I didn't even grill him about the tracker. All I felt was relief. If it wasn't for that...
"Igor, I was so scared earlier." I sobbed into his chest. "I thought—I thought..."
"Shh, don't. It's over now." He kissed my hair, and I could feel his hands trembling. "I'm here. No one's gonna hurt you. Not on my watch."
That's when I finally noticed the red stain blooming on his shirt sleeve. "Your arm—it's bleeding?"
"It's nothing. Just a scrape from last night." Igor brushed it off, not explaining more. "Right now, we've got bigger things to deal with."
I looked up at him, and his eyes had gone cold again—deadly cold. He made sure his jacket was wrapped tight around me, then stood up and strode over to Marco, who was struggling to his feet, swaying likea drunk. Marco wiped the blood from his forehead, steadying himself. When he saw Igor coming, fear flashed in his eyes, but it twisted quickly into this manic grin.
"You're too late, Russian." He spat out a glob of blood. "One more minute, and I'd have already—"
His words cut off with a brutal punch. Igor's fist smashed into his face, and I heard the clear crack of bone. Marco flew back, but Igor didn't let up. He grabbed Marco's collar, hauled him up, and slammed another fist right into his mouth. The sound made my teeth ache.
"You dared to touch my woman," Igor growled, each word like a hammer, landing a punch with every one.
A hit to the gut—Marco doubled over, retching. A blow to the ribs—Marco let out this agonized scream.
"What gives you the right?" Marco coughed up more blood, but he was still laughing like a maniac. "You coward who ditched her! These past five years, I was the one with her! I took care of her when she was pregnant, and I was there when she gave birth. That was me! Not you!"
"So what?" Igor's voice was like a blade of ice. He smashed a fist into Marco's temple. "That means you get to rape her?"
"She's been mine for years!" Marco roared, his eyes wild. "I've taken care of her that long, given so much—this is what she owes me!"
Igor's hand clamped around his throat, lifting him clean off the ground and pinning him to the wall.
"She's mine forever. Everything about her belongs to me." His words came out like they were dragged straight from the pits of hell. "From the beginning, to the end—only mine."
Marco's face started turning blue. He thrashed like crazy, clawing at Igor's wrists, trying to pry off that iron grip. I saw Igor's fingers tightening, saw Marco's eyes starting to roll back white.
"I'm not anyone's property!"
My shout froze them both. I clutched the jacket around me and stood up, legs still wobbling, but I had to say it.
"I'm not yours, Igor." My voice shook, but I held it steady. "And I'm not Marco's. I'm myown person."
Igor turned to look at me, his hand still locked on Marco's neck.
"Igor, he's gonna die—let him go, now!"
I screamed it because Marco's face was already purple, his lungs clearly running out of air. But Igor didn't budge.
"No!" I lunged forward, grabbing his arm. "You can't kill him!"
"Why not? He just tried to rape you!" His eyes were full of confusion and fury. "I can see you don't love him. You had a kid with a guy you don't even love—I'm making sure he dies for that!"
I froze. I hadn't expected that reason. Yeah... I'd almost forgotten—Igor still thought Stella was Marco's!
"No. It's not like that, Igor." My voice trembled. "Stella's not Marco's daughter. These past five years, I never hooked up with him. Not once."
His hand stilled. His eyes went wide. "What?"
I took a deep breath and spilled the secret. "Stella's your daughter."
"What did you say?" His voice was barely a whisper, like he couldn't wrap his head around it.
"Stella's your daughter," I repeated, tears streaming down. "She's our kid, Igor."
