AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I cough, taking a step back, and Igor laughs. “You go down, you think they can kill me before I kill you?”
“We’ll find out, won’t we?” I suck in a breath, and focus. This is a fight I can win. Not one I’ll come out of completely unscathed, but one that I’m entirely capable of winning. And I’m not going to let Igor bait me into taking a beating.
I close in on him, fast. A punch to the side, an uppercut to the jaw, leaving him reeling. He swings, connecting with my ribs again, but I have him up against the proverbial ropes now, and I don’t let up. I’ve played his game, but I’m not going to keep drawing this out.
Another punch to the jaw, to the side of the head. Igor stumbles to one side, hits me hard in the back, and I pivot, kicking out one foot to catch his leg and sweep them out from under him.
He lands hard on his back, wheezing.
When he tries to get up, I let him. His face is bloody, bruised, and he spits out a mouthful of blood onto the floor. “Another round, svoloch?” he says, grinning a bloody smile, and I shake my head.
“Die with some dignity, Lasilov.”
He takes a step forward, spitting more of the blood towards me as he swings again. I grab his fist, wrenching his arm back as I hold my other hand out, and without even having to look, I feel the weight of the gun in my palm as Gio hands it to me.
I raise the gun, pressing it against Igor’s temple, my other hand still gripping his fist, twisting it behind his back. We’re standing close, nearly nose to nose, and I look straight into his eyes as I speak.
“You are here because you walked into my home. You threatened my children. You took away a part of their innocence, a sense of safety, that they can never now get back. You traumatized Bella, as if what your son did to her wasn’t enough. And then you took her, and you threatened to force her into your bed. To bear your child. You threatened to sell my daughter to men who would harm her in unthinkable ways.”
I lean forward, digging the gun in a little harder. “I tried to let the don handle this matter. I tried to let you and those of your ilk come to a peaceable resolution. But I was right to think that you can’t be trusted. I was right to think that you are nothing but an animal, selfish and rabid, thinking only of his own desires. And I know what is to be done with an animal who has tasted blood and only thinks of more.”
Igor laughs, as if he isn’t looking his own death in the face. “And what is that, svoloch?”
My finger tightens on the trigger. “You put them down.”
The sound of the shot leaves my ears ringing. Igor jerks sideways, blood spilling down his head as his body drops down to the floor, all of the life gone from him. And I stand there, the gun still in my hand, looking down at the first man I ever killed.
I wondered what I would feel, if it came to this. I’ve worked with men who are killers for many years, but I’ve never been one myself. I wondered if I would regret it, after.
But I don’t. All I feel is relief that it’s over. That whatever comes next, Bella will be safe. My children will be safe. My family will no longer be hunted by a man who sought to take what was never meant to be his.
I hand Gio the gun, exhaustion sweeping over me. “Make sure the body is disposed of,” I tell him curtly.
And then I walk back out to my waiting car, to drive back to the hospital to see my wife.
27
BELLA
The first thing I see when I open my eyes, is Gabriel, sitting next to my bed.
It takes me a minute to realize where I am—that I’m in a hospital room. My head feels thick and groggy, my eyes sticky, and my entire body hurts. For a moment, I almost think I’m dreaming. The same way I thought I must be when I heard him tell me that he loved me, as I slipped in and out of consciousness after the accident. I thought I imagined it.
But he’s here. Sitting next to the bed, and when he looks up and meets my gaze, the look of relief and happiness on his face is so utterly blatant that I know Clara was right all along.
Gabriel does feel something for me. Something more than I was willing to let myself believe.
He leans forward, gently reaching for my hand. “Bella? How do you feel?”
“Like I ran headfirst into a tree?” I manage a small smile, and I see him wince.
“I was so worried about you.” His thumb rubs over my knuckles. “I was afraid you wouldn’t wake up.”
“What happened? I mean—I remember the accident, but…am I—” I look down the length of my body, seeing the cast on my leg. My free hand instantly flies to my stomach before I can stop myself, and Gabriel follows the motion. My stomach twists immediately as I remember the test, the result I got just before all hell broke loose in the house, and how I have no idea what his reaction will be.
Gabriel looks at my face and chuckles. “I know, Bella. The doctor told me.” His hand wraps around mine, squeezing lightly, as my eyes widen, and I feel a bolt of panic dart through me. “I’m not upset. I’m happy about it. I don’t know when that could have happened, but?—”
“I think it was the library. When you asked me to marry you.” I feel my cheeks heat up. “But it doesn’t really matter, I don’t think. Just—how do you feel about it?”
