Nestor and Benedikt are the first to burst through the door. Behind them, Ardalion and Emmanuil and their teams of men, waiting just outside.
Faiz spins in horror, finding himself face to face with too many guns to reason with. In a moment of panic, he lets go of Georgie, and I don’t miss the chance to grab her away from him and pull her to safety behind my body.
Georgie screams when it happens, and instinctively her hands go to her belly, cupping it protectively.
It’s not her fault. She is going to be a mother. Her instincts are where they should be, protecting her unborn child.
But Faiz notices, and when he does, his expression changes.
“She’s pregnant,” he snarls, turning his back on the other Pakhans.
I open my mouth to give him one last warning. But he’s already lifting his gun, ready to shoot her, ready to try and take away the one thing in my life that gives it meaning.
“She’s carrying your child,” he shouts. I’m reaching for my gun when he fires. His first shot misses.
He doesn’t have a chance to fire a second before the bullet from my Glock smashes through the bone of his skull.
His eyes roll until all I can see is the whites of them. Blood splutters from his mouth and his body convulses, fighting to survive, despite the gaping hole in the back of his head and the fact that his brains are splattered over the wall behind him.
Regret? For killing my own father?
No.
Not even a glimmer.
Before his body hits the ground, I’m already turning to pull Georgie into my arms.
“Are you okay?” I ask, brushing my hands over her, wanting to check every inch of her, needing to know she’s unharmed.
“He didn’t hurt me,” she murmurs.
I tug her close against my chest and hold her so tightly my muscles are trembling.
Relief, anguish, happiness, gratitude. I am flooded with emotions, overwhelmed by them as I lift her into my arms and walk past the other Pakhans.
“We’ll clean up here,” Nestor says, stepping out of the doorway of my office. “Get her home.”
“Thank you. I don’t think I can ever thank you enough for everything you’ve done. All of you.”
Benedikt gestures towards the door. “Go on. We can talk again another time. There will be plenty of time in the future to say thanks.”
I nod, smiling tightly, still clutching Georgie against me.
At home, she finally cries.
She was quiet on the drive, her body shaking, her eyes still wide and fearful. But when we get into our bedroom, the shock in her eyes disappears and she finally lets go.
“I thought…I thought he was going to kill you,” she sobs, climbing into my lap. “I was so scared.”
“No, little one. I had a plan all along. He never stood a chance.”
She leans away from me and grabs my face. “Next time you have a plan, don’t you dare hide it from me. I asked you lastnight. You told me he wasn’t here anymore. That he wouldn’t show up.”
“I told you that if he did, we had men everywhere who would let us know.”
“So, you knew.” She’s angry, and she has a right to be.
“I didn’t want you to live in fear when I had it under control, my love.” I talk gently to her, brushing my thumb over her cheek to wipe away her tears.
