“What is it you want, Siguard?”
Igor isn’t so interested in fighting anymore. He stands aside, too busy wrapping his head around the truth I’ve kept from him for years.
I clench my jaw, looking back at Siguard. “Tell me what you want.”
“I want everything, Valerian.” Siguard folds his arms over his chest. “Jamie and I were still working together after you chopped offhislegs. You thought you got your revenge.Unfortunately, he couldn’t face the media again. But we were living underground away from the world, just the two of us. He got sepsis in the end from his two severed legs and died.” Siguard keeps watching me. “I think me taking over your Bratva is a fair trade for what you did to Jamie.” Siguard watches Joy. “This should be a walk in the park.”
I glance over my shoulder again. She’s stopped screaming, but they still have her in the air. Her body is tilted ninety degrees again, face staring directly at the ground. If she falls, there won’t be anything left of her…
Ofme.
“Let’s keep this short and sweet,bratan.We don’t like to be wasteful with our time.”Siguard smirks. “Hand over your Bratva to me, including all assets and the real estate company, and you can have Joy.”
“And what will you do when you’re in charge?”
The smirk widens on his face. “The better question to ask is—whatwon’tI do?” The smile stretches across his face. “Power is a funny concept. Lots of people know how to make it, but nobody knows how to maintain it. That’s why businesses rise and fall suddenly.”
Siguard framed my father and sentenced him to die. He won’t take my Bratva away from me after he haunted me for years, his face the last one I saw before closing my eyes.
The memory weakened when I started building the Bratva. Making progress with my empire, building the real estate alongside it, proved that I was worth more than my misery. My days of sitting around, telling myself I was incapable andweak, were over, because I had a million-dollar business on the market. I finally had something to prove.
I stare deep into the depths of Siguard’s non-existent soul and suddenly see my own reflection.
It was always going to end with him. My test has arrived.
The wind howls between us, the sun almost down. The sky becomes a purple color as the evening transitions to night.
The buildings in the distance turn to silhouettes, standing tall against a dying sky.
I look out, seeing this city for what it really is. Dark and full of secrets. The whole world is. You can move halfway across the world and still expect to come across the same kinds of people. Power is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone always thinks they can accumulate more.
Control is always slipping through your fingertips, even when you think you have it.
But now I realize something much worse is slipping through my fingertips. A woman. Power can be rebuilt, but Joy is irreplaceable. Once a life has been taken, there’s no getting it back.
The satisfaction in breaking a neck and seeing the lights disappear in someone’s eye comes from knowing they’re gone forever. Once the lights go out, they don’t come back on.
I could give Siguard everything right now to save Joy. But as long as Siguard is alive, the cycle repeats.
I grab Niko’s attention, signaling to Joy. The two men holding her down need to be dead.
As for Igor, I’m not sure what his place is yet in this mess. He still looks like he wants to rip out my throat. I kept the truth from him. I get it. But he needs to channel that anger toward the real enemy among us and help me defeat Siguard.
Siguard likes to play games and turn people into monsters. There’s a reason he told Igor the truth of what happened.
I glance at Niko, preparing for war. As soon as I take out my knife and give him the signal, he’s barreling over to Joy and throwing the first man off the edge of the building.
Fuck. Not the best way to go about things, but we’ll work it out.
Joy screams.
In one fluid motion, Niko grabs the second man by his neck. A loud snapping sound fills the atmosphere as he breaks his neck, leaving the guy to bleed out on the floor.
I’m sure it’ll be a pleasant death for him. For putting his hands on what’s mine, he deserves more than a broken neck. But time is of the essence, and I still have a politician to slay.
I wrap my hands around Siguard’s neck, throwing him into the wall. I meet his eyes. Slide my knife under his neck, watching his Adam’s apple bobble up and down. He doesn’t look scared. But I can smell the fear in his breath as he takes staggered breaths.
“You’ll wish you were sent to my father’s prison by the end of this,” I hiss in his ear. The smell of earwax turns my stomach. He’s able to steal Joy butnottake care of his own hygiene.