Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 80207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80207 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 401(@200wpm)___ 321(@250wpm)___ 267(@300wpm)
Prodi sneers at Alek. “Choose, or I’ll kill them both.”
Vincent manages to lift his head, but he can only gargle something illegible.
“Get him up on his feet,” Prodi instructs a guard. “Turn him around so he can watch them die.”
My eyes lock on Alek, so he’ll be the last thing I’ll see.
Prodi walks toward me and raises the gun. When he presses the barrel between my eyes, the trembling in my body stills.
I wait for my life to flash through my mind, but there’s only Alek.
“No!” Alek’s shout echoes through the room. I see the fight draining from his face and how his heart breaks. His eyes settle on Vincent.
The brothers stare at each other then Vincent nods.
My eyes are on fire with unshed tears as I whisper, “Don’t do it, Alek.”
He ignores me, and still holding eye contact with Vincent, he says, “I choose Vincent.”
The barrel leaves my forehead, and a gunshot blasts through the air. Instantly I taste gunpowder, and my ears ring.
I think I scream.
My bladder fails me.
And I can’t tear my eyes away from Alek as he watches his brother die.
Chapter 15
Alek
My brother looks at me with acceptance, his eyes begging me to put an end to his torture.
He’s reached his limit.
My gaze desperately flicks between Everleigh, the woman I love, and my brother.
Christ. Christ. Christ.
Vincent nods.
Knowing Prodi can fire his weapon at any second, the devastating words leave my mouth, “I choose Vincent.”
I choose Vincent.
I hardly hear the gunshot, and as my brother’s head falls forward and blood trickles from the gunshot wound to his temple, my sanity slips through the cracks that formed in my mind.
Knowing I’ll follow him soon, I watch my brother die.
Not only did I betray my brother, but I ordered his death.
It takes minutes before the thought sinks in, and the grave reality of what I’ve just done stares back at me.
Even though Vincent gave me the nod, and I could clearly see he had reached his limit, it doesn’t make it any easier.
After all the torture he endured, my brother knew he was the only true option.
We all have our limits, and Vincent reached his.
Still, I chose for my brother to die.
Unable to feel anything, my mind spins into a dark abyss.
I don’t hear anything being said, and my body is on autopilot when I’m dragged out of the room.
My eyes stay glued to Vincent until he disappears from my sight.
I’m shoved back into the dark room, and I feel Everleigh’s palms on my jaw.
Still, I don’t hear anything.
She tugs me down, and when my ass hits the floor, I bring my knees up and rest my forearms on them. My head lowers.
Minutes…hours…days…weeks…months…
A year could pass, and I wouldn’t know.
Frozen in shock and agony, my mind drifts off into a place where there’s only the silence that comes with death.
My return to consciousness is sudden and excruciating.
I’ve been through a lot, and I’ve seen shit in my life, but not once did I cry.
Not until today.
Hot tears spill from my eyes, dripping on the floor.
I grip fistfuls of my hair, and unable to bear the loss of my brother, a hoarse shout tears from my chest.
“Alek,” Everleigh cries. She wraps her arms around my head and holds me to her chest. “I’m sorry. God. I’m so sorry.”
I had my own flesh and blood killed.
With no other words to be said between us, Everleigh just holds me as the loss of Vincent destroys me.
Growing up in the bratva world, you’re prepared for a bloody death at a young age. You know you’ll lose family and friends along the way.
But still, none of the training I’ve had could’ve prepared me for the past months and Vincent’s death.
I’ll never see him again.
He was only twenty-three.
How will I tell Mama?
“Alek?” Everleigh whispers.
I can’t move or talk. Captured in perpetual grief and guilt, I can only face what I’ve done.
I had my brother executed.
I just couldn’t let Prodi kill Everleigh. Not her. Not ever.
Suddenly the sound of gunfire erupts, erratic pops echoing through the building.
“Oh, God.” Everleigh climbs to her feet, and once I’m standing, she moves in front of me for the first time. “Go to the corner. I’ll cover you with my body.”
When I don’t do as she says, she hisses, “Dammit, Alek. Move!”
Just as she presses her hands against my chest to push me backward, the door shudders open. She spins around and presses her back to my front, her arms wide.
She’s willing to take a bullet for me.
Instinctively, I shove her out of the way, and as she falls to the floor, Dario opens fire on us.
I feel a bullet penetrate my thigh, and another hits my abdomen. My body’s forced backward, and I slam into the wall. My back goes up in flames, and sinking to the ground with my legs sprawled wide in front of me, an insane chuckle escapes me.