Squeeze.
BANG.
The bullet hits him in the shoulder. He spins, dropping his gun. He falls to his knees, clutching the wound.
He looks up at me, shock etched into his features. "You..."
"That was for the kidnapping," I say.
I step closer.
BANG.
I shoot him in the leg.
He screams, collapsing onto his side.
"That was for my father," I say. Not because I loved him, but because he was mine to mourn, not Nikolai's to leverage.
I stand over him. He is panting, bleeding out on the cold asphalt. The arrogance is gone. There is only fear.
"Please," he wheezes.
I look at Silas. He is watching me. He isn't smiling. He is witnessing. He is proud.
I look back at Nikolai.
"And this," I whisper, aiming between his eyes. "This is for touching my hair."
BANG.
The shot echoes across the water, final and absolute.
Nikolai Sokolov falls back. The silence returns to the shipyard.
I lower the gun. My arms are trembling now. The adrenaline is fading, leaving behind the cold reality of the dead body at my feet.
I killed him.
I executed him.
I feel... hollow. But clean.
Silas walks over to me. He steps over the body without looking down.
He holsters his weapon. He reaches out and takes the gun from my hand, engaging the safety and tucking it into his belt.
He pulls me into his arms.
He doesn't say "Good job." He doesn't say "It’s over."
He buries his face in my neck and breathes me in.
"Let’s go home," he says.
"We don't have a home," I whisper, leaning against him, my legs turning to jelly. "The Estate is ruined."
Silas pulls back. He cups my face, his thumbs smearing the soot on my cheeks.
