“And that’s why you’ll be an amazing mom.” He paused, and then his voice turned hard. “But you know I wouldneverlet it come to that.”
There was a cold finality to his words that told me if he ever discovered that I’d even considered harming his wife, that he’d torture me for days before allowing me the mercy of death.
“I’ve got you, amore mio. Let’s get back to the party.”
As their footsteps faded, I slumped against the wall. In my mind’s eye, the toddler I’d saved was still grinning up at me with that mischievous glint.
Even before I’d heard Selene talk about her unborn baby, I’d known that I couldn’t go through with this mission. I couldn’t kill an innocent child before they even had the opportunity to experience this fucked up world.
If only my own parents had cared as much as those two when I was younger, I would’ve had such a different life. I dug my nails into my skin to keep from crying. If they’dactuallyloved me, then they wouldn’t have volunteered me to live a life where I was forced to make these impossible choices.
Maybe one day Dmitri and I could have our own little girl who we could protect-
I stopped that image in its tracks.
It was too painful to imagine right before my inevitable death.
Chapter seventy-two
Dmitri
A foreboding feeling trickled through me as I entered the house of the last person I’d ever have to kill before this competition was finally over.
And it had nothing to do with my target.
I swiped down on my phone again, and nearly cracked it in my grasp when the notifications came back empty. Still no word from Alisa.
When I heard stiletto heels clicking towards me, my eyes begrudgingly moved away from the phone.
Like an addict unable to resist one more hit, I quickly checked the phone one last time before placing it in my suit pocket. There’d better be an update from Alisa when I was done here.
“Hello mother,” I said.
Despite the botox, her eyebrows managed to slide into a line.
“What are you doing here?” my mother asked without a hint of warmth in her voice. If anything, she sounded irritated. “You know better than to show up uninvited.”
The irony was rich since my successes had paid for her brownstone. I absently wondered if she’d left it to me in her will.
Probably not. Likely, either her personal trainer or racquetball coach. She’d certainly seemed to favor them when she’d neglected me for them when I was a child.
“On my final mission,” I said. “Ironic that they choose you, isn’t it?”
Her eyes widened. Then a multitude of emotions flashed across her normally impassive face. She stuttered for words as I swallowed the distance between us.
“W-what? What are you talking about?”
“Confused?” I tsked. “Did you really think the Pakhan gave a fuck about you, because you spread your legs for him a couple of times?”
Red splotches bloomed on her face, and I could almost smell the anger steaming from her skin.
“How dare you speak to your mother that way? I created you-”
“You certainly did.” I wrapped my hand around her throat. “Too bad you created a monster.”
“Shh,” I whispered when a few squeaks escaped her throat.
Panic flashed in her eyes as she realized she was about to die. I figured most people would feel some uncertainty about killing their parents. Yet I felt none of that while my mother thrashed futilely against me.
