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“Isabella!” Stacy shouts, turns, and starts moving toward her.
“Stop!” a male voice calls from behind her, and Temur steps into the room.
Stacy ignores him and starts to walk slowly toward Isabella.
“Bella, please let me explain,” Stacy holds up her hands as she inches forward. “I was forced to take you to Lev. He…” She swallows. “He was going to kill me.”
I’m about to tell Isabella that she can’t believe anything that comes out of Stacy’s mouth, but Isabella answers her. “It must be tough to be in love with a man like him.” Her voice is soft, but there’s an edge to it.
“Oh, Bella, you don’t know what I’ve been through,” Stacy wails.
The fucking bitch is a first-class actress, I’ll give her that. I’m about to storm over there, but Konstantin stops me and inclines his head behind us. I turn, and my eyes widen. There are four massive brutes with automatic weapons behind us.
“What the fuck!”
“I believe they’re Dmitry’s men,” Konstantin says in a low voice. “Now I know what they were waiting for.”
“Care to fill me in?”
“They were waiting for Isabella’s orders!”
I don’t know whether to be comforted or scared shitless that Dmitry Popov loaned Isabella his army. Dmitry Popov wasn’t known as the Butcher of the North for nothing, and his men were rumored to be just as bloodthirsty and ruthless as the old bastard was.
Before I can ponder it, the scene between Isabella and Stacy catches my attention.
“Oh, Stacy, that’s truly awful for you.” Isabella smiles warmly and opens her arms to Stacy.
Anger boils through me that Stacy had managed to get to Isabella. I’m about to step in, not giving a fuck about Isabella’s own army surrounding us but stop in my track at what unfolds.
Stacy lunges forward, but before she can get to Isabella, Isabella swings the butt of the gun, connecting with Stacy’s jaw. Stacy goes down, and Isabella stands over her, aiming the gun at her head.
“That’s for my dog Titan, whom I believe you killed.”
Stacy starts laughing. “That stupid fucking dog was all you spoke about,” she sneers. “It gave me such pleasure with each swing of the bat.”
Isabella’s about to pull the trigger, “Isabella, don’t!” I call out. Her head snaps up, and our eyes meet. “Don’t!” I shake my head, knowing it will haunt her for the rest of her life. “She’s not worth it. Hand her over to Konstantin and Roman. Let them dish out justice for you.”
“You bitch!” Stacy’s on her feet in a flash and dives for Isabella, but before she can reach her, Temur puts a bullet between her eyes.
“Stacy!” Lev roars, lunging at Isabella, but before he can reach her, Temur intercepts, shoving him back into the living room with a powerful thrust.
“Everyone, just stay calm,” Temur tells us and turns as a man drags Sasha into the room and pushes him toward us. “Konstantin and Andrey, drop your weapons and kick them to the door.”
“What the hell is going on, Isabella?” Our eyes meet, and I suck in a breath as I see hers brimming with anger and unshed tears. “We have Lev and Stacy. Why are we being held hostage still?”
“Yes, Isabella, I’d like to know, too,” Roman growls.
“Because, dear Uncle,” Lucien cuts in with a smirk, eyeing Isabella, “my cousin has finally pieced together the fragmented puzzle.”
“Then why are we still being held like this?” my mother snaps, her voice sharp.
Isabella strides into the room, her gun trained on my mother, her gaze cold and unyielding. “Because Lev isn’t the mastermind, and he didn’t kill my mother.”
“Ivan and your father killed your mother,” my mother retorts, her eyes narrowing, “because they were covering up their crimes against their older brothers.”
“That’s a lie, isn’t it?” Isabella’s voice drips with controlled fury. “Ivan and my father weren’t the monsters she was fleeing from. It was someone else—someone who slaughtered their entire family to seize power and made a deal with a like-minded devil to make it happen.”
“Is that what the recording said?” my mother sneers. “Because Karina probably doctored it to spite me for breaking her brother’s heart.”
