I turned to him, and surprisingly, the betrayal broke my heart all over again.
Nikolai dropped his gaze at the blazing accusation in my eyes. “Don’t look at me like that, Kirill. I had no choice. He was on to me; he’d never have met me here with so few guards if I didn’t offer her as a bargaining chip.”
“Enough talking! Both of you have to understand something about women. They aren’t to be trusted, and they are replaceable. I’ve learned that time and again. A warm hole is just that.”
Molly’s serene gaze stayed on me the entire time. She didn’t flinch, even when Viktor put a hand to her neck, pulling her head back.
“Look how she lets me do what I want, Kirill, because I have the power here. That’s what women really want. To be taken by the most powerful man in the room.”
Nikolai’s hand moved at his side, and I noticed he’d picked up the knife, but I couldn’t take my eyes from Mallory.
“Finish this now, Kirill, or I’ll hurt her.” Viktor’s voice sent a black rage descending over my vision. Then he chuckled. “Who knows, if Nikolai wins, now you’ve given him time to recover, maybe I’ll marry her myself and raise your kid.”
It was the last I heard as Nikolai started toward me. He slashed with the knife, and I twisted away. His jabs were clumsy and slow, and I avoided them easily, dancing backward across the bloodstained floor toward a couple of our silent bystanders. That Viktor had only brought four men he truly trusted proved his day had passed. If only he’d accept that.
Nikolai lunged for me, and I sidestepped. He slammed into the man standing against the wall instead, but it only slowed him a moment before he went for me again. I kept out of his reach, while desperately trying to watch Viktor and Mallory. Mallory’s eyes were on my father, and now he’d pulled her back against him. He ran his scarred hands down her front, pawing at her chest.
“Get the fuck away from her!” The shout left me as Nikolai plowed against me, knocking me off my feet, and into another one of Viktor’s made men. This one pushed us away, but not before he gave a short, gurgling gasp.
I turned to stare as the sharp point of Nikolai’s knife pressed against my throat. I stilled, my heart pounding.
“Look what love has reduced you to, Kirill. Love for your brother, love for your wife . . . it’s been the most destructive force in your life.”
“That title is reserved for you,” I ground out.
“Yet love brought you to my door in the first place,” Viktor reminded me. “Watch what happens to your love now.” He smiled and Nikolai’s knife bit into my skin a little more.
“Just watch, bratan, you don’t want to miss the big finish,” Nikolai muttered in my ear.
The sick fuck. He thought I wanted to see Molly violated by my father before he killed me? I went to fight him, to push forward, even if it meant slitting my own throat, but Nikolai’s soft voice interrupted the torrent of reckless violence pushing out from me in a wave.
“It stops with us, Kirill. It stops tonight,” he said in a near whisper.
It was enough to stop me, just for a moment. I watched as Viktor leaned in and grabbed Molly’s head in a rough grip and kissed her. It felt like Nikolai’s knife was cutting into my heart instead of my throat. Viktor moved his lips across Molly’s and for the slightest horrifying moment, it seemed like she was kissing him back. Then he roared with anger as she suddenly lunged in. He pushed her away hard, backhanding her in the process, and she fell to the ground.
Viktor raised his hand to his mouth, touching his tongue with his fingers, and coming away red.
“You trying to take a chunk out of my tongue, you stupid bitch? Kirill should have taught you better. I guess that will fall to me.”
He dabbed his lips, looking like he was chewing his injured tongue, and then he spat on the floor. A look of confusion passed over his blunt features. He brought his hand to his mouth again, and he spat on his palm.
“Did you slip something into my mouth?” His voice was incredulous and subdued.
Molly levered herself slowly to her feet as Nikolai’s hand fell from my throat. He turned, suddenly showing more energy than I’d thought he had left in him. He lunged toward the two remaining made men watching their boss with confused expressions.
One he took down with his knife under the chin, blood spraying across his face. The other raised his gun at Nikolai, but I was already there, my punch taking him off guard as I grabbed his gun and turned it to the wall. The shots rang out in the warehouse, and I got hold of the weapon and turned it to the last remaining man and shot him point blank in the chest. He went down as I whirled to the other two. They were already slumped to the ground. The awkward staggering fight I’d had with Niko earlier suddenly made sense.
Stepping toward one, I saw that his jugular had been cut. I hadn’t even noticed them sliding to the floor, given the sight of Viktor and Mallory. I turned back to Viktor and saw him stagger against his desk. Molly was watching him carefully. Nikolai was watching too.
“Here,” he said, passing me the knife by its blood slicked handle. “You do it. It’s my gift to you,bratan, so you might decide not to gut me for bringing her here.”
I turned to look at my brother. There weren’t many people in this world who truly knew me. Molly and Nikolai were the two lonely souls who’d seen my best and worst. There was a quiet intimacy between the remaining people left alive in the room. The intimate nature of deciding to take a life and letting it happen.
I took the knife and approached Viktor. He was wheezing, fading rapidly. He still had his gun, but his hands seemed incapable of reaching for it. I took it and handed it to Molly. She gripped it steadily. Fuck, my princess was strong when she needed to be. I turned back to my father. He had sunk down to the floor now and was shaking slightly as his eyes moved in and out of focus.
“I’d say you have a few minutes, if I’m right about what my wife gave you.” I took the gun and pressed it to his knee. “Just long enough to make it hurt.” I rotated the gun around his kneecap, digging in. “I like joints. They are beautiful things to break. You taught me that.”
The first shot was echoed by Viktor’s bellow of pain.