Danyl steps quickly to Vasili’s side. “That list is going to be so much longer by the time we’ve finished with her,” the guard says. It’s like he’s inviting Killian to open fire.
Killian sniffs. “And why would I be listening to threats from a deadman?”
“On that we can agree,” Vasili says, but he’s lost the arrogance from earlier. The helicopter is right over us.
Vasili grabs Katarina by the hair and puts a gun to her head. He backs them quickly towards the door and in his eagerness, almost exposes Danyl, but the bastard uses the pastor to hide behind. Despite all the guns trained on them, no one has a clear shot, and Vasili and Katarina slip out first. When Danyl reaches the threshold, he shoves the legs of a dead soldier out of the way so he can close the door over, trapping the pastor on the wrong side. The guy scrambles to the nearest corner to hide behind his bible.
Killian’s roar fills the foyer and we all move as one. It’s the Irishman who reaches the door first and he’s too enraged to notice the pastor drawing a weapon. I eliminate him with one shot, but not in time to stop the guy firing off a round. Killian gets hit in the leg and as he drops, his rifle clatters across the marble floor.
“Fucking bastard!” Killian roars, unholstering a handgun and emptying the whole magazine into the dead pastor’s body.
Rory drops down beside Killian to check the wound in his thigh gushing blood. He unbuckles his belt and Killian snatches it from him. “I can look after myself. Go! Don’t let Vasili take Kat!”
I grab Killian’s rifle, and when Calder opens the door, I poke the barrel through the gap. No one shoots so I chance a look.
All three of the Bratva’s armored vehicles are parked in the driveway, but two are empty. From the sound of rapid gunfire coming from where the helicopter landed, it’s clear we haven’t eliminated the rest of his men yet, but at least Vasili’s little entourage is contained to one vehicle. Or itwould be if Vasili could get an uncooperative and bound Katarina into one of the back seats.
While he’s wrestling with her, the driver behind the wheel aims his gun in our direction. He mutters a warning to Vasili, who turns to face me with a gun pressed to Katarina’s side.
“Is Killian OK?” Katarina asks as I step out cautiously.
“I might need you to kiss my leg better, Kitty!” he yells from inside the house.
Calder and Rory take up positions at my side, but not before closing the door behind them. Vasili won’t let us stall him for long, and we stand a better chance of negotiating Katarina’s release if we’re not being heckled by Killian.
My brothers and I descend the short set of steps together, weapons raised. “Let her go, Vasili,” I say. “And we’ll let you go.”
“Taking her would be very unwise, Marmaduke,” he replies. “You’ve just made yourself an enemy of the Bratva, and what you do next will determine how high up you are in my list of priorities. My niece ismyproperty. Take her and I’ll have to take something of yours.” He snarls. “Your whore is a little old, but there’s still some mileage in her.”
My trigger finger twitches.
“It should be clear by now,” Rory continues for my sake, “that we have no interest in your family. I can’t, however, speak with any authority for the McConkeys.”
Vasili’s smile simply widens, like a snake dislocating its jaw. “I have no quarrel with the Irish mafia at present. John McConkey and I had our little disagreement, but the matter’s been settled. We orbit different spheres, which suits us both, and I don’t imagine he’ll be too impressed that his firstborn has turned his back on his family forthe sake of a woman.”
“Killian hasn’t turned his back on anyone,” Rory says.
“No?” He makes a show of looking around us. “Then where is his family now? He might want to steal my niece, but she was never going to be accepted by the McConkeys. He’d make them both outcasts and my niece is too precious to be lost to obscurity. And as for Killian?”
When Vasili’s hand goes to his ear and he nods, it’s in response to someone talking through his earpiece. My heart thuds in my chest. Danyl’s missing.
“Take him out,” Vasili orders.
A shot echoes through the foyer just feet away and Katarina’s legs almost buckle. “No!” she screams.
Vasili grabs her hair to keep her on her feet. “He’s dead, moya lyubov. As will be any other man who touches you without my permission.”
Katarina stares at the entrance, but there are no shouts from the Irishman. He’s been silenced. A heartbeat later, the light goes out behind Katarina’s eyes. After facing years of untold abuse, this is what it took to break her. Losing the man who wouldn’t let her go.
I take a step closer. “She stays with us.”
It’s not the gun Vasili points at me that stops me in my tracks, but Katarina. “No, Duke,” she says with zero emotion. “I’ve nothing to stay for.”
I’m about to object when we hear two more shots in quick succession coming from the foyer. I hope it’s the Griffins taking out Danyl. Vasili presumes the same as he pushes Katarina back towards their vehicle. She numbly follows his orders.
My heart wrenches. “I’m sorry, Katarina.”
She slides into her seat and looks back to me. “Just make sure you get your happy ending.”
