Chapter 86 Chapter 86
Chapter 86
Nina’s POV
The gun felt like it weighed a thousand pounds in my hands. My fingers were locked so tight around the grip that my knuckles turned white, then purple. Hot water still poured from the sprinklers, turning the room into a steaming hell. The alarm screamed on and on, a piercing wail that drilled straight into my brain. Blood mixed with the water on the floor, swirling in thin red rivers that snaked toward the drain in the corner. The other girl lay slumped against the side of the bed, one hand pressed to the hole in her side, blood seeping between her fingers. Her breathing came in wet, ragged gasps. She stared at me with wide, glassy eyes, like she could not believe what had just happened.
I could not believe it either.
The gun barrel trembled. I tried to steady it, but my arms shook worse than my voice. Tears burned behind my eyes, mixing with the scalding droplets running down my face. My skin was on fire everywhere the water touched—red welts rising across my chest, my thighs, my back. Steam curled thick around us, making everything look unreal, like a nightmare I could not wake from.
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. The words cracked and broke. “I’m so sorry.”
The girl coughed once, blood flecking her lips. Then she lifted her head just enough to glare at me through the haze.
“Fuck you… bitch,” she rasped. “That was painful.”
Her voice was weak, but the hate in it cut deeper than the bullet had. Something inside me snapped back into place. The shaking in my hands slowed, not gone, but enough that I could aim again. I swung the gun toward Sabina.
She stood there, naked and dripping, water streaming over her perfect body like she was carved from marble. She did not flinch. She did not run. She just watched me with those dark, unreadable eyes, a small smile playing at the corners of her mouth.
“Just give me the drive,” I said. My voice came out stronger this time. I pointed the barrel straight at her chest. “Now.”
Sabina tilted her head, studying me like I was some interesting new toy she had just discovered. Steam rose around her shoulders. The alarm kept screaming. Outside the door, I heard more chaos—shouts, running boots, something heavy crashing down the stairs. The mansion was falling apart, but she looked completely calm.
“You don’t have to do this,” she said softly. Her voice cut through the noise like silk. “Despite everything… I still like you.”
I blinked water out of my eyes. My grip on the gun tightened.
“Be mine,” she continued, taking one slow step forward. Water sluiced down her breasts, her stomach, pooling at her feet. “I will pay off your father’s debt. Protect you from the monsters who want you dead. I will give you everything. A new life. A pink Lamborghini waiting in the garage right now—I’m serious. It’s yours if you want it.”
She stopped just out of arm’s reach. Her smile grew, slow and wicked.
“It’s been a while since I had this much fun. This much action. I love me a toxic relationship. The push. The pull. The danger. You feel it too, don’t you? That heat under your skin. The way your body answers even when your mind screams no.” She licked her lips, tasting the steam and the faint trace of me still on them. “I will give you whatever you want. Power. Pleasure. Safety. Just put the gun down, kitten. Come to me.”
For one horrible second, I almost considered it.
Almost.
The words wrapped around me like smoke. A new life. No more running. No more blood on my hands. No more stitching up gunshot wounds in secret beach houses. A pink Lamborghini. Protection. Someone who saw the darkness in me and wanted it anyway. Someone who liked the mess.
My finger eased on the trigger just a fraction.
Sabina saw it. Her eyes lit up with triumph.
Then reality crashed back in.
The flash drive was still clenched in my left fist, sharp edges biting into my palm. The boys were coming. I could feel it in my bones. Nikolai’s virus had bought me time, but they would be here soon. Dante in the chopper. Enzo with the guns. They had promised to keep me safe. They had blurred my body on their screens so I would not feel so exposed. They had chosen me over the hard drive.
And I had just shot someone.
I could not become hers. Not after that.
My hand steadied. The gun rose again, barrel locked on her heart.
Sabina’s smile faltered for the first time.
I opened my mouth to tell her no.
Before the word could leave my lips, she moved.
Her hand darted to the side, quick as a snake. She slapped something on the wall—a small red button hidden behind a framed photograph.
A panic button.
The alarm changed pitch instantly, turning into a different kind of shriek—urgent, commanding. Red emergency lights flashed through the steam.
The door burst open.
Men poured in.
Black tactical gear. Rifles raised. Faces hidden behind balaclavas. At least ten of them, maybe more. They filled the doorway, boots pounding on the wet floor, water splashing up around their legs. The steam swirled around their dark shapes like ghosts.
Sabina pointed one dripping finger straight at me.
“Attack her,” she ordered.
Her voice was calm. Cold. Final.
The men moved as one.
Rifles came up.
Barrels swung toward me.
I stood there, naked, soaked, burning, gun shaking in my hands, flash drive clutched like a lifeline.
And they charged.