Chapter 157 163
Chapter 157 163
“I know my sisters,” Rob says fiercely. “Both of them. We have all failed these last months. We’ve been fighting each other when we should have been united. Our parents taught us better.”
He turns and looks at Olivia. He gives her a reassuring nod. “I’m their older brother and I failed them both. But I will not—I do not—repeat my mistakes. You cannot take Makarova down without me.”
“This is insanity, Robbie. Don’t let him slip through our fingers.”
“Are you going to look your wife in the eyes and tell her you didn’t do everything in your power to protect Olivia?” Rob asks.
“He’s not going to hurt her!” Hargrove insists.
“He’s right, Robert,” I say slowly, putting my gun down. “There’s only one person I want to hurt.”
Hargrove watches me holster my gun. I know exactly what he’s about to do. I know the man better than he probably knows himself.
He brandishes his weapon right in my face. He thinks he has the advantage now that my own gun is holstered.
But I never do anything without a reason.
Before he can even blink, I shove Olivia to the side, clutch Hargrove’s wrist, and twist it backwards before forcibly wrenching the gun out of his grasp. He stumbles right into my arm. I grab the scruff of his neck and shove his own pistol right into his spine.
“That was easy,” I breathe in his ear.
“You bastard,” Hargrove growls. “Let me go.”
“In due time. Let’s clear the room first,” I tell him. “Now.”
“Not a damn chance!”
“Would you rather I pull the trigger?” I ask pleasantly.
He caves almost instantly. “Get out, the lot of you,” he snaps to his men.
They hesitate. That just pisses him off. “I said get the fuck out!” His lips are flecked with spit, his eyes bulging from their sockets. The smooth, polished veneer of the charming billionaire has long since dissolved into a million ragged pieces.
The soldiers dissipate through a side door, leaving only seven of us in the room: Jennifer, Demyan, Rob, Olivia, Yulia, Hargrove, and me.
My baby makes eight.
“Much more intimate,” I say, pressing the gun harder against his spine. “Much better.”
When Rob is sure that I’m not going to shoot him, he rushes forward and collects his sister. She takes his hand, but her eyes remain fixed on me.
She’s waiting for me to prove myself. Hoping against hope that she’s not wrong in trusting me yet again.
“Killing me will only cement your guilt,” Hargrove sputters. “It’ll prove—”
“Killing you?” I laugh. “I have no intention of killing you. Death is such a painless and unfulfilling end for a monster of your stature. No, I’m going to make sure you live. Live a nice, long life just so you can suffer.”
Donald turns his face up to Olivia. “Liv… Liv, I’m your brother-in-law. I’m Mia’s husband. You have the power to stop him.”
“No one has that power,” she says without taking her eyes off me.
“You know what he’s done. What he’s capable of now,” Hargrove continues. “You can’t deny his guilt. You can’t honestly believe the bullshit lies they’re trying to spin.”
“It’s no story,” Jennifer says quietly.
“Sophie,” Olivia says, silencing everyone. “Sophie Gonzales. I heard Yulia say that name on the phone a long time ago. I want to know who she is.”
“My goddaughter,” Hargrove says after a moment’s pause. “Sophie… is my goddaughter.”
“You must be very close to her parents then?” I ask. “Am I right? So tell me something: what are their names?”
Hargrove tenses. His mouth opens and closes like a fish gasping on dry land. A man like him breathes lies, and there’s none in here left for him to feast on.
“Aleksandr,” my mother says, looking at me imploringly. “Son, what’s going on?”
She can feel the tide shifting. Everyone can at this point. But I don’t have much time, which is why the explanation will have to wait until after everything is said and done. Otherwise, these ridiculous leather gloves will be a waste.
I grip Hargrove’s gun a little tighter and shove him stumbling away from me. I aim the gun pointed at his face while everyone watches me, bracing for the gunshot coming to end his disgusting life.
No one says a word.
No one speaks for him.
But it’s not him that needs speaking for.
Because at the last second, I change my aim.
Her eyes go wide as realization hits her. She knows it’s over. I’m glad I get to see the awareness on her face. I’m glad she knows just how poorly she played her hand. Just how badly she underestimated me.
Then I shoot my mother in the fucking chest.
39
OLIVIA
Yulia is dead before she hits the ground.
He killed her.
He killed his own mother in cold blood.
I feel a scream coming, but it never even has the chance to escape my lips. My brother inserts himself in front of me and I grip his arm for dear life. Not because I’m scared, but because I feel as though I’m going to buckle to the floor if I don’t hold onto something.
Aleks lowers the gun to his side. Hargrove stares at him with shock.
Nobody, it seems, understands what’s going on.
Well, that’s not quite true. Because when I turn to Demyan and Jennifer, I see they’re wearing matching expressions of calm resignation. They understand. This must’ve been the plan all along.
But for the love of God… why?
“Thanks for the gun, Donnie,” Aleks says, tossing it back to his enemy.
I watch the exchange in disbelief. Why on earth would Aleks return Hargrove’s gun?
Hargrove seems to be thinking the same thing.
Then he decides that it doesn’t really matter.
The only thing that does matter is the fact that he’s armed once more. He’s about to raise the gun to Aleks, when the double doors through which we entered burst open.
And the game changes completely.
I recognize the sour-faced man that walks in, but his name doesn’t immediately come to mind. Not until Rob sighs with relief.
“Steve,” he breathes. “Thank God.”
Steven Kennedy. That’s who he is. The FBI agent who was chosen to replace Rob in the investigation into the Makarova Bratva.
My head reels. More of Kennedy’s men pile into the room with their weapons drawn, “FBI” blazoned in crisp white font across the chest of their bulletproof vests.
Hargrove lowers his gun and visibly relaxes, the thrill of victory etched in his smug grin.