I took that as athank you.
Just then, Artur turned a corner and froze across the hall when he saw me crouched beside Konstantin. He didn’t expect to find me outside because he’d asked me to stay in the closet in our bedroom.
His gaze swept over me: the sweat on my forehead, the blood on my hands, and the fallen giant beside me. He got a grip of himself and rushed over to us, his breath coming in short, labored gasps.
“He needs medical attention,” I said to him, glancing down at Konstantin.
“What happened to him?” He crouched before me.
“She saved me,” Konstantin replied to him, his voice weak and faint.
Pride flashed in his eyes when he looked at me as he signaled the men behind him. Two of them came over and helped carry Konstantin away.
By now, the shootings had stopped, but the tension was still lingering in the air.
“Are you okay?” He held my hand, helping me up.
I nodded.
His eyes caught the blood on my dress.
“It’s not mine,” I said, then looked at the fallen giant. “It’s his.”
It took a moment, but he eventually got the message, and his eyes widened in shock. “You did this?”
I swallowed hard, basking in the way he looked at me with so much pride.
I’d just killed a man—multiplemen. I should be feeling guilty. Yet I wasn’t. I crossed the line when I took that first man’s life in the bedroom and had become someone I couldn’t recognize.
But killing them was a necessary evil.
It had to be done.
It was either them or one of my own.
And like a good shepherd, I chose to protect my own. No remorse. No regrets. In fact, I’d do it again if faced with such a choice.
As the wife of a ruthless Mafia boss, I had to have some atom of ruthlessness in me as well. It was the only way to survive in this cruel world. He’d tried to tell me this earlier, but I never listened. I never learned.
Until now.
Fortunately for me, I was the victor this time. Not the victim.
“I’m not as helpless as you think I am,” I said quietly.
He pulled me close and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’m so proud of you,” he whispered in my ear. “Istrebitel’ velikan.”
I squinted, a bit confused, as they were the same words Konstantin had said to me earlier. “What does it mean?” I asked. “What you said.”
He looked into my eyes. “Giant slayer.”
My lips curled into a small smile.
I thought it was a bit exaggerated, but at the same time, it felt good to be appreciated. And noticed.
Celine the Giant Slayer. Hmm. It does have a ring to it.
Chapter 22 – Artur