“Desvadanya.” Viktor fired the gun hitting Maxim high in the chest.
Maxim stared down at the wound in shock before dropping to his knees, his gaze fixed on his son before falling to the ground face first.
“Good riddance.” Leo wiped his face with the back of his hand as he watched his father die before turning around and looking at Zoe. “Why is she still alive?”
“Because I want her to be,” Viktor said. “I have plans for this one.”
“She’s useless. Kill her and be done with it.”
“You don’t make the rules here, boy.”
Leo stormed up to him. “I am head of the Sokolov family now. I make the rules. I’m in charge.”
Both Diego and Viktor laughed at him. “You are head of nothing, little man.” Viktor sneered, “All of your people are dead and now so are you.” Viktor raised the gun toward Leo’s chest.
Leo stared down at it in fear. “But, I helped you,” he said, in disbelief that he would be betrayed as well. “You promised to make me the head of the family.”
“You did and I did, but you are not worthy of controlling such a large territory. It needs someone more mature and with experience.”
“I don’t understand.”
Viktor rolled his eyes. “It’s called a coup. You helped us get rid of your father, and now we get rid of you and take control. Nothing personal, Leo.”
“No, Viktor.” Leo held his hands up as if that would ward off the bullets about to kill him.
The door burst open, and several men came in with guns aimed at everyone. Their faces were covered in black ski masks and they wore black outfits. “DEA,” one of them announced. Zoe felt her knees shake.
Zoe used the opportunity and clutched her hands together and swung them into Viktor’s stomach before pulling out her own gun and pointing it him. “Drop your weapons and get down on the ground.”
Viktor’s eyes turned into a mask of anger. “You little bitch,” he spat before firing. Zoe ducked down behind the first row of chairs for cover. DEA agents started firing, giving Zoe cover to army crawl to the end of the chairs and get behind the coffin for cover.
Men started pouring in from the sides and firing at the agents. Zoe shot several men from her vantage point when she saw one man pull from the group and work his way toward her. He wasn’t marked as a DEA agent. She noted a few of them weren’t.
There could only be one reason DEA knew where they were. Greg.
She could tell by the build that he was a man, and there was something familiar about his movements. She had seen him before. “Greg,” she whispered to herself as she watched him squat low as he expertly shot men around him. “Greg,” she called out in warning, though it wasn’t needed as he spun to shoot the person sneaking up on him.
Zoe was looking for her next target when she heard a shot before she felt a blistering heat enter her side. For a moment, all of her senses seemed to shut off. It was hard to breathe, to focus. Everything around her seemed to blur and ease to slow motion. Sounds were muted, then she felt her body crumple.
Zoe tried to focus, to get up, but her body refused to obey. Then a figure loomed above her. Viktor—and he had a gun aimed straight at her head.
“You traitorous little bitch,” he hissed as he loomed over her like the angel of death. Zoe was so weak, she couldn’t defend herself. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.
She conjured up all her few memories of Greg. She only wished she could have told him she loved him before the end.
A shot rang out. Zoe waited. And waited. And waited. Nothing. She was still alive. She cracked her eyes open to see Viktor gone and Greg above her instead. He had pulled his mask off so she could see him. He was kneeling above her, looking her over in concern.
“Am I dead? Is this heaven?”
“No, baby. You’re very much alive, and I intend to keep you that way. Jack, I need a kit,” he called into his earpiece.
A moment later Jack showed up and handed Greg a small black bag. “This is going to hurt, baby.”
Jack didn’t stick around, but rejoined his group.
“Where is Viktor?”
“I don’t know. I shot him, and he fled like a rat on a sinking ship.” He didn’t seem too terribly concerned that Viktor was still roaming around.
