AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I watch the show. “You leave here with my guards, Sonya.”
Dmitri looks up from his laptop after carefully ignoring the whole scene. He is dressed down today to blend in rather than stand out. “I don’t regret being an only child.”
“You have a brother on the West Coast.”
Dmitri smirks. “He doesn’t count.” The seriousness returns to his expression. “Do you still plan to meet Talia? Even though she didn’t do it?”
I nod. “She’s still a threat, one I intend to mitigate.”
Dmitri drives my Lamborghini, and I take a Rover. The blue Lamborghini is gone, but so are four Rovers. Good. Sonya’s pride has taken a beating, and her foolishness has put her at risk. But Gleb is not my target today.
I won’t give Talia another chance to hurt Paige. She will never harm my baby. And the only way to do that is to take Talia out of existence.
I’m on top of my game. The war has come down to this. Cut the head off the snake and watch the tail slither away to die. It won’t come back. I’ve messed around too long trying to please Paige. I should’ve done this from the start, kept her locked in that bedroom while I vanquished my enemies, and when it was all over …
Paige won’t dare divorce me. She wants me as much as I want her. I want our child and for us to be together as we watch her grow. A girl as pretty as her and as daring. Or a boy that I can take pride in as he grows. Our child will be higher than a royal.
Paige has to come back first. And I must do what is necessary to convince her she’s safe.
Talk is bullshit when a bullet is quicker.
Dmitri swings into the long driveway leading up to the warehouse. It’s in the neutral territory at an abandoned school in Staten Island. A box of red bricks in the middle of a grassy field. The place is empty, with no place to hide. Her car is parked by the door, and I circle the building in the Rover, looking for other vehicles. There are none.
The door is wide open as I step inside, and the shift from bright to dim light blinds me momentarily. I hold my gun ready as I pace toward the middle of the buckled floor, where Talia sits alone in a chair.
“Where are your men?” I ask. “Where is Valeri?”
Talia crosses her legs. She’s wearing a suit today, not unlike something Natasha would wear. Chic and stylish in dark navy wool, something easy to move in and run.
“I want to speak to you alone. Where’s Dmitri?” she asks calmly.
“Outside, keeping watch.”
For a second, Talia’s gaze lowers to my gun and then meets mine again. “Are you going to put away the gun?” she asks casually.
I shake my head. “It can end now. I have a clear shot to the head. I don’t know why you would trust me to spare you.”
“It’s not love; I know that. It’s not even for old time’s sake.” She scoffs. “When have we ever loved one another? You’ve never loved me, and I only wanted to possess you.”
“I’m not interested in a confession,” I bite back with hard words. “Turn around, Talia. I will keep it quick and clean.”
Talia shakes her head. “Killing me won’t win her back, Andrei. It will only push her farther away. It will justify every thought she has had about you. About us.”
“Is this what you really want your last words to be?” I hiss.
Talia shrugs her shoulders lightly. “I admit. I don’t want to die. Who would? But I’m not going to beg you for my life. You’ve already taken it. I was obsessed with marrying you and fashioned myself to be what I thought you wanted. A wife that was as cold as you are. A person that takes pleasure in the kill. I had tolearnto be that person. I made myself learn because I wanted you to want me. I wanted to be your equal. A cold, cruel, ruthless person like you.”
“I didn’t ask you to be the way you are.” It’s then that I realize I’ve lowered the gun. “That was your decision.”
“Imagine.” Talia stares at me with hate that’s bolder than mine. “I became just like you, and then you rejected me. It would be enough to drive anyone insane.”
“Enough,” I hiss, raising the gun again. “Don’t blame your choices on me.”
Talia tilts her eyebrow, and though she’s unarmed, I’m at a disadvantage. Somehow, she’s making me want to listen to her.
“There are two types of women in the Bratva,” she says. “Submissive and dominant. I’m no worse than any other woman in charge, except I flaunt my power. I thought showing it would impress you. But I was stupid. How much has Paige changed being around the Barinov Bratva … around you, my pakhan?”
Talia gives me a coy look as she says the last word, and a chill races down my spine, more powerful than if I had aimed the gun at myself.
