Knuckles white, I grip the steering wheel. Gennady is creeping back toward Viktor and the other men. Slinking through the shadows.
The men are trying to tend to Viktor and don’t notice. Gennady is near them. He raises his arm again.
He wants to finish Viktor off.
I don’t brake. Don’t slow. The tires squeal.
Gennady spins around. Sees my car coming. He’s wide-eyed. Mouth open in shock.
I speed at him before he can pull the trigger again.
The impact is sudden and sickening.
His body slams against the hood, rolls over the windshield, and is flung behind me. One of Viktor’s soldiers sprints over to Gennady and kicks the weapon from his hand.
I’m shaking in the driver’s seat. Fumbling to throw the car in park. My legs are Jell-O as I fling open the door. But I don’t let that stop me. I run to Viktor.
He’s semi-conscious, hand pressed into his side. Blood soaks through the dark material of his shirt. His eyes flutter open, then close.
“Viktor!” The word feels like it’s been clawed from my throat. I say it again and again as I collapse beside him.
“Avelina…?”
“I’ve got you,” I whisper, gripping his face with both hands. “I’ve got you.” He tries to sit up, but I push him down gently. “Don’t move. You’re bleeding.”
“Gennady... I gotta...”
“Don’t worry about him.” My voice shakes.
“We should move Vik into the SUV and keep him warm until we can get him out of here,” Matvey says in a gruff voice.
As I watch Nikolai and Matvey hoist him up, a pained moan sounds from behind me.
My head whips toward it.
Gennady. He’s crawling. One leg twisted at the wrong angle, blood pooling behind him.
My heart trips over itself as I walk slowly toward him.
Viktor’s soldiers are keeping watch over him as Gennady tries to claw himself along the ground.
“Leave us, please,” I say to the soldiers.
Their eyes swing to Grigory, who gives them a brief nod before they move away from Gennady.
His gaze lifts as he rolls onto his back, spitting blood, eyes narrowing into slits. “You,” he croaks in a half-choked laugh. “I should’ve broken you when I had the chance.”
My fists tighten even as my fingers shake. I’ve never killed anyone before. And it’s obvious that Gennady is taking his last breaths now.There’s no way he’ll survive his injuries. The enormity of that weighs on me.
“I’m not a scared little girl anymore,” I say.
His smile is cruel and bloodstained. “Aren’t you? You think he’ll protect you? That you’re safe? He’s nothing. You’renothing.”
“I don’t care what I am to a monster like you,” I say more firmly. “I know what I am. I know what I am to my daughter. What I am to Viktor.”
His face twists and sneers. “You stupid girl. You were always useless. Weak.Pathetic.”
I shake my head because I know that’s not true. “I’m a woman who’ll do whatever it takes to protect my family,” I grit out.
