“He never loved you.”
Tears swam from my eyes as she pushed the muzzle of the gun more firmly into the skin of my forehead. Wildly, I looked towards the door.
Where was Alexei? Where was he? Panic began to set in with my calmness. Was this going to be another time where he didn’t choose me? For all I knew, he had brought her here. But no, I didn’t believe that. Kristoff had seen me, and he had told Violet. She was just here to make sure there were no loose ends.
“If you had just—” Violet’s gun hand was shaking uncontrollably. At any second, her finger might slip on the trigger, and then all of this would be over.
“You weren’t meant to be there. A girl like you was never meant to be his wife. That was always meant to be me,” she snarled.
“Then why did you leave him?” I couldn’t help but ask. “If you loved him and wanted him to marry you, why did you leave?”
A flicker of unease filtered into her eyes. “The old man.”
I laughed, cutting her off. “Nikolia saw right through your crap, didn’t he?”
The gun pressed harder into my skin. “It doesn’t matter what theold man saw or thought he saw. As soon as I’m Alexei’s wife, I’ll make sure he doesn’t get another say in my life. I’ll strip him of all his influence and—”
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a shadow move, a dark figure that seemed to block out the sun from the crack in the door.
“Alexei isn’t stupid,” I said firmly. “He won’t fall for your games.”
She threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, sweetheart, he’s been falling for it for years. Did you really think I came back because I loved him? Alexei is so under his grandfather’s control that it’s disgusting. I came back because I needed him. I, hell, I don’t expect you to understand because you’re nothing but a filthy rat, but he’s powerful. Well, he will be when the old man is gone.”
“I want that power, that prestige. It’s what I deserve. What I am owed,” she cackled out a laugh. “The Petrovovs have ruled for too long. It’s time for a change of regime, and I can help bring it all crumbling down from the inside, and then I can be in charge. I can be a god damn queen like I deserve.”
The door behind her opened a crack, and that shadowy figure slipped inside.
“The only thing standing in our way is you, Amy.”
Our? My eyebrows shot up. Oh, shit, she wasn’t just having an affair with Kristoff, she was working with him to bring the Petrovov family down. It was Kristoff’s side she wanted to rule next to.
“See, everything was going perfectly, even if Alexei wouldn’t fuck me. I still had it under control.”
My eyes darted away from her to Alexei’s perfectly still form standing behind her. She hadn’t noticed yet.
I let out a sigh of relief. He was here. He had come. It was all going to be alright. Slowly, he lifted his finger to his lips to silence me, and my eyes darted back to her face.
“But you didn’t lose the baby, did you? And I can’t allow a Petrovov heir to live.”
“I never came back. You could just let me go.”
She shook her head, her blonde hair whipping around her face wildly. “I can’t do that. If any of his men even heard a rumor that therewas his child somewhere, they would rally around it. I won’t lie and say I’m sorry, but this has to be done. Close your eyes, Amy.”
I shook my head in a firm no. “If you want to kill me, Violet, you can do it looking into my eyes.”
“Fine.”
Several things happened at once. I watched in horror as Alexei launched himself forward and wrapped one arm around her waist and another around her gun arm. He forced it to the ceiling, and a loud boom filled the room as it went off.
I threw myself backwards, just as another shot was fired, landing on my back and trying to roll to the side. Wetness coated my thighs. Had I just wet myself? Through a haze, I watched as Violet struggled in his arms. But it was weird because I couldn’t seem to concentrate.
Yells filled my ears, but they seemed to be coming from far away as well. That’s when it hit me. The pain. Oh, God, the pain. My body was nothing but agony. A fire burned me to ash from the middle out. It was too much. But I was alive, and so was my baby. Alexei had come for us. He had finally chosen us.
“It’s alright. We’re going to be—” Even my voice sounded different. I clutched at my stomach, and my hands felt suddenly wet. Lifting them, I stared in open-mouthed horror as my blood dripped from my fingers.
“Alexei,” I tried to scream, and it came out barely a whisper.
Then it all went black.
