Chapter 159 Chapter 159
Chapter One Hundred and Fifty-Nine
Irina
Isabella hit Dimitri across the face.
"Liar!" she screamed. "You know where he is! Tell me!"
"I do not know," Dimitri repeated.
She hit him again. And again. But he just kept smiling. Because Nikolai was safe. For now.
Isabella finally stopped hitting him. She was breathing hard. Her face red with anger.
"Fine," she said. "If you will not tell me, then you are useless to me."
She pulled out her gun. Pointed it at Dimitri's head.
"Any last words?" she asked.
Dimitri looked at me. At the woman he loved more than life itself.
"I love you," he said.
"I love you too," I replied through tears.
Isabella smiled. "How touching," she said. She cocked the gun. This was it. The end.
But then gunfire erupted from the woods. Isabella's men started falling. Shot by unseen attackers.
"Get down!" someone shouted. It was Mikhail's voice.
Dimitri dropped to the ground. Pulled me down with him. More gunfire. More screaming. Then silence.
I looked up. All of Isabella's men were dead. And Isabella was on her knees. Gun to her head. Held by Mikhail.
"It is over," Mikhail said.
Isabella glared at him. "This changes nothing," she said. "My family will still come for you. For that baby. We will never stop."
"Then we will keep fighting," Dimitri said. He stood up. Walked over to her.
"Your brother's death was a tragedy," he said. "And I am sorry for it. But killing innocent babies will not bring him back. It will just create more pain. More death. More tragedy."
"I do not care," Isabella replied. "I want you all dead."
"Then you will get your wish," Dimitri said. "Someday. We all die eventually. But today is not that day. And neither is tomorrow. Or the day after that. We will keep fighting. Keep surviving. For as long as it takes."
He turned to Mikhail. "Call the police," he said. "Let them handle her."
Mikhail nodded. Made the call.
Dimitri untied me and Elena. Held me close.
"We need to find Alexei and Nikolai," I said.
"I know," he replied. "But first, I need you to know something."
"What?" I asked.
"No matter what happens," he said. "No matter how many enemies come after us. No matter how many times we have to run or hide or fight. I will always protect you. Always love you. Always choose you."
I kissed him. "I know," I whispered.
The police arrived minutes later. They took Isabella into custody. She screamed threats the entire time. Promised revenge. Promised death. But I did not care. Because we had won. For now.
We got into the car. Drove away from the cabin. Dimitri tried calling Alexei. This time, he answered.
"Where are you?" Dimitri demanded.
"Somewhere safe," Alexei replied. "Mikhail told me to move. So I did. I took Nikolai and left. We are about an hour away."
"Thank God," Dimitri said.
"Are you okay?" Alexei asked.
"Yes," Dimitri replied. "We are all okay. The Romanos had us. But Mikhail saved us."
"What about Isabella Romano?" Alexei asked.
"In police custody," Dimitri said. "But she is right about one thing. Her family will come after us again. This is not over."
"Then we prepare," Alexei said. "We build our strength. Our resources. Our defenses. And when they come, we will be ready."
"Agreed," Dimitri said.
He hung up. Looked at me. "He is safe," he said. "Nikolai is safe."
I nodded. But Dimitri could see the fear in my eyes. Because we both knew the truth. This was just the beginning. The Romanos would come again. Stronger. More prepared. More deadly. And next time, we might not be so lucky.
We met Alexei at a small motel two hours away. When I saw Nikolai, I ran to him. Grabbed him from Alexei's arms. Held him so tight he started to cry.
"I am sorry," I whispered. "I am so sorry."
"It is okay," Alexei said gently. "He is fine. We are all fine."
But we were not fine. We were running for our lives. Being hunted by one of the most powerful crime families in the world. How was that fine?
I sat down on the motel bed. Rocked Nikolai until he calmed down. Dimitri came in and sat beside me.
"We need to talk," he said.
"About what?" I asked.
"About what comes next," he replied.
Alexei sat down across from us. Mikhail and Elena stood by the door.
"The Romanos are not going to stop," Dimitri began. "Isabella made that clear. They want us dead. All of us. Especially Nikolai."
"Then we fight them," Alexei said.
"With what?" Dimitri asked. "We have no army. No resources. No support. We are alone."
"We have each other," I said.
"That is not enough," Dimitri replied. "Not against them."
"Then what do you suggest?" Alexei demanded. "We run? Hide forever?"
"No," Dimitri said. "We use what we have. The files from my father's safe. The information on that flash drive. We use it as leverage."
"Leverage for what?" I asked.
"For a truce," Dimitri replied. "We offer the Romanos information about their enemies. Secrets that could destroy their rivals. In exchange, they leave us alone."
"You think they will agree to that?" Mikhail asked.
"I do not know," Dimitri admitted. "But it is worth a try."
"And if they refuse?" Alexei asked.
"Then we disappear," Dimitri said. "We leave the country. Change our names. Start over somewhere new."
I looked down at Nikolai. At my innocent baby boy.
"I do not want him to grow up running," I said quietly.
"Neither do I," Dimitri replied. "But I want him to grow up. Period. And right now, that means doing whatever it takes to keep him safe."
He stood up. Walked over to his bag. Pulled out the flash drive.
"Let us see what secrets my father left behind," he said.
He plugged the drive into his laptop. We all gathered around. The drive had dozens of files. Documents. Photos. Videos.
Dimitri clicked on one of the video files. His father's face appeared on the screen. He looked older than I remembered. Tired. Like he knew his time was running out.
"If you are watching this," his father said on the video. "Then I am already dead. And you are in danger."
We all leaned in closer.
"I have made many enemies in my life," his father continued. "But none more dangerous than the Romano family. Twenty years ago, I made a deal with them. A business arrangement that should have made us all rich."
"But I betrayed them," he admitted. "I took their money. Used their resources. And then I cut them out. Kept all the profits for myself."
Dimitri's face went pale.
"They sent their youngest son to negotiate," his father said. "A boy named Marco. He was only twelve years old. But he was smart. Brave. He came to me with an offer. A way for both families to profit."
"I killed him," his father said bluntly. "Right there. In front of his brothers. In front of his sister Isabella. I wanted to send a message. That no one threatens the Volkov family."
Tears were running down Dimitri's face.
"But I was wrong," his father continued. "I created an enemy that will never stop. Never forgive. And now you will pay the price for my sins."
"I am sorry," he said. "I am so sorry. But I have left you tools. Information. Secrets about the Romanos that they would kill to keep hidden. Use them. Bargain with them. And maybe, just maybe, you can survive."
The video ended.
We sat in silence.
"He killed a child," Dimitri whispered. "My father killed a twelve year old boy."
"And now they want to kill Nikolai," I said. "To make you feel the same pain they felt."
"We cannot let that happen," Alexei said firmly.
"No," Dimitri agreed. "We cannot."
He clicked on another file. This one was a document. It detailed illegal operations. Money laundering. Drug trafficking. Human trafficking. All involving the Romano family.
"This is enough to bring them down," Mikhail observed. "If we gave this to the authorities."
"Or enough to get them to negotiate," Dimitri said.
He pulled out his phone.
"What are you doing?" I asked.
"Calling them," he replied. "Setting up a meeting. Ending this once and for all."
"Dimitri, wait," I protested. "We should think about this."
"There is nothing to think about," he said. "Every moment we wait is another moment they are hunting us. We end this now."
He made the call. It rang th
ree times. Then someone answered.
"Who is this?" a male voice asked in Italian accented English.
"Dimitri Volkov," he replied. "I want to speak with whoever is in charge of the Romano family."