“I wonder if my brother would’ve stopped me,” I mused.
I shrugged when she gave no response except to try to claw at my hand.
“Too bad we’ll never know sinceyoufucking killed himfor being too weak.”
The light faded from her eyes. I tilted my head as I watched my mother descend into hell. When it was over, I dropped her to the marble floor and headed towards the door, praying that Alisa was already safe at home.
If anything happened to her, I’d make this world hell on earth.
Chapter seventy-three
Alisa
“Remind me again why we can’t kill her already?” said an armed man with a nasty scar down his cheek.
Another of the Pakhan’s men shrugged in response. The look on his face said the topic of my death wasn’t even worth the effort of words.
Still, I didn’t let the delay fill me with hope. Failing my mission meant death. The moment I’d left the Italian’s headquarters with Selene still alive, a swarm of men had dragged me into a darkened van and roughly deposited me in this small room.
The speed with which they’d targeted me made me wonder if it would’ve even made a difference if I’d succeeded at my assignment.
Something told me the Pakhan had never planned on letting me live much longer.
Someone’s phone vibrated, and his eyebrows raised as he read a text. He laughed darkly, his attention firmly fixed on me.
My heart rate sped up as I imagined all the ways the Pakhan planned to make my last hours more painful.
“Turn on that surveillance video. We need to see when our cue is.”
Before I could ponder what that meant, a guard pressed a remote and an enormous screen flickered to life. My eyes widened as I spied a stone-faced Dmitri entering the Pakhan’s auditorium.
The image clarity was perfect. I let out a sigh of relief when I confirmed Dmitri didn’t have a single scratch on him.
He’d survived his mission. And by the way the Pakhan was smiling at him, it appeared successfully.
A sense of peace descended over me. Dmitri would live.
“Time to go,” said a guard.
The scarred man roughly grabbed my arm, and then yanked me forward. I cringed at the bruise I knew was forming. Although that was the least of my worries now.
The men surrounded me in a semicircle as they guided me down the Pakhan’s familiar hallways. It seemed a little unnecessary considering the chains across my body, and my lack of weapons.
I straightened my shoulders before we entered the auditorium. Fear buzzed through my veins, but I refused to let anyone see it.
The room was filled with my competitors, but the only person I could focus on was Dmitri.
His eyes were locked on the Pakhan’s. With the sheer amount of people and chatter, he hadn’t noticed my entrance yet.
All my thoughts evaporated as I stared at him from the back of the room. Unbidden, memories of our last days together streamed through my mind….
Dmitri nestling me closer while I lost myself in a new book he’d bought me. Him playing with my hair while he listened to me rant about the twist in said book. And the soft way he told meit was going to be okay when I cried as I thought about how my family had rejected me in the end.
My chest clamped as I thought about the night I’d fallen asleep in his arms and for the first time I’d dared to dream about our future.
I’d been delusional to think I could ever have my happily ever after in a world like this.
A tear streaked down my cheek. Dmitri turned away from the Pakhan, his head guiding towards me like a magnet.
