Bang!
The heavy doors of the chapel are thrown open, and the collective gasp of the guests is drowned out only by the clacking of hundreds of guns being cocked to be pointed at…Thatcher?
“I object!”
Ohshit.Either he doesn’t notice the danger he’s in or he doesn’t care. He slowly walks up the aisle, voice echoing throughout the church even as he sniffles.
Oh, solnyshko.
“That’smywoman, the love of mylife, and you can’t fucking marry her! She belongs with me! Mila, don’t do this!”
Thatcher’s heartbroken gaze locks onto me, and I swear I can hear my own heartbeat for a few moments.
Then all hell breaks loose.
Chapter 42
“That’smywoman,the love of mylife, and you can’t fucking marry her! She belongs with me! Mila, don’t do this!”
There. I’ve said my piece. Now, regardless of what happens, I’ll know I left everything on the table, and there’s no room for regret. Except I’m in the middle of this goddamn church with hundreds of people staring at me, and…guns?
Oh,fuck me.I’ve barged into a giant Russian Bratva wedding uninvited? But why weren’t there guards at the door? I didn’t see a soul outside. I just walked right in.
Maybe I should apologize? Ask to speak to Mila privately? That’s it, I’ll just beg her to hear me out one-on-one, then…
The world goes hazy as smoke fills the chapel. My ears are ringing, and it’s fucking pandemonium in here. Gunshots,explosions, and general sounds of destruction rattle the glass of the windows, and I drop to the ground behind a pew.
My instinct is to hide, not fight, and as a bloody body falls over the pew next to me, bile rises in my throat. I’m not making it out of here alive. And Mila…
Fuck!Mila!
I scramble for the far end of the pew, avoiding the aisle where the most action seems to be, based on the screaming. I have to get to her, but I’m fighting upstream from the crowd heading for the exits.And stepping over more bodies every minute.
The smoke is clearing now, and I focus on the front of the church, hoping to steal a glimpse of a puffy white gown. Or maybe she’s escaped already, and I can at least rest easy or die happy knowing she’s safer than here.
Before I can decide whether to try to get closer to the altar or to cross and make sure I haven’t missed Mila on the other side of the aisle, I see her. She’s in white, but it’s not the poofy gown from earlier. Only the bodice remains, ripped and stained with blood that doesn’t appear to be hers. At least not with the way she’s moving.
She’sterrifying. Her bodice may be white, but she’s wearing black tights strapped with knives. Either she knew something was bound to happen today or she’s always prepared. Knowing her, it’s probably both. Moving closer to the front pew, she’s evading capture and leaving chaos in her wake. Nobody’s shooting at her, though.
They’re sure as shit still shooting at me, and I duck as a bullet passes close enough that the wall where it hits sends debris into my face. Something’s in my eye, and I fall to the ground as the sound of the fighting escalates.Fuck,I’m not sure how I can get out of here.
“Getup,solnyshko!”
I can barely see, but only one person has ever called me that. My savior wrenches me up from the ground and immediately lays into me.
“What the fuck is wrong with you? Were you planning to lie on the ground and die? I know how strong you are. Even if your eye doesn’t work, your legs do. Up!”
The sniffle escapes before I can help it, but I’m just so goddamn happy. That’smywoman. If she thinks I can get up, I can.
“Donotcry right now, Thatcher.” She moves us toward a side door I hadn’t seen, hidden behind a recess near the front of the church.
“Well, pardon me for being happy to be rescued by the love of my life minutes after I found out she was marrying someone else! What the actual fuck, Mila?”
“You have to be fucking kidding me.” She drops my arm to reload her handgun, then shoots someone blocking us at point-blank range. Lifting me over the body like a toy, we continue. “This is really not the time to—”
“I think it’s the perfect time. I fly to Russia thinking there’s no way the—”
I’m interrupted by an idiot who thinks it’s a good idea to try to engage me in hand-to-hand combat. Mila deftly parries his knife away from me, then adds one of her own to his heart, kicking him away and pulling me again.
