Page 105 of Alexei

Vasili glanced our way. This was the ruthless Nikolaev man that everyone feared. You fucked with his family and he burned down everything you owned. Ivan had a bald patch on the left side of his head, the skin on his scalp blotchy and red. For the first time in all the years I’d known him, I saw fear in his eyes. A true terror.

It was about time he learned how it felt.

“There you are, Alexei.” Vasili’s grin was terrifying, but I fucking loved it. “I saved him for you.”

In two large strides, I was in Ivan’s face. Before he could say another word, my fist connected with his jaw, the bone crunching under my fist the best kind of music I had ever heard. The next second I pulled out my gun and shot him in his right foot.

His loud wail was enough to wake the dead. I hoped it woke up all the boys and women he killed. And when he was dead, I hoped there was such a thing as an afterlife so he could experience torture for all eternity.

“The woman from earlier,” I asked. I gave a word to Bianca Morrelli. “Who was she?”

He must have been thrown off by the question because he answered without thinking. “My wife.”

“What’s her name?”

“What does that-”

I shot the same foot, the exact same spot again and he screamed in pain. I wasn’t called the best shot for nothing.

"Sofia Catalano.” Fuck, itwasBianca Morrelli’s great aunt.

“Where is she?” I gritted. There was nothing more I wanted than to shoot him dead. Fear pricked in the back of my mind. Terrifying and cold. It’d cost me everything.

“She took a chopper out,” Ivan whined. Aurora was right; something wasn’t right with that woman and Ivan’s next words confirmed it. “She’ll come for you all. Morrellis, Kings, Nikolaevs. Even those filthy Kingpins. You better watch out,” he grinned, his mouth bloody.

I raised the gun and pointed it to his temple, my finger on the trigger. I didn’t pull it fast enough. I should have killed him the moment we set foot into this room, knowing what was at risk.

“Wait.” Aurora stepped forward to stand right beside me, on my left. She slipped her hand into mine, her gun in her left hand. She was left handed. This might end up being my funeral, as much as Ivan’s. “I have a question.”

I should have pulled the trigger. Yet, I couldn’t do that to her. I fucking loved her, and if it brought her peace, then so be it. I didn’t need any more years to live, as long as she was happy.

“Kroshka.” I tilted my head in agreement.

She inhaled deeply, then slowly exhaled. Her eyes locked on Ivan, the anxiety and fear rolling off her in waves.

Ivan could smell fear from miles away. He smiled a gruesome grin, blood coloring his lips.

“Ask away, Miss Ashford.”

I was certain she didn’t realize how hard she was squeezing my hand. So fucking symbolic that it was the same hand she took care of earlier.

“Where is Kingston?” her voice shook and a visible shudder passed her shoulders. “Where is my brother, you bastard?”

I didn’t need to glance at my brothers to see shock enter their expressions. They didn’t know about him. Everything with Kingston happened before we knew I was a Nikolaev too.

Ivan’s gruesome smile told me he’d tell her Kingston was dead. Fucking sick bastard! He didn’t know shit. Nothing about human decency and nothing about loyalty. Just his sick and twisted games. His eyes fleeted my way then returned to her with malicious gleam in them.

“He squealed like a girl,” he taunted and Aurora’s spine went rigid. “Cried for you and his brothers. Even his backstabbing daddy.”

She swallowed a gulp, while her body and my world shook, ready to tear us apart before we had even gotten started.

“You l-lie,” she stuttered in a whisper.

“Do I?” he taunted her. The bomb would explode at any second. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. “Ask Alexei. He came back for him and found him dead.”Boom. Aurora stiffened. “Didn’t you, boy? Alexei came back for your brother and found him whipped to death. Best part, it was Igor that did it.”

Ivan’s maniacal laughter filled the room, and Aurora’s head whipped my way, horror in her eyes hitting me right in the heart. It hurt worse than a bullet to my chest. As if the two of us were in our own bubble, the entire world faded into the background. I could hear Ivan’s taunting laugh, Vasili telling him to shut up.

“Don’t you remember, girl?” Ivan continued, gleefully and enjoying her pain as if he fed on it. He was the worst kind of leech. “It was Alexei that led us to you.”