I don’t know why she looks so damn surprised to see him, but it gives him the opportunity to walk right up to her and pluck the knife from her hand.
Did she think for a moment that it was Anton, like I did? In the heat of the moment, they look so much alike.
“Enough,” Yulian growls. “Leave her alone.”
“Like hell I will!” she screams as she starts banging her fists against his chest.
He grabs her arms and holds her down. “She’s fucking pregnant. You don’t want that unborn baby’s blood on your hands.”
“Then you don’t know me at all!” she screams. “I want to fucking bathe in her blood. Hers and the baby’s.”
“I will not let you hurt them!” Yulian roars.
He twists her around so that her back is to him. Her eyes fix on me, and I can see the determination there. She’s going to kill me or die trying.
She drives her elbow back into Yulian’s stomach.
“Fuck,” he grunts.
And his hold on her must slip because she launches herself at me. She grabs my face, her fingernails clawing into my skin.
I cry out. But almost as soon as the attack begins, it’s over. All at once, she’s ripped off me.
Her body hits the floor with a hard thud. I look up expecting to see Yulian, but instead, I see the only man I truly believe can end this.
“Anton.”
His eyes meet mine for only a moment before he turns to Marina. He gathers her up by her hair, and she screams as he forces her to her feet.
“What are you doing here?” I gasp. “You’re supposed to be rescuing Chris.”
“We secured Chris about a minute ago. I split up the convoy so we could kill two birds with one stone.”
Marina is clawing at Anton’s hand, trying to get him to loosen his hold on her hair, but he’s immovable.
“You’re done, Marina,” he growls. “Quit.”
He shoves her backwards hard. She hits the back wall and slides down to the ground. Her eyes turn to me immediately, but Anton steps between us.
“You’re not going to fucking touch her ever again.”
Her eyes bore into his face, searching for something she clearly doesn’t find. “You really think you’ll want this whore around in a year? In two years?”
“I’ll want her around forever.”
For the first time, my gaze leaves Marina’s face. As if he can feel my eyes on him, he turns and says to me, “You know that, right?”
Before I can answer, Marina screams and moves forward. I’m not even sure who she’s going for, but Anton is too damn fast. He turns and grabs her by the throat. Her eyes bulge as he shoves her up against the wall.
“No!” she screams, her voice rasping under the strength of Anton’s hold. “No…”
She claws at his wrist, but he doesn’t let her go until she starts to go limp. Only when all the fight is gone out does he release her, letting her drop to the floor in a whimpering puddle.
“Your men are dead, Marina,” Lev says as he joins us in the room. “There’s no one left to protect you.”
I expect her to plead with them, but she just laughs. “I will always have men in my corner. Always. They’ll protect me.”
“Not if I cut off the serpent’s head,” Anton says darkly.
“You don’t know who the serpent is,” she hisses.
Anton sighs. “Actually, I do.”
Lev grabs hold of Marina as more Stepanov men pour into the room. Then Anton turns his back on Marina and his eyes lock on Yulian.
“Do you have anything to say for yourself, brother?”