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Leon rears back like he’s been burned, his pistol shaking as he aims it straight at Yakov’s sickening smile. Dimitry pushes his arm down, shaking his head warningly at his father.

“You never broke her.” Dimitry’s cracked voice breaks my heart. “Or me.Never.No matter what you did to us, we never forgot him.” He nods at Leon. “He was what kept my mother alive. She loved my father even more than she hated you.”

Yakov’s eyes flash. “I should have fucking killed you the night I took her.”

“Yes.” Dimitry’s face stretches into a lethal, cold smile that sends shivers down even my spine. “You really should have.”

“That smile,” Yakov whispers, staring up at him. For perhaps the first time, I sense a glimmer of fear behind his dark eyes. “Thatfuckingsmile.”

Dimitry leans in closer. “I want you to remember my smile,” he says softly. “It’s the last thing you’ll ever fucking see.”

“Dimitry.” Roman’s voice comes across the room, low but still commanding. “We have to go, brother. This place is wired to blow.”

Dimitry glances at Leon. “Together,” he says.

Leon nods.

The two of them stand back from Yakov’s chair and raise their guns.

By the time they’ve finished firing, Jacob Cohen, Jacey—Yakov—is gone from this world forever.

39

Dimitry

“Dimitry.”

Through the blinding rage, I become aware of Roman gripping my shoulder. “Come on, brother.”

I stare down at Yakov’s mangled remains, adrenaline churning through me. I can hear explosions in the distance—I know we need to go. Bryce and Paddy won’t blow anything nearby until I give the command, but we have limited time before the compound forces will compromise even their abilities.

“Wait.” There’s no trace of Leon’s customary urbanity. His face is a fierce mask of fury and pain, the killing rage all over him.

I find it hard to look at him, to see my own pain reflected in his face. I still can’t believe he’s actually my father. And there’s no time to make sense of it now.

“Zinaida said there’s a locked room in this building.” He nods at the rear doors. “Down that corridor. Blow it open, if you have to.”

I frown. “You want to tell me why?”

“Yakov stole a fortune in art from his scam victims.According to some of the girls Zinaida has taken in from here, that room is where they’re kept.” He grips my shoulder, pain crossing his face. “I can’t give you back the years Yakov stole from you. But if you can get in to that room, Dimitry, at least I can give you a future.”

I stare at him. There’s a thousand things I want to say, and no time to say them.

“Mak is sending a chopper for us.” I’m finding it hard to focus. “I need to get Abby out of here—”

“I know the way back to the pickup point,” Leon cuts me off. He hands me a hand-drawn map. “This is where the room is. It’s worth the time, Dimitry.” He meets my eyes. “Pete and I will get the girls to the chopper. I swear to you we’ll keep them safe.”

Pete.Christ. I almost forgot he was here. I meet his eyes, expecting contempt at best and outright horror at worst.

Instead, the sturdy farmer just nods at me. “We’ll get them out,” Pete says solidly. “You do what you have to.”

“Pavel, you’ve got their back.” Roman throws the tech geek a gun. “Don’t fuck this up.”

Pavel catches the gun and nods curtly.

Leon nods at him. “You did extremely well, friend.”

I look between them. “I thought Leon was supposed to be coaching you through the auction?”