“Nikolay,” the man replies.
“Who?”
“It matters not,” Nikolay states coldly, “it’s ze only name you vill have in your head ven you die.”
“Promises, promises,” I mutter, and then I catch myself.
No. I can’t be reckless here, not with Cara tied up and Archer out for the count on the floor.
“Why are you even here?” I demand, drawing myself up to my full height even as my skull complains at the motion. “We have peace now.”
“With ze new rat,” Nikolay scoffs, “he did zomething ve vould never have been behind. He is scum like you.” Distaste rolls off him in waves and his entire form shunts as if the very thought of Feliks delivers physical distress.
Oh.
These men must be part of the Russian cell Feliks had mentioned. The old cell loyal to the previous Pakhan.
“Well he’s not here and he certainly won’t care if you kill me,” I snap, trying to draw all the attention onto me and away from my wife.
“Perhaps,” Nikolay shrugs, “ve vere on our vay to kill -,” he indicates to Blair, “-for her failures. She draws you in but zen fails at execution. You did not die at ze restaurant and neither did she. She ran ven she realized vat we were up to. Two birds, one stone, yes?”
Blair sobs into the abyss but she can drop dead right now for all I care.
“So?” I press.
“And who do ve find? Your little vife bundling Blair into car, so naturally, ve followed. You have been hiding from us for solong.” Nikolay laughs deeply. “Now really is two birds, one stone, ah?”
His brow lifts as if he expects me to appreciate his luck. Acid churns in my throat, threatening to spill forth with all the words I want to say. The urge to lunge forward and wrap my hands around that thick throat itches in my limbs but the consequences would be too dire.
“You’re here to kill me because all else has failed?” Such a desperate act for men past their prime.
Nikolay nods.
“Then why do you need them?” I tilt my head towards Cara and Blair. If I can get them out of here, to safety by bargaining my own life then I will. Without Cara here, I can be reckless enough to save both of us.
“Entertainment,” Nikolay offers with a twisted smirk and he reaches into his jacket, pulling out a black handgun. The safety unlocking pulls my heart sharply south. “You made zings very difficult for us over ze years. Always slipping away in ze nick of time. So, I vill give you one choice.”
“A choice?”
“Yes. Such an act bares no threat without vitnesses. So, you vill choose.”
“Choose?” The word is ash in my mouth as Nikolay’s offer fills the air around me before he even speaks those poisonous words.
“Yes. Who vill live to tell your family about vat happens here so zey know ve are coming for zem, and who vill die.” Nikolay raises the gun, the barrel coming in line with my eyes.
“Now choose, or I kill both.”
The answer exists before the question has even been completed. Never in my life have I been more certain ofanything. Cara is my choice. I’d burn down everyone I knew, the entire fucking world to ensure Cara survived. So between her and Blair? There’s no choice.
And yet, the words don’t form. How can they? If this bastard takes action, would Cara be able to live knowing I had given her that life through the death of another? Unable to help myself, I glance at Cara as my heart beats wildly in my chest, a thousand scenarios flitting painfully through my mind.
I could tackle him, I could wrestle the gun from his hands and shoot him, I could throw myself at Cara and take the bullet for her.
All of these scenarios end the same. Me, dead, and no one to protect Cara from the rest of the bastards decorating the lounge.
“Choose!” Nikolay yells, shaking the gun with such violence that my blood runs cold, fearing an accidental press of the trigger.
I choose to save Cara. I will always choose her.