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“Tell your men to stand down,” Igor orders, rising.
I switch my gaze from Serenity to him, watching him gloat at my sudden misfortune.
I can’t even look at Levka. I won’t say I’m surprised he betrayed me. Of him and Borya, I would have picked him to be the traitor. I was close to them both, but maybe more to him.
“Tellyour men to stand down.” Igor's voice is firmer. He motions his finger around the surrounding area. “They’re here, aren’t they? Virgo and friends? I know you didn’t come alone. As you can see, neither did I. Tell them to stand down, or the little princess gets it in the head.”
Igor takes out his gun and waves it at Serenity. The sight of her tears flowing down her cheeks kills me, so I decide to obey.
“Stand down, Virgo.” I speak into the communicator concealed behind my ear, sounding like a man who’s just been told he’s lost everything.
“Message received. But I still have your back,” Virgo replies.
Just then, more of Igor’s men file out through the door. There are at least twenty of his personal guards, all the top-ranking men from the Zaitsev.
In this position, where Igor has Serenity with her life on the line, I’m vastly outnumbered.
He claps, pissing me off further.
“What the fuck are you clapping for?” I seethe.
“Your attempt to get me.” He touches a hand to his heart. “I told you once before that I’ve been at this game longer than you. So, as a veteran, let me point out your many mistakes. Your first was underestimating me and thinking I everneededanyone.” He glances at Jason, who shudders.
“Yet you sang his praises.”
“It’s called playing the game, boy.” He nods, and his expression brightens. “You do it for as long as you need to. I suspected you knew something about Jason the moment you returned. And at the first Creed meeting, I was convinced you did. I didn’t know what, but my gut kept telling me you knew something. But not about me, about Jason. I kept waiting for you to approach me, but you never did.”
I was right to keep my silence, but for different reasons.
“Then I realized you wouldn’t tell me whatever you suspected because you thought Jason was too important to me. So, the only thing you could do was take matters into your own hands and summon help from the only men who would help you without informing me. That’s where you went wrong.” He points to Levka.
At least Levka has the decency to look ashamed.
“It wasn’t about you, Dante,” he says, keeping his gun on Serenity. “Unlike Borya, I wasn’t planning on being someone’s bodyguard for the rest of my life.”
I’m too bitter to answer him, so I look away.
Igor laughs. “I needed one person you trusted to keep an eye on you. Someone who also had the skill set to watch Virgo. I knew if anyone could figure things out, it would be him. So, all I needed was to wait for the right time to strike. Killing Roland should have taken care of it. But I never factoredthatin.” He waves the gun at the contract piece. The thing that incriminates him. The moment anyone sees this, they’ll know of his guilt, because it’s signed in blood.Hisblood. “I knew from the moment you called earlier that you had something else. You would only summon me here if you had serious leverage I didn’t know about. Another loose end, my dear friend Jason Bell, left unattended. That’s why I came and played your game. I wanted to see what you had.”
“Well done.” I lay on the sarcasm to keep up the pretense that I’m unfazed. I am, though. Everyone can see it. This fucking bastard has me stitched up all six ways to Sunday, and I can’t see a way out to save Serenity.
“Indeed. So, moving on, now you can playmygame.” He taps his heart again. “Now that you’ve figured things out, answer me this: what is the most important thing to me?”
If he were the man he made me believe he was, I would have said family, but that’s the fool’s answer.
The answer is power. But it’s more specific than that.
“The Creed,” I answer.
He laughs. “Well done again. Now I’m the leader of the Creed, and my dog has done his duties amplifying my power with the Japanese government.” He looks at Jason, who starts shuddering again. “You never bit the hand that fed you. But you broke the contract. I’m afraid your services are no longer needed, Governor Bell.”
Igor cocks the hammer on the gun and shoots Jason right in his chest, straight to the heart.
Jason doesn’t even make a sound as blood splats out of his chest and he falls to the ground.
Serenity screams and rushes forward, trying to reach for her father, but she’s held back by the guards.
I hate Jason, but witnessing Serenity’s pain rips me apart.
