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I know these warehouses. I have been here countless times and I sure as hell know where the back door is.
I skirt the side of the building, keeping close to the side of the walls so that his men don’t see me coming until it’s too late.
I don’t like that I have to kill them, but I have no choice. I can’t tell which are which from the black balaclava’s that they wear. But at least I can make sure that it’s a quick, painless death as I fire a shot between the eyes for the man on the rooftop across from us, and the one patrolling the side wall that I’m on. Silenced and lethal, I continue at a jog.
No shouting yet from inside of the building but I have to hurry.
Another two men at the doors quickly exterminated and I’m inside.
It’s just as dusty and decrepit as I remember it to be. The control room that I enter in through is untouched. The control console is covered in a fine layer of dust like somebody had just up and walked out with their coffee half drank and never bothered to come back again.
I edge through the small hallway and then I spot them standing just off center of the main room. Marci strapped to a chair and clearly distressed. She keeps trying to free herself and I can make out her muffled shouting. Alexei’s gaze is lethal enough that I’m surprised my father can’t feel it.
Everything about what I’m about to do fills me with dishonor.
Even though the man is the monster who has made my life a living hell, he’s still my father. I wanted to do this face to face. I wanted to look him in the eye when I ended him. I wanted to watch the light drain from his eyes like a man and hear his last words.
They would have been a disappointment to me anyway. I’m certain of it.
I see him lift the gun to Katya’s head and cock it and something inside of me snaps. I feel feral and the regrets that almost made me hesitate a moment before fade away into nothingness.
I fire before I really process it.
Two shots, one right after the other.
One to the gun in his hand to ensure that he will never hurt Katya.
There’s a split second where he starts to turn, frothing at the mouth and we make eye contact just for that fraction of a secondbefore I fire the second shot between his eyes. The snarling look of utter betrayal is the last face that he will ever make.
Me, turned against him to take his life, the last thing that my father will ever see.
I don’t have words for how I feel.
Vengeance for my mother but still… something else.
Enzo is lying there on the ground. The pool of blood around his head growing with each passing moment. It’s such a surreal thing to witness him like this. Still and unseeing. Yet, wholly different from the way that my mother had looked when she passed. I suppose that must be because the way that she passed was much more violent than his quick death. Certainly quicker and less painful than he deserved.
The men around him look at me in confusion. Their arms start to lower and I am certain that they are relieved that they will no longer have to kill Dario nor attempt to kill me either.
Dario turns his gun on the men just in case. Somewhere in my mind it registers that he tells them to stand down, to drop their weapons.
But my focus is on the way that Alexei runs to Katya and takes her face in his hands. He turns her head this way and that, the same as I would have done to ensure that she’s unharmed.
Katya squeezes his forearm in reassurance to make Alexei drop his hold on her before turning to Marci beside her and gesturing for the knife on Alexei’s belt, which he gives her. Carefully, ever so carefully, she cuts her best friend free.
My men drop their weapons like they’re told and start to back away from the situation. I can feel their expectant gazes on me as they wait for orders. They probably want an explanation as well for the fact that I’m working with a man whom they believe to be their enemy.
All will come in time.
Dario steps into my line of vision. He and I make brief eye contact. I know he’s asking to take Marci out of here. There's an apology in his eyes for not having waited for me. Under normal circumstances, he never would have left my side. We both know that. Just like we know that love can make a man a little crazy from time to time. I dip my head into a nod to give him leave and he literally scoops Marci up into his arms.
Marci wastes no time in burying her face in Dario’s neck and wrapping her arms around his shoulders tightly. It’s such an intimate exchange that I almost feel guilty for looking at them in such a private moment. I’ve never seen Dario’s face so soft before.
Katya tries to protest, but I’m finally close enough that I can place a hand on her shoulder to tell her that she needs to let them go. I squeeze softly. She could still be angry with me fromthe car. She could still never wish to see me again but it’s a risk that I take.
She looks up at me, tears brimming in her beautiful big eyes - and practically falls against me. Her arms wrap around me so tight that they nearly force the breath out of me as she buries her face into my chest with a sob.
“It’s over now,” I mutter into her hair as I cup the back of her head with my hand and hold her close. “It’s all over now.”
