Page 87 of Gilded in Blood

Fear rips through me. They are going to kill him. “Please don't kill him!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

“Milana, go to your bedroom, we'll come get you when we're done,” Mikhail says.

“No.”

Artyom carries on like he doesn't hear me. Still holding Kirill by the collar, gun pressed to his head. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head right now.”

Kirill doesn’t flinch. “Because you need me alive. I can help you bring Michael down. You need an inside man, and I’m the only one who knows about his operations.”

“No we don’t, we can take him down ourselves,” Artyom says.

“Yeah, but wouldn’t it be easier if you had someone on the inside feeding you Michael’s next move?”

There's a long pause as my brothers both seem to consider Kirill's words.

Artyom finally lets him go, but they stay on guard, guns still ready.

Mikhail glares at him. “Why would we need you? For all we know, you could go back to Michael and keep spying on us like you’ve been doing.”

Kirill shakes his head. “I haven’t been spying on you. If I had been feeding Michael real information, he would have already brought down at least part of your organization by now. But I haven’t.”

My eldest brother narrows his eyes. “And why is that?”

Kirill looks at me for a second before answering. “Because I care about your sister. Milana has become more to me than just a job. That’s why I’m willing to do something I’ve never done before. Betray the man who hired me. I’ll be your inside man with Michael. I’ll help you bring him down.”

My brothers seem to process this, their anger slowly cooling into wary acceptance. They lower their guns, but the tension in the room is still thick.

Then Mikhail speaks up. “She’s not staying here with you alone.”

Kirill doesn’t so much as blink. “She stays with me.”

“Like hell she does,” Artyom snaps.

“She’s safest here.”

Mikhail folds his arms. “You expect us to trust you after everything we’ve just heard?”

“I don’t expect you to trust me.” Kirill’s voice remains calm. “I expect you to use your heads.”

“Careful, Kirill. You’re running out of reasons for me not to put a bullet in you,” Artyom warns.

Kirill doesn’t even look at him. “I need to make Michael believe things are still going according to plan. If Milana disappears with you tonight, he’ll know something’s gone wrong.”

The room falls quiet. Artyom studies him for a long moment. Then Artyom turns to me.

“Milana.”

Every head turns with him. “What do you want?”

My throat tightens. I look at my brothers. Then at Kirill.

After everything that’s happened, I don’t know if I’m making the right decision. But I do know one thing.

“I… I’ll stay here.”

Mikhail lets out a frustrated curse.

“Please.” I look back at my brothers. “Just… trust me.”