Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 68630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 68630 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 343(@200wpm)___ 275(@250wpm)___ 229(@300wpm)
I didn’t think he knew about that, but I’m quickly coming to understand that Andrei isn’t as dumb as he often pretends to be.
“I took a page from your book, and you didn’t even think twice about it.” He grabs a fistful of Kat’s hair, yanking her head back to expose her throat.
She whimpers in pain, and I lunge forward on instinct, but Andrei drags her backward, bumping into the coffee table.
“Don’t fucking move!” he roars. “Or I’ll blow her goddamn head off right now while you watch.”
“Okay.” I hold up my hands in an attempt to placate him. “Just let her go, Andrei. Your beef is with me, not her.”
“You were supposed to kill her!” he bites out. “You know she can’t live. Vasily won’t allow it. I won’t allow it.”
Kat’s gaze moves to mine, and I can feel the betrayal in her eyes. I want to tell her he’s full of shit. I want to tell her every pretty lie I can think of right now. But first, I need to worry about getting her out of here alive.
“All these years, you’ve been telling me what to do,” Andrei continues. “Telling me what a fuckup I am. How I ruin everything. And you can’t follow a simple fucking order to put a bullet in this bitch’s head. You’re so pathetic, I can’t even look at you.”
His voice is rising with every syllable, years of repressed jealousy and rage unleashing itself. I know it’s only a matter of time, and he will make good on his offer. It’s too late to give him false assurances about Kat. I’m caught in the web I wove, and there’s only one way out now.
“Do you think I don’t know how much you hate me?” I meet his gaze. “It kills you that your father has only ever respected me. This won’t change anything, Andrei. The one thing you’ve always wanted? It’s never going to be yours. Because you won’t leave here without killing both of us today. And your father will never forgive you for that.”
His lip curls, and I know I’ve hit a nerve. But I’m not trying to provoke him. I’m trying to distract him. Because I can see Pasha at the back door now, his eyes wide as he signals to me. He’s already called for backup, but I can’t count on that.
“I was planning to be merciful.” Andrei dips his head, breathing Kat in while she struggles to pull away. “But maybe I’ll make you watch. I’m in no hurry.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I choke on the words. “Your whole life, you’ve wanted what’s mine. That’s why you did it, isn’t it?”
“Did what?” Andrei asks distractedly as he traces the curve of Kat’s throat with his gun.
“Killed my mother.”
His gaze snaps up to mine, and a sinister gleam flashes between his lips as they curl into a sickening smile.
“You know about that?”
His confirmation should come as no surprise, but the admission still feels like a knife to the heart.
“Not everything.” I force the words out. “But you may as well tell me. Because I can guarantee you this. Only one of us is leaving here alive today.”
He seems to consider it, but I know he’s just toying with me. If there is one thing I’ve come to understand about Andrei, it’s that he loves to poke at this wound. For years, he’s brought up my mother, a constant reminder of what I lost. But now I understand he was just laughing at his own private joke, adding salt to my wound.
I don’t want the details. Not really. But it’s the only thing I can think of that will keep him talking. From the corner of my eye, I can see Pasha creeping over the broken glass. He’s trying to slip in unnoticed, but I don’t know if he’ll manage. Upstairs, Josh’s frantic cries are growing louder. He’s screaming for his mother, and every second feels like the span of an hour.
“Shut that goddamn kid up!” Andrei screeches. “Or I’ll do it myself.”
“No!” Kat screams, fighting in his grasp. I meet her eyes, silently pleading with her not to move.
“Tell me what happened that night, Andrei. Tell me what you did to my mother.”
He sniffs, his leg bouncing up and down with an agitation that feels like the longest countdown of my life. I’m running out of fucking time, and he’s running out of patience.
“You want to know what happened to dear old mom?” he repeats. “I’ll tell you what happened. She was a weak fucking link, just like you.”
The floor creaks under Pasha’s shoes during his rant, but he doesn’t notice. Pasha edges closer, and I keep my attention focused on Andrei as he rages on, unleashing the story he’s kept bottled up for all these years.
“I fucked her, you know,” he tells me. “And she loved every second of it.”