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The water is starting to get cold, but we remain there all the same, listening to our even breaths and the slow drip of the bathtub faucet. As much as I like to pretend I can handle everything, I honestly don’t know what our futures have in store for us. We might have been able to escape Konstantin this time, but if he survived what happened at The Pit, we have no choice but to prepare for an all-out war.
Things are going to get even more dangerous. We’ve managed to break out of our cage, but he’s going to hunt us down like dogs, just like he did all those years ago. I’ve never wanted to kill a man, but it might be the only way to stop my uncle once and for all. Aurora and our baby will never be safe until I put a bullet between his eyes. He’ll come after us, again and again and again. If I don’t put a permanent end to him, we will never be free of this nightmare.
But can I do it? I’m not the kind of man who allows himself to be paralyzed by doubt, but that was in the world of business. I could make decisions on the turn of a dime, organize teams of people with succinct orders. It came naturally to me. But this is entirely different. As cutthroat as I am, I’m not a murderer. When the time comes, will I be able to go through with it?
As if reading my mind, Aurora pulls back to look me in the eye. She combs her fingers through my hair, the gentle scrape of her nails on my scalp sending a delightful shiver racing through my body.
“It’s going to be okay,” she whispers.
I nod, though I’m not sure if I believe her. “If anything happens to me—”
“It won’t.”
“Aurora,” I say sternly.
“It won’t. Nothing’s going to happen to you.”
I cup her face in my hands. “Listen to me,moya lyubov. If something happens to me, I have arranged for Nicolai to help you get out of the country. He will help you set up an entirely new identity. Fake passports, fake backstory. You can go anywhere in the world, someplace safe.”
Aurora furrows her brows. “I’d rather die.”
“For the sake of our child, you’d better not.” I kiss her tenderly as I wipe her eyes dry. My poor girl is trembling. “No matter what happens, promise me you’ll be safe. That you won’t do anything reckless. Promise me.”
She chews on the inside of her cheek and takes a deep breath.
“I promise.”
Chapter 39
Aurora
We’re gathered in our apartment. It almost feels like old times, the Antonov brothers in a group huddle, discussing business. Except in this case,businesshas an entirely different definition. I’d received a call just thirty minutes earlier. Charlotte has survived the surgery and is recovering. Her condition is still serious, but the doctors are cautiously optimistic. It’s more than I could hope for at the moment. I turn back to the conversation.
“If you’re all here,” I say, “who’s taking care of CyberFort?”
Dimitri lounges on the couch cushion beside me, arms spread out along the back with an air of lazy confidence. “Merrybell’s running the ship until we can figure out what’s going on.”
“Merry?” I echo, glancing at Mikhail. “You should really give that woman a raise.”
Pyotr snorts. “She can have the whole fucking company if none of us make it out alive.”
Catherina clicks her tongue. “Let’s think positively, shall we?”
“Positive,” Mikhail scoffs. “We wouldn’t be in this mess if you hadn’t sold Aurora out.”
Luka, who’s been diligently trying to put together a new desktop computer for me to work on, looks up. He glares at his mother. “Why the hell would you do that?”
Catherina holds her head high, not a hint of shame to be found as she traipses to the window overlooking the street. “Revenge doesn’t have an expiry date,” she says coldly. “Konstantin killed your father. It is high time I made a move against him, but I couldn’t do it alone.”
Mikhail shakes his head, his disappointment rolling off him in waves. I can see it in the flare of his nostrils, in the tight purse of his lips and hard line of his jaw. “We could die, Mother. Charlotte almost did. Because of your selfishness.”
A sticky lump lodges in the back of my throat as thoughts of Charlotte flood my mind. I try not to think about it, knowing she has a good chance at survival, but all thewhat ifsplay out in my head on repeat, haunting me. What if we hadn’t fought the day of my birthday? What if we’d run a little faster? What if— I shake the thoughts from my head. I will have time to mourn when this is all over. Right now, I’m not angry.
I’mpissed.
“This is all your fault,” I accuse her, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “You’re willing to put your sons’ lives at risk to avenge your husband? What kind of mother are you?”
“And why would you drag my brothers into this?” Mikhail piles on. “Konstantin made it clear he only wanted to bring me back into the fold.”
