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“I figured if I was going to be forced into this life, I would take advantage of the money. Then your father,” she says, turning a glare on Dima as her nostrils flare, “decided I shouldn’t have a choice in the matter.”

Now I’m curious as to whether he strong armed her into getting pregnant, or manipulated her birth control the way we had with Everest when we got her back.

Doesn’t really matter how she came to be a mother – she’d had a duty to her daughter and she not only failed her, but talked her fucking husband into getting rid of Everest.

Had this whole thing been planned before they found out about the baby? Had that merely been an excuse, something they could use as justification should anyone question her murder?

No. That last part isn’t part of it being as everyone was told she had run off with a Russian fucker of his choosing. Even her best friend thought she’d merely disappeared to start a new life.

“We were going to leave. We were going to start a family in another state. You couldn’t have just let us go? Let us do as we pleased? Or do you just hate me that much?” Everest asks.

I don’t have to look at her to know the tips of her ears are red. She’s probably fighting tears, too.

Fucking assholes. I’m not sure how, but all four of these pieces of shit will die today. And now, I’m thinking I’ll leave Ada for last, make her suffer longer.

Chapter 47

Everest

It wasn’t anything I did. My mom simply hates me for existing.

I think it might feel better if she was jealous of me for some reason, or that she worried I would inherit my father’s crap if he died.

Nope. It’s merely because my heart beats.

Well, you know what? Fuck her.

Since the moment Kato signaled for me to hole up in the bedroom, it feels as though hours have passed, but can’t have been more than ten or fifteen minutes.

I’ve heard the cracks of gunfire, but I refuse to believe my other two loves are dead. I would feel it, wouldn’t I? I would feel the loss of a piece of my soul if one or both of them are dead.

Thing is, the gunfire has stopped. And neither of my husbands or even one of the guards that had been positioned around the property has come bursting through the front door yet.

Okay, E. Think.

There has to be a way to get the upper hand, or at least distract Mikhail or Eriks long enough for Kato to get one of their firearms.

I’ve been doing what I can to stall, to keep their attention on me as much as possible, but no way will two guards who’ve been with my father nearly as long as I’ve been alive underestimate Kato.

But not me. Or at least that’s my hope.

I’m sure my dad has a weapon holstered, but he hasn’t pulled it out. If I can get to one of the guards, pull the attention from Kato for even a split second, he can disarm one of them and turn the tables.

Or I could end up getting us both shot. He’s already bleeding way too much, his shirt soaked in crimson, and he looks far too pale for my liking.

But my husband won’t show the enemy any weakness. He’s not swaying, not wincing from pain. He’s standing tall, keeping me tucked close to him and a little behind his body as though ready to lunge in front of me at the drop of a hat.

I have to do something, though, damn it.

Still staring at my mom, I check the location of where Mikhail and Eriks are both standing and decide Eriks is my better option. He’s already injured and seems to be preoccupied with constantly wiping away blood and gingerly touching his hopefully broken nose.

Lunging at him, I wrap my hands around both his wrists and shove his arms upward.

The jackass had his finger on the trigger and the crack of gunfire makes my ears ring as a bullet lodges in the ceiling.

I keep my sole focus on him, even when Mikhail whirls on me, the muzzle of his gun pointed at me.

That only lasts a second before Kato tackles him to the ground.