Page 80 of The Pakhan’s Heir

A split-second crazy thought runs through my mind and I kick him hard in the shin. He drops the knife and pulls it up, holding his shin as he hops back a few inches.

“Fucking little⁠—”

I’m scrambling to get to my feet, but he’s already on me. He knocks me back to the floor and straddles me.

I start swinging my arms at him, slapping his chest and his face. “Get off me!” I scream.

He bats all my attacks away, then wraps his hands around my neck and starts to squeeze.

“This little game is over,” he growls at me.

I slap and scratch at his arms as the air starts to leave me. The sound of gunshots echoing in the distance seems to be getting closer… then far away. The sides of my vision start to darken.

I try to scream. Try to fight. No… it can’t end like this…

And then suddenly, his hands loosen and a rush of air enters my lungs. I cough and sputter as he lifts up off me, and I roll to the side to try and suck in as much air as I can.

Through my coughing, I hear Alex’s voice in a low lion’s growl.

“Get the fuck away from her.”

Papa’s weight is completely off me as the air starts to come easier. I hear him say, “You’re supposed to be dead.”

Alex doesn’t say anything to that. As I sit up, I see him standing at the end of the hallway, a gun drawn on my father. He says to me, “You okay, Nona?”

I nod. “Yes.”

“Good. Come on. We’re leaving.”

I go to stand and my father’s voice booms. “Don’t you fucking move.” Just like a switch that’s been thrown in my mind, I stop and freeze, looking back over my shoulder at him. He’s closer to me than Alex, but Alex has the gun.

“She’s not going anywhere with you,” he says. “She is my daughter, Molotov. She will never be part of your family.”

Alex doesn’t move and he doesn’t take his eyes off my father. “Nona,” he says calmly. “Stand up and stay close to the wall. If he tries to touch you again, I will kill him where he stands.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see my father cock his head and smirk at him. “You won’t kill me. Not if you care for her. I’m her father. No matter what I’ve done, no one can change that.”

His saying that makes me sick and sad at the same time. He just tried to kill me, chased me all over this fucking house for the sole purpose of ending my life, and deep down, I know he’s at least right about one thing. He’s still my father.

But if he thinks I can’t hate him because of that…

I stand up. He snaps his head to me and says, “What do you think you’re doing? I told you not to move.”

His voice is so cold that I can feel it in my muscles. I start to walk toward my husband.

“Nona—”

“No!” I shout at him. “You don’t get to rule over me. Not anymore.”

I hold my head up and focus on Alex and I walk toward him. I only take two or three steps before I hear quick movement behind me.

“Fucking bit⁠—”

Alex shoots, and I flinch as the loud shot rings in my ears. I look over my shoulder to see my father on the floor, yelling and writhing, holding his wounded shoulder as blood starts to pool under him.

Alex lowers his gun and meets me halfway. He touches my face, brushing my hair out of my eyes like he’s done maybe a million times before. Only now, he’s looking at me with something like relief behind his icy blue stare.

“The coast is probably clear by now,” he says. “Go meet Rikki and Kostya in the living room.”