Chapter 119 Anya
Katya stared at me from across the desk.
"We have a common enemy," she said. "My dear brother, Nikolai."
"He is your brother," I said. "Why do you hate him so much?"
"Because he took everything from me," Katya said. "Everything should have been mine. I am the rightful heir to the Markov empire. But my stupid father abandoned me and my mother. He never looked back. My mother died in poverty. And I swore on her grave that I would make things right. For us."
"So you want revenge," I said.
"I want what is mine," Katya said. "And you are going to help me keep it."
"Why would I help you?" I asked.
"Because tomorrow I am meeting with Nikolai," Katya said. "He thinks he can negotiate. He thinks he can outmaneuver me and take back his empire."
"Can he?" I asked.
"Maybe," Katya admitted. "He is smart and cunning. He knows how to play the game. But he has one weakness."
"What?"
"You," Katya said simply.
My breath caught. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that Nikolai loves you," Katya said. "Despite everything. Despite locking you up. Despite choosing his empire over you repeatedly. He still loves you."
"That does not make sense," I said. "If he loved me, he would have let me go."
"Love is not always logical," Katya said. "And Nikolai's love for you is his greatest weakness. Which is why I need you."
"For what?"
"Tomorrow at our meeting, Nikolai will try to take back his empire," Katya said. "He will negotiate. He will threaten. He will do everything he can to win. But if you are there, if you help me, he will lose."
"Help you how?" I asked.
"By being a distraction," Katya said. "By making him emotional. By reminding him of what he stands to lose if he fights me."
"And if I refuse?"
Katya's smile faded. "Then I give you to someone else. Someone who has been waiting a long time to get his hands on Nikolai's wife."
"Who?"
"Alexei Volkov," Katya said.
The name hit me like a physical blow. My vision tunneled. My hands began to shake.
Alexei Volkov.
I knew that name. I knew that face. I knew the cold touch of his hands and the emptiness behind his eyes.
For months, I had been his prisoner. He had taken me from a street corner in Prague. Locked me in a house with barred windows. Told me that Nikolai had sold me to him. That I belonged to Volkov now.
Every day for six months, I waited for Nikolai to come. Every night, I listened to Volkov talk about our future. Our wedding. How he would make me his wife and use me to destroy Nikolai forever.
He almost succeeded. The wedding was planned. The dress was bought. I stood in a church and said almost said words I did not mean.
But Nikolai came. At the last moment, he came. There was blood and screaming and I ran. I never looked back. I buried those months so deep inside myself that I almost believed they never happened.
But now Katya was saying his name. And all of it came rushing back.
"No," I whispered. "Not him. Anyone but him."
Katya frowned. "You know him?"
I could not answer. I could only nod. My throat had closed completely.
"How?" Katya demanded.
"Because he kept me for six months," I managed to say. "Before Nikolai and I were married. He told me Nikolai had given me to him. He was going to force me to marry him."
Katya went pale. "I did not know that."
"It does not matter," I said. "You cannot give me to him. He will kill me. Or worse."
Katya was quiet for a long moment. Her eyes studied me. Calculating.
"That changes things," she said finally. "But not enough."
"Please," I said. "There has to be another way."
"Help me tomorrow," Katya said. "Help me win. And Volkov never touches you. I swear it on my mother's grave."
I wanted to believe her. But I had heard promises before. From Nikolai. From Volkov. From men who said they would protect me and then used me instead.
"What do you need me to do?" I asked quietly.
"Just be there," Katya said. "At the meeting. Stand beside me. Let Nikolai see that you chose me over him. That will break him. And when he is broken, I win."
"And then?" I asked. "What happens after you win?"
"Then you are free," Katya said. "You can go wherever you want. Start over. Live your life. I have no use for you after tomorrow."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because I have no reason to keep you," Katya said. "You are only valuable to me as leverage against Nikolai. Once he is defeated, you are worthless."
The words hurt. But they were honest.
"Fine," I said. "I will help you."
"Good," Katya said. "Viktor will take you to a room. Get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
Viktor appeared at the door. "This way, Mrs. Markov."
I followed him out. My mind was racing. Every shadow looked like Volkov. Every sound made me flinch.
I was going to betray Nikolai. Again. But what choice did I have? Be given to the monster who had already stolen months of my life? Or help Katya and at least survive?
It was not really a choice at all.
Viktor led me to a small room. It was clean and simple. He left without a word.
I sat on the bed and buried my face in my hands.
Tomorrow I would see Nikolai. Tomorrow I would betray him one final time.
And tomorrow, everything would end.
The door suddenly burst open.
I looked up, startled.
A man stood there. Tall. Scarred. His eyes were cold and empty.
I knew him immediately. Those eyes had watched me sleep for six months. That scar had been the last thing I saw before Nikolai pulled me from that church.
"Hello, Anya," he said. His voice sent ice through my veins.
"Alexei," I whispered.
"Did you miss me?" Volkov asked. "I missed you. I planned a whole wedding for us. Such a shame you ran away."
"Katya said tomorrow," I managed. "She said if I helped her..."
"Katya lied," Volkov said. He pulled out a gun.
And then everything happened at once.
Footsteps in the hallway. Shouting. Katya's voice screaming something.
Volkov turned toward the door.
Katya appeared in the doorway. Her face was furious.
"What are you doing?" she demanded. "I told you to wait until after..."
Volkov raised his gun.
"You thought you could use me," he said. "You thought you could control me like you control everyone else."
"Alexei, do not..." Katya started.
The gunshot was deafening in the small space.
Katya stumbled backward. Her hand went to her chest. Blood spread across her white shirt.
She looked down at the wound. Then up at Volkov. Shock and disbelief on her face.
"You..." she whispered.
Then she collapsed.