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I shrug and tear off another fingernail before moving on to his other hand.
“Aaaah! Suka poshel nakhuy, uyebok!” he screams at me. “My uncle will kill you when he finds out what you’ve done to me!” Suddenly this man looks more like what I’d expect from one of Vlad’s generals. The frightened boy is gone, and I’m looking into the narrowed eyes of an enraged man.
“We’re wasting our time, bratok.” Dima has stepped up behind me. “We spent an hour going through the same shit before you got here. He doesn’t know anything about her.”
“Relax, Dima. All he needs is a little push,” I don’t take my eyes off Ivan as I answer Dima. Pure hatred stares back at me from his twisted, bloody face.
“Fuck you and your little push, Vyronov!” His lip curls. “You think my uncle recruits pizdas like you people? We are men!”
“Sure. Men who scream like a pussy when they lose their a fingernail.” I rip off another one. He screams yet again, spit flying as he bucks and writhes. Then, he stops screaming, he starts laughing.
“You’re going to die for this, Vyronov!” he barks at me. “All of you will die as we carve you into pieces and feed you to the pigs!”
“Maybe. But I’m willing to take my chances.” I tap the pliers against his cheek. They’re bloody. So are my hands. “You’re out of nails, Ivan. Your fingers will go next. Unless you tell me where she is.”
“Tvoyu mat’ trakhayut!” he spits. “Your mother will die first! We’ll slice her fucking throat and fuck her while you watch!”
Rage hits me like a tidal wave of scalding water. I drop the pliers. Suddenly my fingers are curled around the grip of my Tokarev, and I’m not even sure how it happened.
“Last chance mudak. I asked you where she is,” I roar. The trigger is cool beneath the pad of my finger. I press the muzzle against his temple.
“Fuck you! After we’re done with your mother, we’ll play with that little doll of yours!” He laughs again. “You can watch as our men take their time with her.”
The explosion that takes the top of his head off comes without warning.
Blood sprays in a fine mist that colors the wall behind him with pink. Gore splatters my face and soaks into the fabric of my shirt as the sound of the gunshot echoes around the room. I wipe the back of my hand against my cheek where something is trickling.
Goddammit, Vyronov.
He might still have said something useful.
I push myself up and take a step away as Ivan Petrov’s body twitches, slumps to the side against his bonds, and then goes still.
Blyad.
That’s not exactly how I planned this. I set the gun down on the table, then reach for a rag to wipe the blood from my hands. Rage is still coursing through me. How fucking dare he? These animals killed several of my men in cold blood, penetrated my security, hit my home, and caused millions of dollars of damage. But to insult my mother and Tiana like that?
Pizdets!
The startled gasp behind me has me swiveling in the direction it came from. I freeze at what I see there.
Or who.
The door to the room is hanging open, the light streaming around where Tiana is centered within it. Her expression is filled with so much horror and revulsion that I’m struck dumb. Her face has lost all its color and her eyes are wide open as she stares at the scene unfolding in front of her. She takes in several heaving breaths, her throat working as she stares at the lifeless corpse of the man I just killed. Killed in front of her.
Blyad.
Shit just got a whole lot more complicated.
“You…” she croaks, then clamps a hand over her mouth. She looks at me with huge, dark terrified eyes that have so much horror in them it hurts. I know what I am. And I know she knows. But this is the first time she’s ever witnessed my dark side in full force. There is no sugarcoating what just happened. No trying to hide it.
So, I don’t. I simply stand there like an idiot, the filthy rag in my hand, with blood running down my face. Our eyes lock for endless seconds.
Then she spins on her heel and bolts down the hall.
Chapter Eighteen
Tiana
