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He’s here.
51
PIPER
When Kreshnik sees Timofey standing in the doorway, his face goes pale.
“Weren’t still alive?” Timofey finishes for him. The gun in his hand is aimed directly at Kreshnik’s head. “Then you’d be right. I killed your little pawn.”
Kreshnik works his jaw back and forth, nervous energy oozing out of him. “You killed your own father? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“He was never my father. Not that you’d recognize that. If you’d been a father to your own son, maybe he wouldn’t have grown up to be a reckless psychopath. Maybe he’d still be alive.”
Kreshnik’s arms tighten around Benjamin, and my heart is beating out a steady vibration in my chest. “Timofey…” I murmur.
He glances at me and then pins his blue eyes on Kreshnik. “My father was going to turn his back on you and side with me. Even if I hadn’t killed him, your plan would have fallen apart. Now, you’re going to die.”
Timofey’s hand tightens on the gun, and I scream. “Don’t shoot! He’s holding Benjamin!”
On cue, the bundle in Kreshnik’s arms squirms. Timofey blinks. For a fleeting second, I see the shock and awe on his face. Then he schools his expression.
“Hand over my family and you live.”
Kreshnik laughs. “Don’t lie to me, Timofey. It’s beneath you.”
“I’ll spare you if you spare them,” he says. “My word.”
“Your word is shit!” Kreshnik spits. “We were supposed to be allies, yet you butchered my son.”
“Don’t pretend we were friends now, Kreshnik. The only reason you didn’t attack me is because you knew you wouldn’t survive the attempt. Unfortunately, your son didn’t have your survival instincts. It cost him his life.”
“And unfortunately,” he fires back, “you’re too late to save your little orphan. I’m going to kill your son the way you killed mine.”
“No, please,” I rasp. “Please. I’ll do—”
“I’ll kill you next, bitch!”
Timofey takes a cautious step closer to me. Kreshnik responds by untucking Benjamin from his blankets. He holds his frail body against his shoulder.
“Don’t get upset with her for rejecting you, Kreshnik.”
I glare at him, shaking my head.Now is not the time to taunt the man holding our baby.
As soon as the thought enters my mind, tears well in my eyes. Benjamin isourbaby. In every way that counts, we are the only people in the world he has to depend on.
And we’ve failed him.
“You’ve brainwashed her the way you have everyone else,” Kreshnik growls. “Timofey Viktorov might as well be another name for the boogeyman the way people whisper it in fear. They think you are unbeatable. But I’ve proven them wrong.”
Timofey shrugs far too casually. “It depends on what you consider beating me to look like.”
“It looks like this!” Kreshnik holds up Benjamin. “I am going to destroy the future of your family. There will be no one with Viktorov blood left in existence.”
“Except for me,” Timofey says. Kreshnik frowns at him, so he continues. “Because the moment you move to touch my son, I’ll kill you, Kreshnik. You won’t live long enough to see my grief. And after your death, I’ll scrap your empire for parts. Your legacy will be scattered to the wind.”
Kreshnik looks from Timofey to me and back again. I see the moment he realizes Timofey is right.
“How noble of you, Timofey. Standing there while your son dies. I took you for a braver man than that.”
