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“As for you,” thePakhansays, turning toward Dimitri, “you have bucked my instructions too many times. I let you slide again and again and again out of respect for your father, who was my friend. But I think that if your father were alive today, he’d agree with what I’m about to do.”
Just as thePakhanraises his pistol, Charleigh bolts out of my arms, and jumps in front of him.
“Charleigh, no!” Kir screams.
She holds her hands up in front of thePakhan. “With all due respect, sir, you need to let me do this. You owe it to me. Everyone here owes it to me.”
ThePakhansteps around Charleigh, but she gets in front of him again.
I want to tell her that what she’s doing is a good way to die, but I can’t speak. So I get up to pull her out of the way.
But before I reach her, thePakhanlooks at Vadik, who nods his approval. Charleigh takes the pistol.
The man is accommodating Charleigh. I never thought I’d see the day.
“You are correct, young lady,” he says with a little bow. “You have earned the right to do this.” He passes her the gun, which she takes with nothing but pure confidence.
Both pride and sadness wash through me at the same time. The scene before me proves that our girl can truly fend for herself now, but also that her innocence is gone. Permanently.
Dimitri’s face is covered in panic. Can he really be surprised this is how he’s going to meet his end? Did he really think thePakhanwas going to send him on his way after his scolding?
“Wait, Charleigh, wait,” Dimitri pleads. “Can we please talk? Just for a minute? I have some things to tell you. Important things.” His voice cracks. He really didn’t see any of this coming.
How is that even possible?
Taking aim with absolutely no hesitation, doubt, or sorrow, Charleigh fires thePakhan’sgun like she has wanted to for so long. Her face shows no emotion and my fear is that she can kill all the Dimitris in the world and still not be satisfied.
The guys with him reach for their guns, but with one look around the room, they stop. At this point, any effort on their part would be futile. And deadly.
“Hey. He’s trying to say something,” one of them says, hovering over him.
I cross the room and the dying Dimitri waves me closer. There’s something so incongruous about seeing a childhood friend dying in front of you, knowing he deserves it, but also remembering the days you freely played, without a care in the world.
It’s heartbreaking, when it comes down to it. Tragic, even.
“Niko,” Dimitri whispers, “Niko, I didn’t do it. I swear. I didn’t kill them, I didn’t.”
He’s reaching, wanting a connection, a hand to hold onto in his last minutes, but I think of the carving on Charleigh’s stomach and I can’t comfort the man. I just can’t.
“Do you know who did it, Dimitri? Now is the time to tell us,” I urge.
“Dominika. Talk to Dominika,” he rasps as he takes his last breath. “The second was in on it, but it was Dominika.”
A punch to the gut doesn’t begin to describe the hit I feel in my stomach. The light in Dimitri’s eyes fades quickly as I absorb—as we all do, really—his news.
Charleigh chokes back a sob when she realizes Dimitri is gone, and I see my brothers are as slack-jawed as I am, in complete and utter shock at his accusation.
It can’t be true. It just can’t.
Dominika?
Dominika had something to do with my parents’ murder?
“Well,” thePakhansays, patting Charleigh on the back, “what a stone-cold bitch we have on our hands here. Tell me, Miss Gates, do you plan on joining the brothers’ team permanently? They could probably use someone like you.”
He’s wearing a reptilian smile, something I’ve only seen on him a handful of times.
She looks at him, expressionless, clearly not appreciating what he probably meant as a true compliment. “No. I am not going to work for them.”
