Chapter 181 181

Chapter 181 181

My entire life, gone. It doesn’t matter if I’ll technically be alive. Living with someone like Kreshnik would be worse than death.

“What about Benjamin?” I ask.

“Afraid he has to die, too. He has the wrong blood pumping in his little veins. Can’t have that.” He looks down at Benjamin with a smile, no sign at all on his face that he plans to murder him in the next few minutes. “But you could save yourself, Piper. If you submit to me, I’ll let you live.”

The room is spinning. How long has it been since I’ve eaten anything substantial? My feet tingle. I can’t even be sure they are connected to the ground.

Kreshnik moves towards me, and I’m so out of it that I don’t even try to back away. “I could give you everything Timofey has offered and more. Luxury and finery. Fucking like you wouldn’t believe.”

I shake my head. “I can’t—”

“You can,” he purrs, suddenly persuasive. Was this his goal all along? Or maybe another in a long line of backup plans. “Timofey plucked you out of the sewer and polished you up. You don’t want all of that to be for nothing, do you? You’ll die if you refuse me.”

I search his face for any sign of mercy or concern. Is he making me this offer because he doesn’t want to kill me?

But the longer I hesitate over my answer, the more the amusement in his eyes becomes apparent.

“You’re… you’re fucking sick,” I hiss. “You’re doing all of this just so you can hurt Timofey.”

“Of course I am. I want to kill him, so—”

“But you want to hurt him as much as you can before you do. And you realized the only thing better than killing me in front of Timofey would be revealing that I’ve turned my back on him. You want to parade me around as your new toy before you kill him. Well, sorry to steal your fun, but I’d rather choke on my own blood than even pretend to be interested in you.”

His nostrils flare, and he pushes a rough hand through his gray-streaked hair. “That can be arranged.”

He backs away slowly, moving towards the makeshift bassinet where Benjamin was sleeping. “Actually, maybe my plans should shift a little. You know what would be worse than Timofey watching you die? Him walking in and finding you already dead. No hope to be found in a corpse. No second chances. No emotional goodbyes. Just a quick, brutal end to your pathetic life. What do you say?”

Before I can respond, the door to the storage room slams open. We both turn to look.

“Sergey! Finally,” Kreshnik crows. “I was starting to think you weren’t—”

But it isn’t Sergey.

“Timofey,” I breathe.

He’s here.

51

PIPER

When Kreshnik sees Timofey standing in the doorway, his face goes pale.

“Weren’t still alive?” Timofey finishes for him. The gun in his hand is aimed directly at Kreshnik’s head. “Then you’d be right. I killed your little pawn.”

Kreshnik works his jaw back and forth, nervous energy oozing out of him. “You killed your own father? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

“He was never my father. Not that you’d recognize that. If you’d been a father to your own son, maybe he wouldn’t have grown up to be a reckless psychopath. Maybe he’d still be alive.”

Kreshnik’s arms tighten around Benjamin, and my heart is beating out a steady vibration in my chest. “Timofey…” I murmur.

He glances at me and then pins his blue eyes on Kreshnik. “My father was going to turn his back on you and side with me. Even if I hadn’t killed him, your plan would have fallen apart. Now, you’re going to die.”

Timofey’s hand tightens on the gun, and I scream. “Don’t shoot! He’s holding Benjamin!”

On cue, the bundle in Kreshnik’s arms squirms. Timofey blinks. For a fleeting second, I see the shock and awe on his face. Then he schools his expression.

“Hand over my family and you live.”

Kreshnik laughs. “Don’t lie to me, Timofey. It’s beneath you.”

“I’ll spare you if you spare them,” he says. “My word.”

“Your word is shit!” Kreshnik spits. “We were supposed to be allies, yet you butchered my son.”

“Don’t pretend we were friends now, Kreshnik. The only reason you didn’t attack me is because you knew you wouldn’t survive the attempt. Unfortunately, your son didn’t have your survival instincts. It cost him his life.”

“And unfortunately,” he fires back, “you’re too late to save your little orphan. I’m going to kill your son the way you killed mine.”

“No, please,” I rasp. “Please. I’ll do—”

“I’ll kill you next, bitch!”

Timofey takes a cautious step closer to me. Kreshnik responds by untucking Benjamin from his blankets. He holds his frail body against his shoulder.

“Don’t get upset with her for rejecting you, Kreshnik.”

I glare at him, shaking my head. Now is not the time to taunt the man holding our baby.

As soon as the thought enters my mind, tears well in my eyes. Benjamin is our baby. In every way that counts, we are the only people in the world he has to depend on.

And we’ve failed him.

“You’ve brainwashed her the way you have everyone else,” Kreshnik growls. “Timofey Viktorov might as well be another name for the boogeyman the way people whisper it in fear. They think you are unbeatable. But I’ve proven them wrong.”

Timofey shrugs far too casually. “It depends on what you consider beating me to look like.”

“It looks like this!” Kreshnik holds up Benjamin. “I am going to destroy the future of your family. There will be no one with Viktorov blood left in existence.”

“Except for me,” Timofey says. Kreshnik frowns at him, so he continues. “Because the moment you move to touch my son, I’ll kill you, Kreshnik. You won’t live long enough to see my grief. And after your death, I’ll scrap your empire for parts. Your legacy will be scattered to the wind.”

Kreshnik looks from Timofey to me and back again. I see the moment he realizes Timofey is right.

“How noble of you, Timofey. Standing there while your son dies. I took you for a braver man than that.”

Timofey roils with tension. “Sacrificing myself won’t save anyone. You’ll kill me and then go after Piper and Benjamin all the same. The only satisfaction I can take from this is to be the one to put the bullet in your head.”

The two men stare at each other, the understanding of their mutually assured destruction pulsing between them.

But I think there might be another path yet.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I stumble sideways and crash into the metal shelf to my left. The metal bites into my ribs, and I wince in pain. My arm sprawls across the mostly empty shelf.

“Stand up!” Kreshnik barks.

As Timofey asks, “Piper?”

“I’m okay.” I give Timofey a weak smile, trying to communicate my plan to him with nothing but my eyes. I really do feel faint, so I’m not sure it’s working. “I’m just sick… because of the pregnancy.”