But my brain repeated Alexander’s words.
Stay in the bathroom, no matter what I heard.
Don’t leave the bathroom, until his voice told me to.
A violent crashing sound made my heart fall into my stomach and I couldn’t breathe.
Hesitant fingers flexing, I reached for the chair again.
I had to do something…
Chapter Twenty-one
Alexander
From below me, a glass smashed loudly and Ivan cursed in Russian, an insult I hadn’t heard in many years. Someone replied, and I presumed it to be his personal bodyguard, Decatur.
I descended the stairs quietly, already knowing that regardless of what I said to Ivan tonight, there would only be one outcome… he had to die.
Not just for putting his hands on Marisha, though of course that was the main motivation for me. Ivan was a proud man and there was no way he would let Marisha go. Even if he didn’t want her anymore, he’d rather kill her than give her up.
No, Ivan had to die for it all.
Our surveillance of Ivan had uncovered many things, including tonight's meeting against some of our biggest rivals. I had talked my father into letting Ivan remain in the fold—for his European connections and his influence with the Italians, among other things—so I felt in part responsible for Ivan building a wave of ill intentions and bad blood behind our backs, but there was a reason I was the future king.
I had eyes on the man, eyes that never slept.
And now he’d pay.
Ivan was going to make a move against my family.
Marisha, like most, thought Ivan was trying to make good on his deal with my father. She thought he was trying to save the business agreement, that he feared Bratva retribution for his failure. But he’d never intended to honor the agreement at all. And I couldn’t bring the truth to light until I had all the facts. Now, I knew enough.
I was going to kill him, here and now, but even if I didn’t, he’d suffer a worse fate once his twisted dealings were made public. The proof was coming to light. Tonight would end up being a mercy killing, though he deserved no mercy.
Ivan thought he was slick and had my family fooled, when really it was the other way around. He was the animal caught in a trap of his own making. He was the hunted. And I, hot blood coursing through my veins, had always been the hunter. No one fucked with my family and lived to see a new day.
Yes, tonight, Ivan shall die for all of his sins.
I took another quiet step down, my ears pricked as he continued muttering to himself, cursing over and over, Marisha’s name slipping from his tongue like insults to the Devil. His shoes made soft noises as he paced the room beside the foyer, and I tried to get an idea of where he might have been in regards to the doorway. The element of surprise was always the best one.
When the soft sounds of his feet stopped, I decided that was my moment and I descended the final five stairs before entering the room to the left.
Decatur was standing just past the doorway against a wall.
“I wondered when you would show,” Ivan snarled from across the room. Aside from quickly assessing if he was holding a weapon, I ignored him, which only seemed to stoke his anger. But I didn’t give a flying fuck. I was in control here.
“Decatur, nice to see you,” I spoke casually, standing next to the bodyguard, and Ivan’s most trusted employee. His stance didn’t falter, stoic, arms crossed over his chest and underarm holster bulging.
“Mr. Vasiliev, always a pleasure.” He nodded, eyes fixed across the room at Ivan.
“Give Mr. Zolotov and me some space.” I clapped the other man on the shoulders, resisting the urge to smile sadistically as I glanced over at Ivan, whose gaze grew wide and his face flushed with a fresh wave of anger.
When Decatur began to leave, Ivan sputtered to life. “Where in the fuck are you going, Decatur? Get your ass in here! You don’t leave unless I say you can!”
Decatur didn’t seem to register Ivan’s venom-laced shouting, and in a moment, he was out of sight and I heard the soft clicks of the front door opening and closing.
Now Decatur was out of the way, I tucked my gun away, and focused on the room around me. As I’d suspected, this was Ivan’s study. Long rows of books were on one side, and the other wall was lined with tall windows. His desk sat in the corner, a lit fireplace just to the right of it. Paneling along the back wall was open to reveal several small screens which showed various parts of the house on them, and I realized that the doors on the front closed to make it blend in to the walls. Just as Marisha had said, cameras everywhere.
