Page 51 of Lord of the Underworld

"You went back on your agreement with us first," I say bitterly.

"Yeah, but you don't have the firepower Don Rossi has," she says cheekily.

I swear I'm going to cut her throat and watch her bleed out at my feet.

It's time to play my last card. The rain's coming down in sheets now, lightning crackling across the sky like it wants to tear it apart.

"There's far worse people to cross than Don Rossi," I say. I've successfully hidden my identity for so long, even from the women we rescue. It's all about to collapse.

"Really," she chuckles.

"My husband, for instance," I say, taking my arm from Giulia's skinny shoulders and taking one step closer to Lana. "Vadim Turgenev. The Angel of Death."

She looks uncertainly at the other three women, then bursts into laughter. "You're Turgenev's new bride?" She laughs even harder, but the others are falling silent, one by one.

The downpour is doing a number on my makeup, too. I peel off the nose and chin prosthetic and remove my wig. "I'm Oksana Vasilieva Turgeneva," I say. This opens me up to every possible demand for retribution from the crime families who'd raged when their women and children disappeared without a trace. But I will not let Luciana and the kids go back to that evil prick.

The three other women are shifting now, looking at us uncertainly. Tooka deftly pulls out her phone one-handed while keeping her gun trained on us with the other.

The kids are crying, it's soft, like they've been trained to keep it quiet. I'm sure Don Rossi is from the "I'll give you something to cry about," school of garbage parenting.

"I'm so sorry," Luciana says. "I never should have involved you." She steps up behind me, hovering by my left shoulder and I feel it, something hard pressed against the small of my back. She deftly lifts my soaking shirt just enough to slip the gun in the waistband of my jeans. "Maybe you can run."

Tooka is showing Lana her phone, whispering urgently.

"This is bullshit," she says, stepping back from the circle. "I came for a quick cash deal. I'm not fucking with Turgenev. He's skinned people alive before."

"Do not lower your gun!" Lana shouts. "Don Rossi's close, I just got his text. We'll be out of here in minutes. He'll take Oksana here and make her disappear."

Now, I laugh. Vadim may not understand love, but he understands duty, and honor. "He'll chase you to the ends of the earth." I take another step closer to Lana, and then one more. She doesn't seem to notice, glancing down at her phone, no doubt looking for a text from Rossi. "Take the easy way. I'll honor my offer to double your fee. You get rich, but far more importantly, you live."

"Look, take her deal." It's Marie this time. "Her husband is the Angel of Death, I mean, fuck!" She starts to lower her gun and Lana fires a round at her feet. Maria stumbles back and lifts her gun again. Her hand is shaking.

"No one fucking moves," Lana says, her voice rising. "If Turgenev gave a shit about her, do you think he'd let her do this? He's not here." She's turned her head, shouting at the others and I have just enough time for two more giant steps as I pull the gun from my waistband and shove it against her temple.

"Drop your guns," I shout. My arm's wrapped tight around Lana's throat. She's almost as tall as I am and the angle is awkward, but I can hang on. The others look at me and the terrified girls and then at Lana. I pull the gun away enough to shoot her in the leg, struggling to keep my arm around her neck as she screams, piercing in my ear, nearly collapsing. Her blood sprays hot on my arm before the rain washes it away. The girls are shrieking, clinging to each other.

"Drop your guns or I swear you're next!" I grit out, stumbling, forcing Lana to her knees.

There's a boisterous round of applause behind us and I feel it, a combination of malice and hatred so strong it could be stench.

"Very good, very good!" It's Don Rossi, looking ridiculous in his expensive suit, dress shoes soaked. One of his men is holding an umbrella over his head. "I wasn't expecting a show! Such emotion! Such drama!" He makes a negligent gesture with one hand and the man next to him shoots Lana in the head. Pieces of bone and blood hit my face as she drops to the ground, eyes staring sightlessly up at the rain. One of his men rips the gun from my hand before I can aim it at his boss.

"Now, the other three," Rossi says. All the false good humor is gone. His bulldog face settles back into its usual cruel lines as three more shots ring out.

The man next to him could be his brother, same sharp black eyes, his face isn't as distorted yet by too much food and excess, like Rossi's. He's staring at me.

Luciana and the girls huddle behind me. "I'm so sorry," I whisper. "Gio and his nanny, they were with Yvette. I'm sure they got away."

"That's good," she says. Her face is wet. Not from tears, only from the relentless downpour. Her eyes are empty, arms tight around the girls. She knows she's going to die.

Rossi's fist comes so fast I don't catch the motion until the pain explodes across my cheekbone. My head snaps back and I stumble, but I stay on my feet.

"Brutta stronza! You fucking bitch!" he shouts. "I don't care if you are Oksana Turgeneva. I'm going to gut you for intervening in my personal affairs."

The second man hurries over, boots squelching in the mud. "Brother. You can't kill her yet," he says. "The others. They need to see her so she can face group punishment. She'll tell us who else is involved."

I give a wet chuckle as more blood slides down my chin. "You look like the moderately intelligent one," I say. "Pity that you want to make it worse. The Turgenev Bratva will go to war with you over this."