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“You weren’t the only one to suffer at your father’s hands, Aurora. You and I were supposed to take him out, but then you were gone. I was left to pick up the plan, and I’ve done everything I fucking can to get to this point.” I will not let her diminish that. Ever.

“Bullshit,” she snaps. “You wanted revenge, sure, but the rest of you, you enjoy this shit. You love doing this and being the assassin you are.”

On that, she’s correct. I’ve never denied it. In fact, I’ve accepted that it was always going to be my destiny. This, this is what I was meant to do.

I grin. “Oh, yes, that’s true. I’m very good at it.” Sometimes, it comes in very handy. Looking at the Romanovs and Oleg, I realize that until now, being an assassin is the only thing I’ve been. The only thing I’ve focused on other than taking down Pasha and his corrupt empire. “But sometimes, things come along that make you realize just how much more there is in life that you want. So I had to make it happen.”

Mila grins at me, understanding, but Oleg, Zakhar, and Ilya watch me with varying degrees of distrust and shock. A part of me feels a small kernel of disappointment at seeing it, but whatever.

It seems Rori isn’t finished yelling at me. Yeesh, you manipulate someone a little bit and involve them in a plot to kill their father they started, and they get all pissy?

Bitchy? Definitely. Do I care? Not at all.

“So let me see if I’ve got this straight. You rescued Mila from a pedophile, met her father and uncle, realized that you had the hots for said uncle, and went on the hunt to find out how she was given to the sick piece of shit. From there, you found out that Timur and my father were involved, so you wanted to take them down. You set this entire plan into motion until you could get me here and have them both out of the picture. And Simeon for good measure. All because you want to bang Romanov here?”

Zakhar lets out a snorting laugh, and my lips twitch. I mean, she’s not wrong.

“And,” she continues, face red, “you also realized this was the perfect time to fuck over my entire life, nearly get me, my dog, and my man killed. Oh, and finally tell me that my husband is not in fact dead, but alive, trained as an assassin by my father. Do I have that right?”

She wants to kill me. I can see it all over her face. Her hands shake with it. An answering fire burns in my gut. Oh well, this is much more my speed, and I’ve been waiting a long damn time for this.

It’s not like we don’t have time. But first…

I gently nudge Mila away from me toward her father. Don’t need her getting in the middle of this.

Now, for the fun.

“Pretty much,” I cheer, knowing it’s going to be the match that lights the fuse.

Steam practically comes out of her ears. “I’m going to kill you.” The words are cold, icy, and lethal. She means it.

Fucking finally.

34

ILYA

They launch at each other like charging bulls, ready to gore and maim each other. Whatever is between these two is deep, dark, and has been building for a very long time. This isn’t going to be a catfight. Fists slam and flesh hits flesh.

People are talking around me, but my focus is on the woman slamming her fist into Rori’s gut. I’m still reeling from everything I’ve just realized.

My stalker is a fucking assassin.

The goddamn Chameleon.

Everything that’s happened, everything that’s gone right and wrong, was her. Or influenced by her.

Because of her, Mila is safe.

Because of her, the Bratva Butcher is going to pay for everything he’s done.

Even if it started with Mila, she kept coming back for me. Me.

I don’t think I’ve ever been so damn hard and pissed off all at once. I still want to wring her neck for bringing Mila back here and putting her in danger, but also yank her into me and never let go.

Maybe I’m just as crazy as she is. We might be perfect together.

An old art piece goes flying toward her, jolting me from my thoughts. Tatiana—or whatever her name is—dodges it, her lithe movements a thing of beauty. I barely acknowledge Rori is hissing at her, my attention focused too much on the way Tatiana’s body moves, knowing how sinuously it moves beneath me when I’m balls deep inside her.