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Jasper is still standing alone, set against the dark trees. His face is ghostly pale as he stares at the body on the ground.
“He worked alongside you for months!” Gedeon hisses, lunging for Jasper like he’s forgotten the man is still armed and insane. By the blank look on his face, it looks like Jasper has forgotten, too. “He was one of the men who didn’t think you were a waste of space!”
Gedeon leaps over the body, closing in on Jasper, and I finally see who it is.
Matvei.He was one of my first recruits after I took over the Bratva. He’s been loyal through and through… and now, he’s dead. Dead because I couldn’t do what needed to be done. Dead because he trusted in me, and I failed him.
Guilt and rage swirl into a volatile cocktail in my chest. I narrow my eyes at Jasper. “This ends now.”
“Arsen?”
I freeze, the sound of the voice behind me filling me with dread. I whirl around. “Get back inside!”
But Laila is cresting the hill. “Arsen?” She can’t hear me. She can’t see what’s happening.
“Laila!” I bellow, rushing towards the sound of her voice. “Get back inside now.”
Jasper seizes the opportunity and bolts for the woods.
“I have the shot!” Gedeon declares raising his gun.
“Guns down!” I roar. “No one shoots!”
Gedeon hesitates, his finger itching for the trigger.
“If there’s anyone in those woods, they could shoot back!” It might have been worth the risk a second ago, but not now. Not with Laila here.
Laila reaches the top of the hill and stops, scanning the scene below her with panic. “Arsen?”
I grab her arm and drag her back to the entrance. “I told you to stay inside!”
“I heard something. I didn’t know where you were. I thought—” She twists out of my hold and crushes herself against my chest instead. She melts against me. “I thought you might be hurt. I was scared.”
I’m livid with her—for ruining my chance to nab Jasper, for putting herself in danger. But I hold her tight. “I’ll be fine,roza. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“But Jasper was down there!” she cries out. “And I ruined everything.”
I smooth down her hair and kiss her forehead. “We’ll get him.”
“Boss.” A voice echoes in the darkness.This night will never fucking end.
I turn to find Vasily walking towards me. “Boss, it’s the Oryx warehouse… They’ve just been attacked.”
I stiffen. And it’s Laila who asks the obvious question: “When?”
“Just now. Three minutes ago.”
Gedeon and Dominik appear on either side of Vasily. One look at them, and I know we’re all thinking the same thing.
Scattered, manic, and pathetic though Jasper may be, he’s definitely not working alone.
The only question now is, who has been stupid enough to join him?
47
LAILA
“What are the chances Arsen would let me out of the house for a couple of hours?”
