We hurry together down the corridors and through the weaving maze that makes up my father’s mansion.
“Where are we going?” I ask, following Yakov.
“Out the front, there is no point in trying to sneak around anymore; everyone has been alerted about what you did,” he explains.
As he speaks, Bogdan steps out from a doorway and blocks our path.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” he snarls at Yakov. “She’s a traitor, and she has to pay for what she did.”
“She’s our fucking sister, your fucking asshole. Are you going to stand there and watch him kill her? Can you really do that?” Yakov is fierce and doesn’t back down an inch, even though Bogdan is larger than he is.
Bogdan sneers, but to my surprise, he doesn’t move forward. Maybe Yakov’s words have gotten to him.
“Our father is the leader of this family,” Bogdan demands, still not moving.
“He’s a fucking old man. It’s time we stopped being so fucking terrified of him and stopped obeying every stupid thing he commands us to do,” Yakov snaps.
“I don’t obey…”
“Oh yes, you do. Everything. Without question. Start thinking foryourself,Bogdan. Start by deciding foryourselfif you would be willing tokill our sister. And if the answer is no… then why let father do it?”
Bogdan swallows hard. He shakes his head as though his thoughts are bothering him. He groans, and to my absolute shock, he steps aside.
“I didn’t see you,” he snarls at Yakov.
“I didn’t see you either, brother,” Yakov says as he pulls me around our brother.
My heart is screaming with hope as we burst through the front doors and out into the garden. But the hope ends quickly.
My father is standing there with a team of his security guards. Our path is blocked.
“You stupid little bitch… and you… I will deal with you just like I dealt with her. Traitors to the family,” Alek snarls.
A loud crash sounds from the side of the house. Tires screech; an explosion erupts. I scream in fright and drop to the ground. My father leaps towards me and grabs me, pushing a gun against my head.
Yakov moves to take me back, but he pushes the gun harder into my temple. “I’ll shoot her. It will be your fault,” he snarls.
Several cars come crashing through the damaged wall of my father’s estate, skidding onto the lawn. Before they come to a stop, men are pouring out of the cars.
Simon.
His brothers.
Their teams.
Moving with controlled precision, they surround my father and his men. My father’s grip tightens on me. I yelp in pain as his fingers dig into my skin, and the gun pushes into my temple.
Yakov glares at my father. I can see he’s waiting for the chance to take him down.
Simon steps forward.
“Are they safe?” I shout.
He nods, “They’re home where they belong.”
Then turns his attention to my father.
“Let her go, Alek,” he says, clear and strong. His deep voice pulsing against me and making my heart race.
