Chapter 108 Nikolai
I arrived at Gorky Park early.
The morning was cold and gray. Fog hung over the trees. The fountain sat silent and empty.
I stood beside it waiting for Viktor Sokolov. Waiting for whatever choice he wanted to go me. Power or Anya.
But the truth was, I had already lost Anya. I had hurt her. I had become the monster she feared.
Nothing Viktor said would change that.
Mikhail stood a few feet away with three guards.
"Are you sure about this?" Mikhail asked quietly. "This could be a trap."
"Everything is a trap now," I said. "But I need to hear what he has to say."
"And if he asks you to walk away from everything?"
"Then maybe I'll walk away," I said.
Mikhail looked shocked. "You cannot be serious."
"I am tired, Mikhail. Tired of fighting."
A figure emerged from the fog. Viktor Sokolov. He was walking alone.
He stopped a few feet away from me.
"Mr. Markov," he said. "Thank you for coming."
"You said you had a deal. Let me hear it."
"Walk with me," Viktor said. "What I have to say is not for everyone's ears."
I looked at Mikhail. He shook his head slightly.
But I was done being careful.
"Stay here," I told Mikhail. "I will be fine."
I walked with Viktor along the path beside the fountain. Away from the guards.
"The council is prepared to offer you a deal," Viktor said. "A way out of the mess you have created."
"What kind of deal?"
"You walk away from everything. Your territory. Your businesses. Your power. You leave Moscow. You never come back. In exchange, we guarantee your life. And Anya's."
"What about the Bratva? All the enemies I have made?"
"We will handle them. We will tell them you are dead. They will have no reason to come after you."
It sounded too good to be true.
I studied his face.
"What about Anya? Where is she now?"
"Safe," Viktor said. "My men picked her up this morning. Brought her here. She is waiting for you."
My heart stopped. "She is here? In the park?"
"Yes. By the fountain. She wanted to see you. To hear what you choose."
I turned to look back but the fog was too thick. I could not see anything.
"I choose her," I said without hesitation. "I choose Anya. I will walk away from everything if it means she is safe."
Viktor smiled. "I was hoping you would say that."
Something in his tone made my skin crawl.
"Where is she? Take me to her."
"Of course. Follow me."
We walked deeper into the park. Away from the fountain. Away from Mikhail and the guards.
The fog grew thicker. The trees closed in.
"How much further?" I asked.
"Just ahead."
But something felt wrong. The park was too quiet and too empty.
I stopped walking. "Where are your men?"
"What?"
"You said your men picked up Anya. Where are they?"
Viktor's smile faded. "You are paranoid, Mr. Markov."
"No. I am careful. And right now, everything about this feels wrong."
I reached for my gun. But Viktor was faster. He pulled out a pistol and pointed it directly at my chest.
"I would not do that," he said. His voice was no longer kind. It was cold.
"What is this?" I demanded.
"This is the end, Mr. Markov. The council tried to work with you. But you are too dangerous. So we decided to remove you permanently."
"Where is Anya? What did you do with her?" My voice was steady.
"Anya is exactly where she needs to be. Far away from you. Where you can never hurt her again."
Rage exploded through me. "If you hurt her..."
"You will what?" Viktor laughed. "You are outnumbered. Outgunned. And completely alone."
More figures emerged from the fog. Men with rifles. At least a dozen of them. All pointed at me.
"Mikhail!" I shouted.
But no one answered.
"Your men cannot hear you," Viktor said. "We made sure of that."
"You killed Mikhail?"
"Probably. My men had orders to eliminate anyone who got in the way."
I felt something break inside me. Mikhail was dead. Anya was gone. And I was about to die.
"Any last words?" Viktor asked.
I looked him in the eyes. "Yes. Go to hell."
Viktor laughed. "After you."
He raised his gun.
And then the world exploded.
Gunfire erupted from everywhere. The men with rifles scattered. Shouting and running. Someone tackled me from behind, drove me to the ground.
"Stay down!" A familiar voice hissed.
Mikhail? He was alive?
More gunfire erupted.
"Move!" Mikhail shouted. He pulled me to my feet. We ran through the fog as bullets whizzed past us.
Behind us I heard Viktor shouting orders. "Find them! Do not let them escape!"
We reached the edge of the park. Three cars were waiting with their engines running.
"Get in!" Mikhail shoved me into the back seat. He jumped in beside me.
The car sped away.
"How did you know?" I gasped.
"I did not trust him," Mikhail said. "So I followed you. When I saw his men positioning themselves I knew it was a trap."
"Your men..."
"They're fine. I pulled them back before the shooting started."
Relief flooded through me. But Anya was still missing.
"Viktor said he had Anya. That his men picked her up this morning."
Mikhail's face went pale. "The men I sent to protect her. They are not answering their phones."
"We need to find her. Now."
My phone buzzed. A call from an unknown number.
I answered. "What?"
"Mr. Markov," a woman's voice said. "I have something that belongs to you."
"Who is this?"
"My name is Katya. And I am currently holding Anya Koslov. If you want to see her alive again, you will do exactly as I say."
My blood turned to ice. "If you hurt her..."
"I have not hurt her. Yet. But that could change depending on your cooperation."
"What do you want?" My was clenched.
"Everything you own. All of it. Sign it over to me and I will let her go."
I almost laughed. "Who are you? And who do you work for?"
"I work for myself. And I have been waiting a very long time for this opportunity."
"Let me talk to Anya. Let me know she is alive."
There was a pause. Then Anya's voice came on the line.
"Nikolai?" She sounded terrified. "Nikolai, please do not..."
"Anya! Are you hurt?"
"I am fine. But Nikolai, you cannot give them what they want..."
Her voice cut off. Katya came back on.
"As you can hear, she is unharmed. You have twenty four hours to transfer everything to me. If you do not, I start cutting off pieces of her. Starting with her fingers."
"Do not touch her!" I roared.
"Then do as I say. I will send you instructions."
The line went dead.
I stared at the phone. My hands were shaking.
My phone buzzed again. A message from Katya popped up. It was an address. And a countdown. Twenty four hours from now.
"She wants to meet. To make the exchange."