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“I don’t want to ever hear from or see you, ever again. I mean it, Dmitri, don’t come for me.”
“I’m not leaving you here,” he grits, but I notice his hesitation. Most likely because my sister and he are still good friends; they always have been. Risking her life wasn’t an option.
“You can’t protect all of us, Dmitri. What I said then and now is still true. I never want to see you again. I despise everything about your existence, and had it not been for you, I wouldn’t be caught up in this mess in the first place.” Partly truth and lie.
If I had never met Dmitri, I most likely would have never drawn the attention of his father.
I wanted to blame him for all of this, to make it easier on myself, but deep down, I knew that wasn’t true. But it was effortless for me to unleash my hurt and frustration elsewhere.
If there’s no Dmitri, there’s no problem, right?
The gun shakes in my hand as I lick my lips and tears stream down my face.
His gaze is almost daring me to shoot him and I’m conscious of the time ticking.
“After you make sure my sister is okay, stay the fuck away from her and my family. Anything associated with you is bound to go up in flames, and I won’t put them in any further danger.”
A cold storm rages in his gaze. It’s unsaid, but until this point, we both know The Lion has use for me yet. And that’s the only leverage I have to stay alive for another day. But for my sister, the decision will be made in less than a minute.
He makes no indication of moving. So, I aim my gun and fire, hitting another potted plant nearby.
“You won’t shoot me,” he says matter of fact.
“It’ll be a hell of a lot easier if I do,” I admit. I don’t know if that’s entirely true. If I were to kill Dmitri, then maybe The Lion would retaliate and kill me and my family anyway. Maybe he actually doesn’t want his son dead but just to torment him because he has the time to play a sick and twisted game.
Dmitri kicks up an arrogant half-smile. “If it’ll set you free, then I give you permission to pull the trigger.”
My bottom lip trembles; how the fuck can this asshole be smiling as I point a gun in his direction?
How the fuck is our twisted fate intertwined again?
Dmitri has no care factor for his safety. He never has. But there’s one thing I’m certain of and the only reason he might leave this room.
I point the gun at my own head and he goes to step forward but stops himself. “Elanee…” he growls out in warning.
“I won’t come with you, Dmitri. I won’t risk anyone else’s lives. They might not mean much to you, but they are everything to me.” In the way he’s looking at me, I can tell he wants to throw me over his shoulder and storm out. So I add. “I’m not the only one whose family is at risk.” What about his mother and grandfather? What if he didn’t make it to them in time? What if they are on The Lion’s list as well?
A tic runs through his jaw as he looks at his phone, at the time, and then me. “I’ll kill him and set you free. I’ll come back for you,” he promises as he goes to leave.
“I’d rather you not.”
7
DMITRI
It took my hacker, Claus, only a few minutes to narrow down on Layla’s location. When I arrive at the rundown bar Layla found herself at, she’s shamelessly flirting with the bartender.
The moment she sees me, her eyes go wide. My suit jacket is hiding most of the blood-stained shirt beneath, but I certainly look like I’ve had better days. My driver has been insistent on taking me to the hospital, but I have no intention of making my crossfire with my father publicly known. I have a personal doctor who I’ll have assess it, but first I had to make sure that Layla was safe.
She jumps off her stool as I casually lean over for her drink and throw it back. It does nothing to quieten the raging storm inside of me. I left Elanee behind… like a fucking coward. Unable to protect her, just like my fucking mother. Elanee might loathe me, but I resented myself even more, especially knowing that the only reason Elanee fell prey to my father was because of one denominator: me. She was caught in his web, and right now, I couldn’t do a damn fucking thing about it. I savor the wound in my shoulder; in fact, I deserved far worse.
All these years I’d been working against him, only to be humbled by the reality that I was still nothing compared to his reach. Five fucking years she’d been gone. How long had they’d been in association? What’d he do to her? Why—
“Why are you bleeding?” Layla demands, snapping me out of my spiraling thoughts. She tries to fix my shirt jacket in case anyone else notices my disheveled state. There are only two other people in the bar this early in the morning. She’s immediately on damage control for my public reputation. It would raise too many questions. Sully my grandfather’s company and everything that I’d built thus far. But I hadn’t thought of any of that. Didn’t care for any of it right now, either.
“We need to leave,” I grit out. Those bastards are most likely still watching this bar. I throw a bill on the counter to pay for her drinks and what I imagine to be a generous tip. Layla offers the bartender an apologetic goodbye and doesn’t hesitate, following me into the back of the waiting car.
“When was the last time you spoke to your parents?” I ask.
