“We would have killed each other long before that happened.”
She shakes her head. “You only say that because you were scared.”
“Scared of what?”
“Our passion. Our chemistry.”
“It was toxicity you’re speaking of, Marina,” I growl. “I never loved you. I married you because I had to. For the Bratva. For my father. But it is the decision I regret most in my life.”
Her eyes flash with anguish and frustration. She’s still looking for closure. I can see it in the way she’s looking at me and sneaking glances towards Jessa, as if even now, there’s a chance for her to make this end the way she wants it to.
She’s wrong. This ends only one way: mine.
“You faked your death to try turning the tide against me,” I say. “But as it so happens, your father was the only one who cared enough to hold me accountable. The rest of the underworld didn’t give a shit.”
“They will now.”
“Now?” I ask, pulling my gun out and raising it to her face. “Most of the underworld still believes you’re dead, remember? They won’t ever know otherwise.”
Her confidence is starting to wane. She’s looking nervous now. Terrified, really. I know Marina. I smell her fear.
Panic rising, she turns to Yulian. “My love, you can’t let them do this to me.”
Yulian just hangs his head in defeat. “It’s over now, Marina.”
“What? No! No, it isn’t over. We had a plan.”
“Plans don’t always work out, do they, Marina?” I ask. “We were supposed to be married. But you died and freed me. Now, I have a second chance with a woman I actually love.”
Jessa sucks in her breath, the same as Marina. I ignore the latter and look over to the woman who’s carrying my child.
Our eyes lock and I give her a small smile. “Look away.”
She fixes her eyes on the dagger I gifted her only hours ago and turns her back on Marina.
“No, no, you can’t do this, Anton. I am still your wife,” Marina begs.
“No, you’re not. You’re my brother’s whore. You’re the lying bitch who pinned your death on me. Since I’m being given the blame anyway, might as well make good on the accusation.”
I cock my gun and she pushes back against the wall, trying to get away from me. But she can’t run from the bullet.
I press the gun to her temple and pull the trigger.
The gunshot rings through the small room. Marina goes limp and hits the ground.
Silence, hot and thick, swallows us up. Lev rolls her body over with his foot so that her face can no longer be seen. He nods to the men standing behind him and two of them come forward to remove the corpse.
Jessa doesn’t turn back around until I tell her the body is gone. When she does turn, she looks towards Yulian. I notice the lone tear running down her face.
“How could you?” she whispers to him.
He is standing between two of my men, but it’s clear he doesn’t really need to be restrained. He’s lost his will to fight. He is a broken man.
“She made me think that this was the only way,” he whispers in a hoarse croak.
“The only way to what?”
“To be something,” Yulian says, glancing towards me. “Be someone.”