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I bite my lip and brush her hair back from her face. “Ana…”
The last thing I hear is a shot before I collapse to the ground.
Chapter 27 - Anastasia
A single shot rings out, and Luigi collapses to the ground. My blood runs cold as I see the pool of blood forming underneath him. I crouch over him, looking around.
I see Mateo Catalan walking up the path with a gun in his hand. He has a shit-eating smile on his face, and it makes my blood boil. Our families are on their way. We just need to survive long enough for them to get to us.
I look up fearfully, watching Mateo come closer and closer. He is taking his time because he knows he has it. I glance around, but I don’t see any of his men. I cover Luigi’s body with my own. “You don’t want to come closer.”
“You know, I watched you on that ride.” He says casually with a shrug, “The day I killed your mother. I considered shooting you, but then your parents could make more children. Children are replaceable. A parent, on the other hand. The woman you love.”
His laugh gives me shivers. “All these years, your father thought I missed him and shot Mila instead. I let that story go around. I didn’t mind keeping the truth to myself. But since we’re parting now, I’ll let you in on the secret. I shot your mother on purpose. I knew it would break your father. I knew he would suffer every day because of it. Well, up until he found his new whore.”
I look down, slowly searching, moving Luigi’s arm and searching his jacket. I sniff, letting out a small whine.
“Just like your family. Weak and pathetic.” Mateo laughs. “I will enjoy killing you. Then I will kill your baby brother, and then I will kill your father. I will eradicate the world of this weak family with its weak little princess.” There are shouts behind him, and I glance up to see Mateo with his gun aimed at me, but his head looking over his shoulder.
Alessandro, Ivan, and their men are running up the path, shouting for Mateo to stop.
My hand closes around Luigi’s gun, and I stand up, turning around to point the weapon at Mateo. He looks at me as I say, “I’m not fucking weak.”
I pull the trigger and shoot him in the chest. I pull it again and hit him in the stomach. I raise the gun and pull the trigger, putting a bullet in his head. He falls back with a surprised look on his face.
I stand there, dropping my arm to my side but holding the gun. I move out of the way as Alessandro and his men rush to help Luigi.
My father comes to me and takes the gun from me before hugging me tightly. “Dorogoy, I am so pleased you’re okay.”
His sweetheart. I’ve been anything but. He moves me to an arm's length away and looks me up and down. “You’ve changed.”
“I haven’t,” I say quietly. “You’re just seeing me for who I really am.”
I see Luigi being carried by two burly Italians and try to step toward him. “Luigi… Is he…”
“We’re going to rush him to the hospital. We’ll keep you posted.” Alessandro nods at us and leaves.
I want to go with them, but I know my father won’t let me. The sounds of sirens are approaching the park. We hurry to leave, and my father murmurs, “We paid some of our cops to give the wrong entrance for the shooting, so we have little time.”
We exit through the east entrance and hurry to a car, which immediately whisks us away.
I feel the exhaustion in my body as I look at my father. “I killed Killian, the politician. He tried to rape me.”
“You overpowered him?” my father asks, but there’s sadness in his eyes. “Ana, I didn’t want this life for you. I’ve fought so hard to keep you from becoming a killer.”
“I’m a Bratva princess,” I say proudly, lifting my chin. “I did what any good leader would do. I protected our family from outside forces that wanted to hurt it.”
My father smiles and nods. “That’s the first rule. You will have a lot to learn, and I expect you to stop partying and shopping all the time and learn.”
My mouth involuntarily drops open in surprise before I say, “You mean you’ll teach me?”
“You start elsewhere,” he fixes his tie. “You will begin with learning how a business is run. You cannot build an empire without knowing the ins and outs of business. It’s like playing…”
“Chess,” I smile brightly. “We’re playing a game of chess, not football. It’s about the long-term plan, the bigger picture. Not what we can satisfy ourselves with now.” The look on his face shifts from one of sadness to one of pride.
“You are correct. First, though, we’re going to have a shower, breakfast, and you’re going to sleep. That is your pakhan’s orders.”
I nod. “I really would like some rest.”
