Kolya is standing on the platform. Thea stands in front of him, one arm locked around her neck, pulling her back against his chest. His pistol is pressed to her right temple. Her hands are gripping his forearm, fingernails digging into his sleeve.
Our eyes meet.
She looks at me, eyes wide and terrified, but she’s alive. Kolya’s hand is clamped over her mouth, her cries muffled against the thick meat of his palm.
The emotion I’d been holding back surges to the surface all at once, and I have to physically stop myself from rushing forward. My sights are aimed at his head, and every instinct I have is screaming at me to take a shot and kill him. But Kolya is holding Thea in front of him as body armor, his gun to her temple, and his finger on the trigger. I can’t take that chance.
Alexei materializes next to me. I can sense he’s doing the same calculations in his head and coming to the same conclusion.
We don’t have a clean shot.
“Gabriel.” Kolya’s voice is almost warm, congenial. “I wondered how long it would take for you to find me. Sooner than I’d expected, but nonetheless. You’re efficient and I’m impressed.”
“Let her go, Kolya.”
He shakes his head and chuckles. “No, I don’t think I will. You know, Gabriel, you always have gone with your heart. It’s your worst quality, if you ask me. A don who falls in love? That’s a donwho can be controlled, like a puppet. I mean, look at the power I’ve had over you just by pulling at the right string.” He shoves at Thea’s temple with his pistol, making it more than clear what he means.
“All of this,” he continues. “All of this bloodshed and drama because of some fat little maid from Brooklyn.”
Thea flinches at the words. I see it, and so does Kolya. He smiles at her reaction. I want to rip that goddamn smile right off his face.
“Tell your men to lower their weapons and leave the building,” he says. “All of them. You too, Petrov. You might have managed to take out my men here, but this is only a fraction of my army, and the rest are on the way.” He arches a brow. “You weren’t expecting that, were you? Let’s see how these fancy operators are against four dozen of my finest soldiers.”
Is he bluffing? Hard to tell.
“Now,” he says. “Lower your weapons and let us leave. She and I are going to walk out of here together, and I’ll be in touch at a later time. Hopefully cooler heads will prevail, and we can have a nice negotiation.”
He shoves the gun against her temple hard enough to cause a whimper of pain. My gut tightens.
“Choose wisely, Gabriel. The war or the girl.”
CHAPTER 48
THEA
The emergency lights pulse in a horrible blood-red hue.
I try to focus on Gabriel and his voice, his presence.
I can barely make out his shape in the dark, his outline illuminated, then fading over and over. His gun is steadily aimed at Kolya, and he stands perfectly still. Behind him, I see the shapes of three other men, weapons raised. They fan out, trying to find an angle to hit Kolya without hitting me.
I want this to be over, and I can’t imagine what it’s like to be in Gabriel’s position, knowing one wrong move could cost him both his love and his child.
“Choose, Gabriel,” Kolya says again. His voice vibrates through his chest into my back. “Let us leave. Now. Or she dies.”
Gabrel doesn’t answer. His eyes don’t leave Kolya’s face.
“No? Nothing to say?” Kolya’s grip tightens around my mouth and I struggle to breathe. I can taste the sweat on his palm, and it’s awful. “Well, I suppose this is all quite a lot to take in. Twentyyears of planning leading to this moment. One wrong move, and it’s all over.”
He presses the gun harder.
“But you don’t have to take that risk. Let us leave. Then maybe, just maybe, if you’re lucky, and I’m feeling generous, I’ll let you have her back. There might be a price to pay, but at least you’d have her.”
I know Kolya too damn well by now. He’d give me back to Gabriel—but as a corpse. There’s no ending to this where he and I both live.
He shoves me again with the pistol.
“Now, Gabriel!” Kolya snarls. “Let us leave. I’m not going to ask again.”