Why do you want us here?” I hear Sophia almost whispering. Horses are kicking the ground, their eyes wide. Sophia holds Yulia’s hand even tighter.
“I am scared, Sophia,” Yulia says, and I feel a sharp pang of guilt. “I thought we were going to see the circus.”
“It’s okay, Yulia. We’ll go there in a minute. No one is going to hurt you,” Sophia reassures her.
“Are you sure about that, Sophia?” Katerina hisses. “The Ivankov Bratva will die here today,” Katerina sneers. “And so will your pathetic brother and friend.”
Yulia’s clearly aware that something is wrong now, and her sobs fill the air, an awful soundtrack to an awful night.
“Fuck! Where the fuck is Aleks?” I mutter, my heart pounding out of my chest.
“Ssshhh…it’s okay, Yulia,” Sophia tries to comfort her, but the undercurrent of her own fear betrays her words.
“Oh yes, be scared, little princess. Be very scared,” Katerina coos. “Because when we’re done tonight, you’ll be the last living Ivankov. And all that wealth? All those dirty millions? They’ll go to your only family left – Aleks. How poetic.” Katerina’s cackle slices through the air like broken glass. “Sophia, your pitiful goody-two-shoes act makes me want to puke. You had one job: protecting Yulia. Guess you screwed that up.”
“Fucking unbelievable,” I growl, my grip on the gun so tight my knuckles go white. Aleks, that conniving piece of shit, is planning to erase us, and for what? So he can be daddy to little Yulia and snag the Ivankov goldmine?
Over my dead body.
I want to burst out and redecorate the barn with her brains, but I hold back. Just a moment longer.
That’s when Ollie’s voice hacks through my earpiece. “Aleks is—” Gunfire drowns him out. My guts churn; something bad’s going down outside.
“Boss, Aleks took out Boris and Pyotr. He’s found out about our ambush!” Zakhary spits the update into my ear, the urgency in his voice like a shot of adrenaline. “Do I take the shot at Katerina now?”
“Hold your goddamn fire, Zakhary,” I snap. The barn’s gone full-blown circus of hell. Horses are losing their shit, kicking and screaming, making the whole place quake. Yulia’s wails mix with the frenetic symphony, and it takes everything in me not to lose it.
I spin around, ready to make my move, but what I see nails me to the floor. Sophia, that brave fool, is tussling with Katerina, trying to pry Yulia away from her.
It’s now or never. I step out, ready to put an end to this sadistic game.
Then, a loud bang rips through the barn, and a body crumples to the ground in the shadows.
And just like that, my heart stops.
Chapter 65
Luka
“MALYSKA… SOPHIA…”
Fuck.
Fuck! This is all my fault.
My voice barely escapes my lips, a hoarse whisper shredded by fear. The kind of fear that grabs your guts and twists, the sort that comes when you realize you might lose the only goddamn people you love in this world, the only ones who mean a fucking thing to you.
Love.
