Page 78 of Then We Shatter

It’s not an empty threat. Vasili would rather see her dead than with me, but he’s gone to great lengths to retrieve his niece. If he can take her back, he will. I have to choose my moment.

When I don’t react, he tries another angle. “Although…” he muses. “One way to remove the Irish taint from her body would be to fill her with Russian cum. I have many soldiers who–”

I stand up with a roar, but my heart stutters when Vasili pushes his gun harder against Katarina’s temple. She shakes her head at me. I’m being baited and she’s ready to surrender to Vasili to keep me safe. She doesn’t resist when Vasili starts creeping towards the foyer.

I want to leap over the fucking staircase and rip her from her uncle’s arms, but I can’t. Not yet. Not until I have a clear shot of him. In frustration, I send a hail of bullets over the fucker’s head. That’s when all hell breaks loose.

Shots come from new directions deeper in the house and on both sides of the staircase. Since they’re aimed at the Bratva, I can only presume these guys are on my side. I can hear the distant thud of helicopter blades so I know it’s not the Griffins yet. It has to be the Moncriefs.

Vasili’s little group can’t reach the entrance doors in time so he drags Katarina kicking and cursing into a room to the left of the door. The soldier who’d been covering him heads to the room on the opposite side of the foyer to join his comrade. All goes quiet.

I settle into position at the midpoint of the staircase, hugging a corner of the landing and peeking over the marble banister to check who’s got my back. Rory of all people is in an alcove that hides yet another secret door in this maze of a house. He’s holding an AK-47 like he might actually know what to do with it. I guess being friends with Ash has finally rubbed off on him.

Rory tips his head towards the east side of the foyer. From his vantage point he can see beneath the staircase and indicates we have another ally. Before I can ask who, Rory’s eyes widen at movement towards the front of the house. “Calder, two o’clock!” he yells, his baritone voice loud enough for the whole house to hear.

The Bratva soldier who’d been creeping out of room opposite Vasili, fires off a shot before retreating. There’s a heart-stopping pause and then…

“I’m good!” calls Calder.

I’m relieved to have him covering the opposite side of the house because I intend to keep my rifle aimed at the room where Katarina’s being held. I hate that she’s so close and I can’t keep her safe. Not yet, but I will get to her.

Before I can crouch down again, Duke appears from the Great Hall. Despite our disagreements, I’m grateful to include him in our number and I wink at him. He doesn’t have the crushed look of a man who’s just lost the love of his life. Grace must be safe and I’m glad for him. I’d go as far as to say he’s growing on me now his engagement to Katarina is officially over.

I use hand gestures to let him know how many enemies we face. I don’t need to mention allies. He’s seen Rory and Calder and we can all hear the growl of an approaching helicopter reverberating through the house, a sound that will be making Vasili very nervous.

The corner room where Katarina is being held isn’t one with access to the terrace, and there’s no chance Vasili will get a reluctant Katarina to climb through a window in that dress. He can’t escape without facing me again.

On cue, an argument breaks out between Katarina and her uncle. She’s being uncooperative, but her tirade is quickly silenced by a slap.

It’s like someone has just prodded me with a hot poker and as I shoot back to my feet, a soldier appears from Katarina’s room. He doesn’t get to raise his rifle because I shoot him in the throat. The attack was a pincer movement and another soldier appears on the opposite side of the foyer. I pivot, take him down, then swing my aim back to Vasili’s corner. That’s when I realize my mistake. The next soldier to appear is right behind the one I’ve just shot and before I can switch back again, I get hit.

I take a bullet to the chest and it strikes my Kevlar vest with enough force to fling me on my arse. I cry out with a mixture of pain and frustration, and it’s the Moncriefs who dispatch my attacker.

The battle pauses, but not for long as a guy holding a bible steps out of Katarina’s room, hands raised.

“Please, don’t shoot! I… I didn’t want anything to do with this.”

I’m back on my feet and my trigger finger twitches. The pastor, or whatever the fuck he is, has an American accent. Possibly not Bratva, but even so, he was going to marry Katarina off to Duke.

Before I can decide whether or not to shut him up for good, Katarina follows him out and my aching chest receives another blow. Her arms are bound behind her back and there’s a bruise blooming on her cheek. There are other injuries too, but it’s her words that crush the air from my lungs.

“You have to let me go,” she says, voice trembling. “Reinforcements are on their way. They’ll be here soon. I’m not worth dying for.”

I’d argue that Katarina isn’t worth living without, but as Vasili comes to stand behind her, any conversation will have to wait.

“We never could agree on anything, Kitty,” I say before addressing the man that gives me every reason to fight on. “I’m going to enjoy killing you, Vasili. And every man you allowed to touch her.”

“That list is going to be so much longer by the time we’ve finished with her,” Danyl says, the last to appear. He positions himself so he’s partially covered by Katarina too.

“And why would I be listening to threats from a dead man?”

“On that we can agree,” says Vasili above the roar of a helicopter coming in to land.

The sound forces Vasili to react fast. He grabs Katarina by the hair and keeps her in front of him as he rushes for the exit. The move exposes Danyl and he grabs the pastor as his next human shield.

I’m caught in indecision for a second too long. I don’t give two fucks about the pastor and would happily shoot both men, but Vasili is pulling Katarina through the door. He’s going to…

He disappears, taking my woman with him and Danyl quickly follows. When he’s on the threshold, he shoves the body of a dead soldier out the way so he can slam the door shut behind him, trapping the pastor on the wrong side of my fury.