“Stay out of this, Izabel,” Illyin snaps, not willing to back down.
“No, I won’t. This ismy lifeyou are asking me to stay out of.Mylife, not yours. I get to make my own choices, Illyin. Why can’t you see that?”
“Because he brainwashed you!” Illyin yells, his eyes flaring with rage.
Izabel shakes her head and walks forward. My heart constricts as she moves herself to stand right between Illyin’s raised weapon and me.
“Izabel!” I yell. “Don’t do this!”
“Listen to your boyfriend, sister. Get out of my way,” Illyin says coldly.
My entire body is rigid with fear. Fear that her brother is out of control. Fear that he is so blinded by rage that he might accidentally shoot her. I want to run and drag her behind me, but I don’t want to make any sudden movements that might trigger him.
The tension is causing static around me. My skin is burning. My lungs are screaming.
Make the wrong move and she might get shot. Make no move at all…and she might get shot.
“Pixie, please, just stand back. Don’t put yourself in danger like this for me,” I whisper to her, not paying attention to anyone else in the room.
She glances over her shoulder at me and shakes her head. “He has to understand, Anton.”
Illyin becomes more agitated and takes a step towards Izabel, his is still pointed at me, with her right in the path of any bullet he fires.
Chapter 24 - Izabel
I can see it in his eyes.
My brother’s eyes are full of rage. Full of hate and anger and disappointment. There isn’t any understanding in them, only darkness because I’m refusing to back down.
“Illyin, I’m not trying to be defiant; I’m trying to get you to understand that this is my life.”
“You’re choosing wrong, sister,” he snaps without taking his eyes off Anton. I move to try and block the path of his vision and his gun.
My heart is racing a million miles an hour, and I’m so scared I want to throw up. I’ve never seen my brother this angry before. In all the years that I have been pissing him off and pushing his buttons, he’s never been this furious. It always ended with me teasing him and him laughing at me.
But I can already tell that that is not how this situation is going to end.
There is going to be blood.
It’s all Illyin wants. And he won’t stop until he has it.
I swallow hard, knowing it’s a risk, but it’s the last hope I have of making him back off.
“Illyin, I’m pregnant.”
The words finally grab his attention enough that he looks at me.
When his eyes lock onto mine, I do my best to hold them there.
“You’re fucking…pregnant?” he blurts out, disgust clouding his face.
“I’m pregnant. I’m going to have a baby with the man that I married. The man thatI love.”
I wait, counting my breaths, listening to my heart. Trying to stay calm.
“Pregnant,” Illyin mutters again, but I can see I’ve somehow gotten to him. I’ve managed to reach him.
I take a careful step towards my brother, and his grip on the gun softens.
