“Stop saying that!”
Another explosion rocked the far wall, and plaster rained down from the ceiling. Just then, the elevator doors opened, and to both my relief and horror, he stepped out into chaos.
Fyodor.
He had no escort or security detail with him, except a gun which was loosely attached to his hand. His coat still dusted with rain from outside, and I watched as he took in the scene in one sweep. My brothers. Their men. His men bleeding across marble floors. And his gaze landed on me. Standing between Iosif and Avgust. Untouched. Unrestrained. And something in his face broke.
“Elisse,” he said quietly.
Iosif moved slightly in front of me as if he was trying to shield me from him. From my own husband. From the one man, I didn’t need any shielding against. The man I loved with everything I had in me and who loved me back.
“She’s coming home.”
Fyodor’s gaze never left mine.
“Did you call them?”
The question was barely audible, but it hit harder than any gunshot.
“No,” I breathed.
He didn’t look convinced.
“I didn’t,” I repeated.
Iosif drew his weapon, and the Romanov guards who had followed Fyodor upstairs responded instantly. Within seconds, guns were raised, and the standoff detonated. The shots that were fired in rapid succession almost deafened me as men collided in brutal, close combat all around. The penthouse became a battlefield within seconds, and I watched in horror as Iosif lunged toward Fyodor, Avgust following right behind him.
The impact when they collided was violent.
Fyodor fought like he always did, precise, economical, and devastating. He disarmed one man with a twist of the wrist, drove another back with controlled brutality. But there were too many of them. And he hadn’t come prepared. He had walked into an ambush.
“For God’s sake, stop!” I screamed, but no one listened.
Iosif landed a hard strike to Fyodor’s ribs, and Avgust followed with a brutal hit to his shoulder. Fyodor staggered but didn’t fall. He fought back, knocking Avgust to the floor, slamming Iosif against the wall.
“Elisse!” he shouted over the chaos. “Move!”
I couldn’t. If I moved towards him, my brothers would only escalate, and if I moved toward them, he would think that I had called them here and I had chosen them over him. Another shot rang out in the open, and I saw Viktor dragging one of the wounded guards behind cover. The battle wasn’t one-sided, and Romanov forces were regrouping from lower levels.
Sirens wailed faintly in the distance. This was spiraling and turning into something bigger than it was. Iosif tackled Fyodor to the ground, and they crashed into the shattered remains of the glass table. Blood streaked across white marble,and Avgust aimed his weapon right at Fyodor, but I stepped between them.
“Stop! Stop right now!”
Three guns swung toward me instantly as silence slammed into the room.
“Elisse, move,” Avgust ordered.
“No.”
“You don’t understand.”
“No,” I snapped, “you don’t.”
Iosif rose slowly, chest heaving.
“He has brainwashed you.”
“He hasn’t.”
