Page 73 of Gilded in Blood

I don’t give him the chance. I draw my own weapon and fire twice. He drops to the floor, the gun slipping from his hand.

The silence that follows is deafening.

I turn to Milana. She’s fine. Unharmed. Relief floods through me so strongly it almost knocks me off my feet. I rush toward her.

“Don’t come any closer,” she says, voice shaking as she steps back, knife still raised.

I stop dead in my tracks.

The betrayal, fear, and hurt in her eyes gut me more thoroughly than any bullet ever could.

She’s rattled, terrified. And it breaks something in me. I would never hurt her. But right now, she doesn’t know that.

“Baby, I’m not going to hurt you.”

A wounded groan comes from the floor. Milana rushes to Ilya’s side, dropping to her knees and pressing a kitchen towel against the gunshot wound.

Her hands shake so badly she can barely keep pressure on it. I need to know she’s okay.

“Stay away from me!” she screams when I take a step closer. “Don’t come any closer!”

I stop where I am, hands raised, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. “Milana, I’m not going to hurt you. Just… let me help.”

She keeps pressure on Ilya’s wound, tears streaming down her face. “You lied to me. Who the hell are you?”

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly.

I’ve never apologized to anyone in my life. But for Milana, I’d say those words a thousand times over. I’d spend this lifetime, and the next, trying to earn her forgiveness if it meant I’d never have to see that look on her face again.

She looks up at me, disbelief and hurt etched across her face.

“I wasn’t bluffing when I said the police are on their way,” she says, her voice shaking. “If you have any sense, you’ll leave before they get here. Otherwise they’re going to arrest you.”

Despite everything, she’s still trying to protect me. Christ. Even now.

I shake my head. “I’m not leaving you.”

She lets out a bitter laugh, tears spilling down her cheeks.

“Don’t.” She shakes her head. “Don’t pretend you care.”

“I do care,” I say, voice low.

“You don't! Because if you did, then you wouldn't have lied to me.”

I have a lot of explaining to do, but now isn’t the time. If she really called the police like she said she did, I need to make sure we’re on the same page before they get here.

“Milana.” I take a cautious step toward her. “I know you’re hurt. I know you’re angry, and you have every right to be. I have so much to explain, but now isn’t the time. If the police are really on their way, we need to get our story straight before they get here.”

She keeps her hand pressed firmly against Ilya’s wound, refusing to look at me.

Then she laughs again, humorless this time. “The nerve,” she mutters. “The absolute nerve.”

Finally, she lifts her eyes to mine. “You lied to me. You lied to my brothers. You kidnapped an innocent man and kept him chained in a basement.” Her voice cracks. “And now you expect me to help you? After sleeping with me while pretending to be someone else?

“If you don’t leave,” she continues, “I’m telling the police everything. Every single thing. You’ll spend the rest of your life in prison.”

“You can do that,” I say evenly. “But it won’t help you.”