Chapter 94 Nikolai
Three days after hiding in that closet I could not wait anymore.
Every time I closed my eyes I heard those sounds. Every time I saw Anya I remembered what Ivanov had done while I stood helpless in the darkness.
It was eating me alive.
I found Viktor first. He was smoking behind the garage. His eyes were tired as always.
"I need your help," I said quietly.
He looked at me. "With what?"
"With ending this shit," I said. "With Ivanov."
Viktor took a long drag from his cigarette. "You want to kill him."
"Yes."
"That is suicide," he said. But his voice was not shocked.
"Maybe," I said. "But I am going to do it anyway. With or without help."
Viktor studied me for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly. "When?"
"Tonight," I said. "When he goes to his study. I know the code to get in. I know where he keeps his weapons."
"And then what?" Viktor asked. "You shoot him and the guards hear and they kill you?"
"I will make it quiet," I said. "I will use a knife. It won't make noise."
Viktor shook his head. "You are rushing this. You need more time. More planning."
"I do not have more time," I said, my voice cracked. "Every day he hurts her. Every night he..."
I could not finish the sentence.
Viktor put his hand on my shoulder.
"I understand. But if you rush this you will fail. And if you fail, he will know someone tried to kill him. He will increase security. He will hurt her worse just to prove he can."
"Then what do I do?" I asked desperately.
"Wait," Viktor said. "For two more weeks. Let me talk to the others. Dmitri and Pavel. We can help you but we need time to coordinate."
I wanted to argue but I knew he was right.
"Two weeks," I said finally. "But not a day longer."
Viktor nodded. "Two weeks."
But I lied to him.
That night when the mansion was quiet I could not stop myself.
The rage was too strong. The helplessness was too strong.
I had to do something.
I waited until midnight. Until the guard rotation changed. Until there was a brief window when Ivanov's study hallway was empty.
I moved through the shadows like a ghost. My hands were shaking but my mind was clear.
I reached the study door and punched in the code I had memorized. The lock clicked open.
I slipped inside and closed the door behind me.
The room was dark except for moonlight coming through the window. Ivanov's desk sat in the center, papers were scattered across it. The weapons cabinet was on the far wall.
I moved toward it but then I heard something that made my blood run cold.
Footsteps. Coming down the hallway.
I dove behind the desk just as the door opened.
Light flooded the room.
Ivanov walked in. He was not alone. Two guards followed him.
"I need the documents from last month," Ivanov was saying. "The ones about the property deal."
My heart hammered in my chest. I was trapped. If they found me there was no explanation that would save me.
I pressed myself flat against the floor behind the desk, barely breathing.
Ivanov walked to a filing cabinet and started searching through it. The guards stood by the door.
"Where the hell did I put it," Ivanov muttered.
One of the guards shifted his weight. "Sir, should we help you look?"
"No," Ivanov snapped. "Just stand there and be quiet."
Minutes crawled by. I could hear Ivanov rifling through papers, cursing under his breath.
My leg was cramping from staying so still. Sweat dripped down my back.
Finally Ivanov found what he was looking for. "Got it. Let us go."
They left. The door closed. The light went out.
I stayed behind the desk for another five minutes, listening, making sure they were really gone.
Then I stood up on shaking legs and moved to the door.
I opened it carefully and looked out.
The hallway was empty.
I slipped out and made my way back to the servants' quarters. My heart was still racing.
That was too close. Too stupid and reckless.
Viktor had been right. I was rushing. I was letting emotion cloud my judgment.
If those guards had walked around the desk I would be dead right now.
And Anya would be left alone with Ivanov.
I sat on my bed and put my head in my hands.
I needed to be smarter. And more patient.
But patience was becoming impossible.
The next day I found Dmitri in the kitchen.
"We need to talk," I said quietly.
He glanced around to make sure no one was listening. "About what?"
"About Ivanov," I said. "About ending him."
Dmitri's eyes went hard. "You are serious."
"Yes."
"When?"
"Soon," I said. "I am working with Viktor. But I need to know if you are in."
Dmitri looked at his scarred hands. The burns Ivanov had given him.
"I am in," he said. "Tell me what you need."
"I need you to be ready when the tome comes." I said. "Can you do that?"
"Yes," he said without hesitation.
Pavel was harder to convince.
I found him in the garage two days later.
"No," he said immediately when I told him my plan. "This is insane."
"It is necessary," I said.
"It is suicide," Pavel countered. "Ivanov has too many guards. Too much security. You will never get close enough."
"I already did," I said. "Two nights ago I was in his study. I could have killed him if he had not walked in."
Pavel stared at me. "You broke into his study?"
"Yes."
"And you lived?"
"Barely," I admitted.
Pavel shook his head. "You are lucky to be alive. Do not push that luck."
"I am not asking for your blessing," I said. "I am asking if you will help when the time comes. Or at least look the other way."
Pavel was quiet for a long moment.
"What about Anya? What happens to her if you succeed?"
"She will be free," I said.
"Or she will be blamed," Pavel said. "They will think she was part of it. They will punish her."
I had not thought of that.
The realization hit me like a punch to the stomach.
"Then what do I do?" I asked quietly.
"You make it look like an accident," Pavel said. "Or like an outside attack. Something that cannot be blamed on anyone inside the household."
"How?"
"I do not know," Pavel admitted. "But if you are serious about this you need to figure it out. Because killing Ivanov is only half the problem. Protecting Anya afterward is the other half."
He was right. I had been so focused on ending Ivanov that I had not thought about what came after.
"Will you help?" I asked.
Pavel sighed deeply. "If you promise me you will do this smartly. Not recklessly."
"I promise," I said.
"Then yes," he said. "I will help."
Over the next week I met with Viktor, Dmitri and Pavel in secret. We planned, discussed and we argued about the best approach.
Viktor wanted to poison him slowly over time.
Dmitri wanted to stage a car accident.
Pavel wanted to make it look like a rival family had him killed.
I just wanted him dead.
But they were right that we needed to be careful.
We settled on a plan finally. It would take time to execute. Resources we did not have yet. Patience I was not sure I possessed.
But it was the best option we had.
"Two more weeks," Viktor said. "We need two more weeks to get everything in place."
I wanted to scream. Two more weeks of watching Anya suffer. Two more weeks of serving meals and pretending to be broken.
But I agreed.
Two more weeks.