“His sisters,” he went on, voice turning cold. “They were a message. Pain for pain.”
Arran moved slightly at my side and I glanced at him, sure he was about to launch himself at the fucker. Maybe he was about to get the fight he had been waiting for. At least I knew Arran would make sure Kozlov died bloody and painfully.
“They didn’t deserve that,” I said quietly, trying to keep a hold of my calm.
“They deserved worse,” Kozlov bitterly threw back. “The younger one, thinking she knew everything, and her whore sister. I’d have enjoyed making them hurt, even without the vengeance.”
The room seemed to narrow and my calm was slipping fast. I could see Arran from my peripheral, almost vibrating with the force it took for him to stay where he stood.
“I really thought Rafe would come though,” Kozlov went on, sounding genuinely disappointed. “I wanted him to see it in my eyes when I told him how the older one screamed. The look of terror in the eyes of the blonde as she realised I was about to end her. They were both so innocent looking….so perfect to destroy. I wanted him to know…”
The door behind us burst open and one of Kozlov’s men burst in, or more accurately, fell in. He was bleeding all over, a desperate, crazed look in his eyes as he stumbled in, firing wildly. His misplaced loyalty was clear to see as he tried in vain to defend the scum bag before us.
Everything shifted in a second. I turned instinctively, raising my gun as Arran moved faster, the bullet ripping through the silence as the wounded man fell to the ground, out cold. Another point to Arran and whatever game he was playing.
But I looked to the dropped body too long and it gave Kozlov the opportunity he’d been waiting for. I saw him move from the corner of my eye and I started to swing round, But Kozlov already had his gun in his hand, and raised at me. I saw it coming and knew I wouldn’t clear the shot in time. I tried to divert my fast movement, rolling my body toward the ground
Then Arran moved. The knife came from nowhere and left his hand in a blur. I hit the ground and rolled back up to my feet just in time to see the blade hit Kozlov clean, straight through the throat.
The shot went wide, landing in one of the wooden bookcases, as he choked, collapsing backward, the gun clattering uselessly across the floor. It was less than a minute before silence descended. Heavy. Final. Arran never missed.
I stepped forward, looking down at the body, blood pooling beneath his head, his eyes already empty, his chest still. He was dead, just like that. Arran exhaled slowly behind me and I turned to see him looking over my shoulder at the mess below.
“Well,” he said quietly. “That’s… unfortunate.”
I didn’t answer. I felt ill. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. He died way too easy.
“Boss?” one of our men called from the hall.
“Clear the rest,” I ordered. “No one leaves.”
I heard the footsteps moving away but I kept my eyes on Kozlov. Cara would never be the same after what she endured. Gia was gone. And this was all he got. A blade. A second. Nothing.
Arran stepped up beside me, voice lower now, “Doesnae feel right, does it?”
“No,” I uttered. “He should’ve suffered.” I looked down at the body one last time. “He should’ve begged for his end.”
“Aye. I’d have enjoyed that,” Arran nodded.
We turned and walked out of the room. Behind us, men began the work of cleaning up what was left. They knew the procedure. There wouldn’t be a trace of what happened in that shit hole by the time my men left. But I’d remember and I would regret, always.
Outside, the cold air hit hard. I paused at the top of the steps, looking out over the dark grounds.
Arran glanced at me from where he stood at my side.
“Yer welcome, by the way,” he snorted. “He was about to turn ye into Swiss cheese.”
“I saw,” I replied flatly. “Maybe I should have taken the bullet though. He deserved to suffer in holding for as long as we could keep him alive and in agony.”
“Rafe’ll understand. He’s dead. That’s what we wanted.”
“Maybe,” I shrugged, but it hadn’t been what I wanted. I wanted to make him pay. For Gia. For Cara. Cara, who still woke up screaming. Who flinched at shadows. Who would carry that night for the rest of her life. She deserved justice and what just happened – that wasn’t justice. I had failed her and I had failed Rafe.
CHAPTER 22
CARA
I jumped hard when I heard the front door opening. It was the early hours of the morning and I had assumed everyone was in bed. That’s where I had left Cal, fast asleep and laid out on his back in my bed.
