I could lose everything in a matter of seconds. The fear of losing her makes me crazy. The moment I rush into the main hall, my body tenses. Igor is looming over her with his knife pressed to her throat.
I dash toward him, too far away to stop the inevitable. Igor notices me and smirks. It ignites a fury inside of me so great, as I speed up toward him.
While I distract him, Vera kicks him in the gut, forcing him backward into the wall. He falls over and I know we’ve got him now.
The pride flooding me at her strength hits me in the chest, warming me. I grab hold of Igor’s shirt and pull him to his feet. Rage has grabbed hold of me and is in the driving seat now. Everything this man has done to me hitting me all at once.
I slam my fist into his face so hard I hear his nose crack. A river of blood flooding from it onto his lip. I punch him again, bloodying his face.
With a huge amount of force, I smash him into the ground, placing my foot on his throat and choking him. “I have one question before you die,” I growl.
“What?” he spits a mouthful of blood out.
“Did you blow my father up?” I ask, holding a breath as I wait for a reply.
He smirks at me, making me sick to my stomach. “Yes, this plan has been in place for three years. We didn’t expect a thirty-year-old man to step up to the plate and take charge.” He tries to break from my grip, but I hold fast. “We expected you to be dead within a year, but you stepped up and took charge.”
I’ve had enough of this bastard. He opens his mouth to speak, again. My vision blurs red, as I slam my boot into his jaw, cracking it in two. Igor’s face goes limp and eyes blur with pain.
Blood paints my fists as I grab his collar again and bring my hand back to hit him. The need to make him hurt as much as he hurt me and Vera driving me.
My father was all I had in this world and he took him from me. When I saw him hurt my Vera, it was the last fucking straw.
A small, soft hand closes around mine and my reaction is to bring my fist back to punch. Vera doesn’t flinch, staring at me with a steely gaze. “Let me finish him,” she says.
I shake my head, knowing what it would do to her if she takes the plunge today and kills a man. Despite the rage she feels that he killed her family, it would rip her apart to kill a man. “You’ve never killed before, don’t start now.”
Her jaw clenches and the fire in her eyes only deepens. “I need this, Andrei.”
I swallow hard and glance back at the bloodied excuse of a man in front of me. He killed my father too. It’s only fair that we end him together. “Together?” I ask.
She gives me a weak smile and nods. “Together.”
I watch her as she kneels to grab Igor’s blade from the floor and holds it up above his heart.
His eyes are wide and fearful but he can’t beg for his life because I’ve broken his jaw. He tries to move it but can’t. I kneel beside her and wrap my hand around hers. “On three. One, two, three.” We both thrust together, driving the knife deep into our tormentor’s heart.
Blood bubbles up into his mouth, spilling down the side of his chin as he falls into a crumbled heap on the floor.
A gunshot rings out and in a split second, I see it traveling toward Vera. I block her with my body, wrapping my arms around her as the bullet hits me square in the back.
We fall to the floor, coated in Igor’s and my own blood. Vera cries my name, “Andrei.” She remains above me, gripping my face in her hands.
“Stay with me.”
I can’t register what she’s saying. All I know she is stunning. Another shot has me tensing, bringing me back to the present.
To my relief, Lyov has shot dead the man who shot me. I relax. as Roman comes rushing into the room behind him. It’s about time some of my men helped us out. Alexi comes dashing down behind him with a gun in his hand too. They’re all bloodied and bruised, no doubt ambushed by Igor’s men.
Vera is safe, and that’s all that matters. I return my gaze to her tear-stained face. “Don’t cry. Everything is okay.”
She swallows hard. “You’re not okay.”
“Don’t worry, Printsessa, I will be fine.”
She shakes her head. “You’ve been shot,” she says, holding her hand over the wound tightly.
“Roman will get me up and running in no time.”
Alexi approaches us and kneels the other side of me, smiling at Vera. “He will be fine. Roman is the best doctor I know.”
“He’s the only doctor you know, Alexi,” Lyov says
“Touché.”
Lyov approaches. “Let’s try to get him to his feet.”
Alexi gets one side of me and Lyov on the other, helping me up. My head swims, but I can walk. Vera slides to my side, wrapping an arm around me and trying to help.
“Thanks, Lyov. If it wasn’t for you, we’d both be dead.”
He gives me a nod. “It was nothing, sir.”
“Vera, this is Lyov, one of my spies,” I say, introducing them.
“Nice to meet you,” she says.
He grunts and nods, eyes narrow.
“Vera is the daughter of Ivan Popov, and I’m not comfortable keeping her as a slave anymore. She will be a guest of mine for now,” I announce.
Vera glances up at me with wide eyes. “Why would you release me when you paid so much?”
Alexi steps forward, placing a hand on my back. “Because he has a heart of gold that he doesn’t want anyone to know about, that’s why.”
I glance at Lyov who is lingering. “Don’t worry, boss. I’ve known it for years,” he says.
Roman approaches. “Sir, we need to get you back and into the operating theater as soon as possible.”
Vera reluctantly let’s go of me, as Lyov gets on one side and Alexi on my other. “Roman, walk with Vera,” I instruct.
“Sir,” he bows his head, and we make our way out of the building.
The police will have been called, but they won’t stop us. They eye us as we step out onto the pavement and walk toward the SUV. It will be put down to a random shooting and nothing of the truth will be revealed in the press.
They will register the infiltrators as Igor and his men, which at least is the truth for once. I wince as my men help me into the back of the SUV. Vera slides in on the other side and sits closer to me, pressing a hand against my forehead. “You’re burning up,” she murmurs.
“It may have something to do with your hands on me,” I mutter.
She shakes her head, a whisper of a smile playing at her lips. She doesn’t smile often, but when she does, it lights up my day and thaws out my heart.
I hope to make her smile every single day from now on. I slip my right hand behind her neck and pull her lips to mine, kissing her. “My Vera,” I breathe against her lips.
She moans against my mouth, “Yours.”
Hearing her tell me she’s mine reaffirms everything. We made for each other. Two broken people finding each other in the weirdest of ways. It’s laughable how fate has a way of screwing with you.