Chapter 141 Chapter 141
Chapter One Hundred and Forty-One
Irina
The guard had thrown me into the car. Drove fast through the city. I tried to memorize the route. The turns. The landmarks. Anything that could help Dimitri find me. But after a while, everything started to look the same.
We reached an old factory. Abandoned and falling apart. My heart pounded with fear.
"Get out," the guard ordered.
I got out slowly. Looking for an opportunity to run. But he kept the gun pointed at me. His finger on the trigger.
"Walk," he said.
I walked toward the factory entrance. My legs felt weak. Inside, it was dark and cold. The air smelled like rust and rot.
The guard pushed me forward. Into a large room. And there she was. Lucia. Sitting in a chair like a queen on a throne. She smiled when she saw me. That smile made my blood run cold.
"Irina," she said. "So good of you to join us."
"Where is Nikolai's antidote really?" I demanded. My voice shook but I tried to keep it strong.
"I already gave it to you," Lucia replied. "I am not a monster. I do not kill babies."
"You poisoned him!" I shouted. Anger rose in my chest.
"I gave him a scare," Lucia corrected. "To get you here. And it worked."
She stood up and walked toward me. Her heels clicked on the concrete floor. Each step closer made my skin crawl.
"Do you know how long I have waited for this moment?" she asked.
"I do not care," I said.
Lucia slapped me. Hard. My head snapped to the side. Pain exploded in my cheek. Tears pricked my eyes but I refused to cry.
"You should care," she said. "Because I am going to tell you exactly why you are going to die tonight."
She circled me like a predator. Her eyes never left my face.
"You destroyed my boys," she said. "Dimitri and Alexei. They were perfect. United. Strong. And then you came along."
"I did not do anything," I protested. My voice cracked.
"You existed," Lucia spat. "That was enough. You made Dimitri forget his duty. Forget his family. Forget everything I taught him."
"That is not true," I said. But my voice was small.
"Is it not?" Lucia asked. "Tell me, where is Alexei now? Where is the brotherhood I spent years building?"
"You destroyed it," I said. "Not me. You poisoned their relationship with your games."
"I tested them," Lucia said. "And they failed. Because of you."
She grabbed my face. Her fingers dug into my cheeks. Forced me to look at her. Her eyes were wild. Crazy.
"But tonight, I fix everything," she said. "Tonight, you die. And Dimitri will finally understand what he lost."
"He will kill you," I said.
"Maybe," Lucia said. "But I will die knowing I saved my boys from you."
She tied me to a chair. Roughly. The ropes cut into my wrists. Burned my skin.
"Now we wait," she said.
"For what?" I asked.
"For Dimitri," Lucia replied. "I know he will come. He cannot help himself."
She was right. Dimitri would come. And he would walk right into her trap. Fear gripped my heart.
"You do not have to do this," I said. "Lucia, please. You loved them once. Do not hurt them anymore."
"I love them still," Lucia said. "That is why I am doing this."
She was insane. Completely insane. I saw it in her eyes. Heard it in her voice. There was no reasoning with her.
Time passed. I do not know how long. The darkness pressed in around me. My wrists ached. My cheek throbbed.
Then I heard it. A car. Engines. Multiple vehicles.
Lucia smiled. "He is here," she said.
She pulled out a gun. Stood behind me. I felt the cold metal press against my head. My whole body trembled.
The door opened. And Dimitri walked in. With Viktor and Alexei. My heart soared and shattered at the same time.
"Dimitri! Do not come in! It is a trap!" I screamed.
But he did not listen. He kept walking. His eyes found mine. I saw everything in them. Love. Fear. Determination.
Then the lights came on. Bright and blinding. Dimitri stopped. Saw me. Saw Lucia behind me with the gun to my head.
"Hello, Dimitri," Lucia said. "I have been waiting for you."
"Let her go," Dimitri said calmly. Too calmly.
"No," Lucia replied. "Not until you understand."
"Understand what?" Dimitri asked.
"What she cost you," Lucia said. "Your brother. Your family. Everything."
"I did not lose Alexei," Dimitri said. "He is right here."
"For now," Lucia said. "But for how long? How long until she tears you apart again?"
"That will not happen," Alexei said, stepping forward.
Lucia looked at him. Her expression softened for just a moment. "Alexei," she said softly. "My boy. You understand, do you not? You see what she did to you."
"I see what I did to myself," Alexei said. "I let jealousy consume me. That was my choice. Not hers."
"No," Lucia said. Her voice hardened. "She made you jealous. She made Dimitri choose her over you."
"He chose both of us," Alexei said. "And I am finally accepting that."
"You are weak," Lucia spat.
"I am tired," Alexei corrected. "Tired of hating. Tired of fighting. Tired of losing."
"Then you have already lost," Lucia said.
She pressed the gun harder against my head. I gasped. Closed my eyes.
"I will kill her," she threatened. "Right now. And you will finally be free."
"If you kill her, you kill me," Dimitri said.
My eyes flew open.
"What?" Lucia asked.
"If she dies, I die," Dimitri repeated. "Because I cannot live without her."
Tears filled my eyes. He meant it. I knew he meant it.
"You are foolish," Lucia said.
"I am in love," Dimitri corrected.
He took a step forward. Slow. Careful.
"Lucia, you raised me," he said. "You taught me everything. And I am grateful. But this has to stop."
"Not until she is gone," Lucia said.
"Then you will have to kill me too," Dimitri said.
"And me," Alexei added.
"And me," Viktor said.
They all stood together. United. Three men facing the woman who had raised them. Who had loved them. Who had tried to destroy them.
Lucia looked at them. At the three men she had tried so hard to separate. Standing together. For me.
"No," she whispered.
Her hand shook. The gun wavered against my head.
"You were supposed to hate her," she said. "You were supposed to choose family."
"She is family," Dimitri said simply.
Those words broke something in Lucia. Something deep and old. She lowered the gun. Her arm fell to her side. Tears streamed down her face. She looked small suddenly. Broken.
"I failed," she whispered. "I failed you."
"No," Dimitri said gently. He took another step closer. "You loved us. That was enough."
Lucia collapsed to her knees. Sobbing. Great heaving cries that echoed in the empty factory.
Viktor moved quickly. Took the gun from her hand. She did not resist.
Alexei untied me. The ropes fell away. I stood on shaking legs. My whole body trembled.
Dimitri pulled me into his arms. Held me tight. I buried my face in his chest. Breathed him in.
"You came," I whispered.
"Always," he replied. His voice was thick with emotion.
I looked a
t Lucia on the floor. Still crying. Still broken. My enemy. The woman who had tried to kill me. Who had poisoned a baby. Who had caused so much pain.
"What happens to her now?" I asked.
Dimitri looked at his old nanny. At the woman who had raised him. Who had loved him. Who had almost destroyed everything.
"We get her help," he said finally. "Real help. She is sick. And she needs treatment."
"You are not going to kill her?" I asked, surprised.
"No," Dimitri said. "I am going to save her. Like she once saved me."
He walked over to Lucia. Knelt beside her. She looked up at him with broken eyes.
"It is over," he said softly. "All of it. Let us go home."
"Home," she repeated. Her voice was hollow.
"Yes," Dimitri said. "Home."
Relief washed over me. It was over. Finally over.
But as Viktor pulled Lucia to her feet, as we walked toward the exit, I saw something. A shadow moving in the corner. Behind a stack of old crates.
My heart stopped.
"Dimitri!" I screamed.
But it was too late.
Someone stepped out of the darkness with a gun, pointed at Dimitri.
And fired.