For the first time in my life, I wanted to get out there and use my new skills with a gun. I wanted to fight for what we were trying so hard to achieve with nothing more than a phone in that dingy office. It was clear Gavril was champing at the bit to get out there and smash some of the heads who’d been giving him so much trouble, but he flatly refused to take me to any of the warzones.
“Then you go,” I said, trying not to look toward the other room where Gavril had dragged the two bodies so they’d be out of our way. My gaze lingered on the blood trail. “I’ll be fine.”
Even after swearing not to go rogue again, he refused to leave my side, not sure how many people knew about that location and not wanting to risk my safety.
By the wee hours of the next morning, it was mostly over. There were a few holdouts who wouldn’t give up, but Gavril quickly found the location where they’d fled.
“Come on,” he said, holding out his hand to me.
I had been curled up as best I could in the squeaky desk chair, trying to get a few minutes of sleep. It was impossible since I was also hanging onto every word of Gavril’s one-sided phone conversations.
“What’s happening?” I asked, glad we could finally leave the bloody command central.
“We’re going hunting,” he said. “It shouldn’t take long.”
Another driver had come to collect us, and he gave us a huge grin as we entered the car. Despite a black eye and fat lip, there was no doubt he was in a celebratory mood. When we finally arrived at a seedy house at the end of a side street, he had grown more serious.
“Is this going to be dangerous?” I asked.
“Not at all,” Gavril said, then turned his attention to the new driver. “I don’t even need you to come in with me.”
“Like, hell, Boss,” he grunted in Russian. He gave me a glance in the rearview mirror, and I huffed.
“I’m not going to hit you,” I told the guard, then rounded on Gavril.
He stopped me before I could say a word by pulling me close and kissing me until I forgot my argument. “I can’t loseyou,” he said. “And you’re not going to lose me. Stay in the damn car.”
“Only if you take backup,” I said, nodding to the guard, who was more than ready to go.
We both agreed, and Gavril told the guard not to go in shooting. “We give them a choice first,” he said. “Capitulate or die.”
That time, I stayed in the car, albeit with my hands tightly clasped around the spare gun Gavril handed me in case there was trouble on the street. For the first time, I was completely sure of my husband. It felt so good, I was beaming by the time he came back, only followed by his guard.
So the men in the house had made their choice. Since they’d been hellbent on destroying both Gavril and my family, I didn’t spare them a moment of pity.
“What’s that smile for?” Gavril asked as he slid in beside me.
“It’s over,” I said. “Isn’t it?”
He gave me a long look. “That was the easy part,” he said as the car smoothly pulled out of the deserted neighborhood.
I slumped in the seat, suddenly exhausted. Of course. We still faced the hardest task of all.
Convincing my family that there could be peace between them and the Collective.
Chapter 42 - Gavril
I was tired to my very bones, and Lilia looked like she wanted nothing more than to crawl into a warm bed when I returned to the car. It had been a long, stress-filled day that went on far too long. The black night sky was slowly turning purple around the edges. Dawn would arrive soon, but neither of us would be able to sleep if we went home now.
I handed her my phone. “Call Aleks,” I said.
She took the phone but shook her head. “I’m going to talk to Masha first. I think she’ll understand.” Before dialing the number, she held the phone in her hands as if she were praying she was right, quickly filling me in on her sister’s relationship with a former enemy of her family, Anatoli Ovinko.
“If you think it’s the best thing to do,” I said, trusting her judgment.
She nodded, and within moments, she gave me a look that told me she’d made the wrong choice. I could hear Masha yelling as Lilia held the phone away from her, eventually giving up and ending the call.
“I can’t believe it,” she said, welling with anger and disappointment.
