Family Reunion

Family Reunion

Maya's POV

I jumped out of the helicopter before it fully landed.
The four heirs shouted after me, but I was already running.
Isabella Romano was not taking me anywhere.
Not today.
Not ever.
"Maya, wait!" Dante called.
I ignored him and kept running across the rooftop.
But there was nowhere to go.
We were on top of a forty-story building in the middle of Manhattan.
The only way down was the helicopter I'd just jumped out of.
"Going somewhere?" Isabella asked behind me.
I spun around to face her.
She was walking toward me slowly, like she had all the time in the world.
"Stay back!"
"Or what? You'll jump?"
"Maybe."
"That would be a waste."
"Of what?"
"Of everything your grandfather built for you."
"My grandfather is dead."
"Yes, he is. Thanks to me."
The words hit me like a punch.
"You killed Ivan?"
"I killed Ivan."
"Why?"
"Because he was weak. Because he was old. Because he was in my way."
Isabella stopped walking when she was about ten feet away from me.
"And because he was going to give everything to you instead of someone who deserved it."
"Like who?"
"Like me."
I stared at her.
"You're not a Volkov."
"No, but I should be."
"That's insane."
"Is it? I've been running his businesses for years. I've been making his decisions. I've been cleaning up his mistakes."
"So?"
"So when he decided to leave everything to a granddaughter he'd never met instead of the woman who actually earned it, I decided it was time for a change."
Behind Isabella, the four heirs were getting out of the helicopter.
They all looked confused and angry.
"Isabella," Marcus said. "What's going on?"
"Family reunion," she replied without taking her eyes off me.
"What family?"
"Maya's family. The Volkovs."
"We thought you were helping us," Luca said.
"I was helping myself. You four were just useful."
"Useful how?" Adrian asked in his quiet voice.
"Useful for getting close to Maya. Useful for making her trust someone. Useful for making her feel like she had a choice."
"She does have a choice," Dante said.
"No, she doesn't."
Isabella reached into her jacket and pulled out a gun.
"Maya has exactly one choice. Join me willingly, or join me dead."
"That's not a choice," I said.
"It's the only choice you're getting."
"Why do you even want me? You already killed Ivan. Just take his empire."
"Because I can't legally inherit it. But you can. And when you do, you can sign it all over to me."
"And if I refuse?"
"Then you die, and it goes to the next heir in line."
"Who's that?"
Isabella smiled.
"My son."
My blood went cold.
"Your what?"
"My son. Alexei Romano. Ivan's nephew. The boy he raised like his own child."
"I thought Ivan didn't have any living family."
"He didn't. Until I married his brother twenty years ago."
"His brother is dead."
"His brother was killed. By Ivan. For trying to leave the family business."
I felt sick.
"So you married into the Volkov family just to destroy it?"
"I married into the Volkov family to control it. Destroying it was just a bonus."
The four heirs were moving closer to Isabella now.
But she kept her gun pointed at me.
"Don't," she said to them. "If any of you take another step, Maya dies."
They stopped.
"Good boys. You always were well trained."
"Trained for what?" I asked.
"Trained to protect the Volkov heir. Trained to keep you safe until you were old enough to inherit. Trained to make you trust them so you'd do whatever they asked."
I looked at Dante, Marcus, Luca, and Adrian.
"Is that true?"
"Maya—" Dante started.
"IS IT TRUE?"
"Partially," Adrian said quietly.
"What does that mean?"
"It means we were supposed to protect you. But we weren't supposed to care about you."
"But you do care about me?"
"We do."
"All of you?"
"All of us."
Isabella laughed.
"How touching. The assassins fell in love with their target."
"We're not assassins," Marcus said.
"No? Then what are you?"
"Bodyguards."
"Same thing, different target."
"Maya isn't our target."
"No, but she was supposed to be."
I stared at Isabella.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean the plan was never to keep you alive long-term, sweetheart. The plan was to let you inherit everything, then have an accident."
"What kind of accident?"
"The kind where you die and leave everything to your loving husband."
"I'm not married to anyone."
"Not yet. But you were going to be."
Isabella pointed her gun at Dante.
"To him. In about six months. Right after you turned twenty-one and officially inherited everything."
"And then?"
"And then he was going to have you killed and take over the empire himself."
I looked at Dante.
"Is that true?"
His face was pale.
"Maya, I can explain—"
"IS IT TRUE?"
"It was the plan. But things changed."
"What changed?"
"I fell in love with you."
"When?"
"The first night. When you refused to cry. When you fought back instead of begging for mercy."
"And the others?"
"We all fell in love with you."
"All of you were supposed to kill me?"
"One of us was. We didn't know which one until Isabella made the final decision."
I felt like I was going to throw up.
"So everyone has been lying to me."
"Maya—"
"EVERYONE!"
"Not about loving you," Marcus said. "That part is real."
"How do I know that?"
"Because we're here. Because we chose to save you instead of following Isabella's orders."
"Did you?"
"Maya, look around. If we were still working for Isabella, would we be pointing our guns at her?"
I looked. All four men had drawn their weapons and were aiming them at Isabella.
But she didn't look worried.
"Put your guns down, boys."
"No," Dante said.
"Put them down, or Maya dies."
"If you kill Maya, we kill you."
"And then what? You go to prison for murder? You spend the rest of your lives running from the FBI?"
"If we have to."
"For her?"
"For her."
Isabella shook her head.
"Love makes people stupid."
"Maybe," Adrian said. "But it also makes them dangerous."
"Are you threatening me?"
"I'm promising you."
Isabella looked around at the four armed men surrounding her.
"You can't all shoot me before I kill her."
"Want to bet?" Luca asked.
"Actually, yes."
That's when I heard the sound that made my blood freeze.
Helicopters.
Lots of them.
Coming from every direction.
"What is that?" I asked.
Isabella smiled.
"Backup."
The helicopters circled us like vultures.
One by one, they landed on the rooftop.
Men in military gear poured out.
Dozens of them.
All carrying automatic weapons.
All pointing them at us.
"Maya," Isabella said sweetly. "I'd like you to meet the Volkov family army."
"The what?"
"Your grandfather's private military. The men who handle problems that are too big for regular criminals."
"How many of them are there?"
"About fifty."
"And they all work for you now?"
"They work for whoever pays them. And I pay very well."
The four heirs were completely surrounded now.
Their guns were useless against this many armed men.
"Last chance," Isabella said to me. "Come with me willingly, or watch your boyfriends die."
I looked at Dante, Marcus, Luca, and Adrian.
Four men who had lied to me.
Four men who had planned to kill me.
Four men who claimed to love me.
"Maya," Dante said quietly. "Whatever you decide, we understand."
"Do you?"
"We lied to you. We betrayed you. We don't deserve your loyalty."
"But?"
"But we love you. And if dying here means you get to be free, then we'll die here."
"All of you feel that way?"
"All of us," Marcus said.
"Even though you barely know me?"
"We know enough," Luca said.
"We know you're brave. We know you're strong. We know you deserve better than this," Adrian added.
I looked around at all the guns pointed at us.
At Isabella and her patient smile.
At the four men who had changed my entire life.
"Isabella," I said.
"Yes, sweetheart?"
"I have a question."
"What's that?"
"If I go with you, if I sign everything over to you, what happens to them?"
"They die."
"And if I don't go with you?"
"They die anyway. But slower."
"And if I fight you?"
"Then everyone dies. Including you."
I nodded like I was thinking it over.
Then I walked toward Isabella.
The four heirs watched me with sad eyes.
They thought I was giving up.
They thought I was choosing to save myself.
But they were wrong.
I got within arm's reach of Isabella.
"Smart girl," she said.
"I have one more question."
"What's that?"
I smiled at her.
"Did you really think I came here unarmed?"
Isabella's eyes went wide.
That's when the building exploded.