It just took me too fucking long to realize it.
“No.” Desya shakes his head, sounding crazed. “You don’t get to do that. You wouldn’t.”
“Wouldn’t I?” I hold his gaze without hesitation. “Then you don’t know the first thing about love.”
Mia’s eyes are damp. Her hands are both on her belly. She’s silently begging me not to do this—to think of our child.
But Iamthinking of her. Our daughter. The little person we made together. Right now, there’s no way she can survive without her mother.
And neither can I.
“No,” Desya insists. “I won’t let you. I’ll shoot your fucking hand off.”
“Then Maks will take the shot.” Right on cue, a red laser dot appears on my forehead. “He isn’t going to miss.”
“He’d never. He’s?—”
“He’s my second,” I rumble. “He’ll do whatever needs doing. Because I ordered him to.”
Desya has never looked more like a cornered animal.Good,I think with dark satisfaction.See what it’s like on the other side for a change.
“So?” I ask, my finger hovering on the trigger. “What will it be?”
He grits his teeth. I can see he’s seething, cornered by his own dirty tactics. His single eye flits to Mia angrily, then back to me, like he’s trying to figure a way out of this. A way to get everything he wants and more.
But no one gets everything. Everyone has to make choices sooner or later.
Now, it’s his turn to choose.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, he drops his gun. “Go,” he snaps at Mia. “Before I change my mind.”
She doesn’t make him say it twice.
She breaks into a run. Relief washes over me, though it’s brief. This isn’t the end of the fight—it’s the beginning.
But at least I’ve got her.
Within seconds, Mia is crashing into my chest. “You idiot,” she sobs. “You reckless, brave idiot.”
I wrap my arms around her without a second thought. “Right back at you.”
“What the hell were you thinking?” she demands, her face tear-streaked. “Why would you even do something like that?”
I cup her face. Even like this, with her soot-stained dress and salt marks on her cheeks, she’s as beautiful as the day I met her. “Why does anyone do anything?” I murmur.
Her eyes crinkle. She doesn’t need me to elaborate—we both know what I’ve just said. “You really are crazy,” she sniffles.
Yeah. Crazy about you.
“Sorry to interrupt,” Nik whispers, “but we’ve got company.”
I look up. Mia does, too. “What the…?” she blurts.
But I know what.
People in camouflage start flooding the underground parking lot. Dozens—no, hundreds.
Prizrak.
