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“Did you though?” Boris walks over to us, standing with his family. “You know that extraordinary girl you tried to break? The one you attempted to brainwash into killing me? Since you are clearly too weak a men to do it on your own.”
Rostya looks like he might pass out from rage, and I have to stop myself from laughing. Okay, I don’t actually stop myself because let’s be honest, this shit is fucking hilarious.
“She had a feeling you might attack us, and your son was a great help in making sure you thought you actually succeeded. He lined my suit jacket with pockets of fake blood and I wore a vest. It was a beautiful charade, I must say. I bruised a little bit but was up and walking by the next day.”
Boris takes Nessa’s hand, kissing it.
“I must thank you for the quality time I got with my woman. Being dead sure had it's perks for the both of us.”
Laney said that their ‘quality time’ was why she was wearing earplugs the night she was kidnapped. Apparently, the old man still has moves.Bleh.
Boris aims a gun at my father. As much as I wanted to be the one to end his life, I think I can come to terms with just being here to see it happen.
I just need to know the nightmare is over. But Boris surprises me as he steps back, handing me his weapon.
“I am sorry I did not see what he put you through for so many years. His death is yours, Son.”
Okay, why the fuck do tears burn the back of my eyes over that? Nope. Not happening here. I can’t murder my father with happy tears in my eyes over Boris calling me his son.
Oh wait, fuck yes I can.
I take the weapon and point it at my father. I can see that Boris calling me ‘Son’ affects him as he clenches his fists. What I don’t see is him grabbing the metal brush from his arm, pulling it free as he lunges at me.
In the blink of an eye, I’m on my back, a body on top of me in the sand. Pain shoots down my side as I try to gasp for breath.
This can’t be how I die. Not without my girl here.
Lev falls to his knees at my side while Rostya is yanked off of me and shoved to his knees. Alexi lands a hit to his already broken nose, and his father kicks him in the gut until he vomits.
My chest feels heavy as warm blood seems to pool on my sternum, it isn’t until I realize someone is still on top of me as Lev yells, “No!” that things start coming into focus.
Ivan chokes as I sit up, sputtering on his own blood. I shift to put him in my arms instead of on my chest and realize the pain in my side was the hilt of my sword digging in, not a stab wound.
Lev is a mess, holding onto the metal sticking out of his father’s chest. Only a small part of it is left, but it’s clearly gone all the way through his heart.
“It’s okay, Son,” he says as Lev attempts to stop the bleeding, but it’s too much.
Ivan’s hand covers Lev’s as he says, “I was the last villain that needed to die here today. It was an honor doing it to protect someone you love.”
My face heats with emotion as Lev sobs. Out of all of the people in the world, Ivan was one of the last I ever thought would have accepted mine and Lev’s love. But when he turns his gaze to mine as I hold him in my arms, that’s all I see. Acceptance.
“Take care of him, Damien.”
“I will,” I vow, choking on my words. “Always.”
He squeezes Lev’s hand as the life drains from his features, but he mutters one last phrase that breaks my sweet boy more than I ever thought anything could.
“I love you.”
Just before Ivan’s hand goes limp, Lev is able to choke out a response.
“I never stopped loving you, Father. Even when I hated you, I still loved you.”
No one moves, no one speaks around us as Ivan’s body goes cold in my arms. As many times as I’ve seen death before, this one shouldn’t bother me. But it does.
The man I share blood with plotted to steal my girl and kill her parents. He killed the parents of the man I love, and the mother of my brother. He abused me and used me just like he did so many others.
I don’t think as I shift to lay Ivan in the sand. I refuse to let the people around me come into focus because if I do, I won’t have the power to end it all right here like it needs to.
