Page 118 of Arranged Control

But Molchanie backs up.

“I’m here foryou, Alina. Believe me, this is for your own good.”

“I’m tired of being told what’s right for me. I make my own choices now. Leave me alone, Darya. Get away from here. I don’t want your help. I don’t want you around. Don’t bother my husband or his family. Just go and don’t come back.”

“You don’t understand. He’s going to change. They always change.”

“You’re wrong.” I continue walking forward. She keeps backing off, seeming more and more panicked as she wanders toward the back of the restaurant where it’s darkest. “Get out of here, Darya. Leave me alone. Leave again like you did that first time, but don’t you dare look back. I don’t need you anymore.”

“You’re wrong.” She’s whispering, but she stops moving. “I’m sorry, Alina, but you’re wrong, and if saving you means killing them all, your husband included, then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll cut their throats, one by one, terrorize them the way your father terrorized me. I’ll rip out their tongues?—”

The door to the back of the restaurant crashes open. Molchanie half turns as Seamus rolls to one knee and fires a shot.

Molchanie is on the floor, but there’s a hole in the ceiling where her head was. She’s already throwing herself forward and Seamus is cursing because I’m right behind my mother now. I can tell he doesn’t want to risk a shot.

The two of them crash together with a sickening thud. Molchanie’s knife is out and she’s trying to stab Seamus in the throat, but he’s got one hand under her wrist. They struggle, kicking and punching, knocking each other bloody, but neither gets the upper hand. The knife remains between them until I let out a savage scream and kick my mother in the side of the head as hard as I can.

My toe connects, but it’s a glancing blow. Seamus takes that chance to twist, bringing his gun up. But when he does that, his grip on Molchanie’s knife loosens just enough, and she jams it down to his neck.

They stop, locked together. Seamus’s gun barrel is pressed against Molchanie’s chest, right above her heart, and her blade is on his throat.

If either of them moves, both of them die.

“Stop it,” I say, tears streaming down my face. I slowly draw the gun from my jacket pocket. “Get off him, Darya.”

“It’s okay,” Seamus says through his teeth. “I can kill her before she can finish me.”

“I doubt that, scumbag.” Molchanie’s lips curl back into a horrible smirk. “I’ve killed better men than you.”

“Same here.”

“Just stop it!” I step forward, gun aimed at my mother’s head. “Darya, let him go. If you just let him go, you can leave here.”

“He won’t let that happen.” Her eyes never leave Seamus.

“She’s right,” he agrees. “I’ll never let her live, not while she’s still a threat to you.”

“I’m not the threat!” Molchanie screams in his face. “You are, you abuser, you villain, you pathetic bastard.”

Seamus only stares at her. “I can handle it, Alina. Put away the gun. If you shoot your own mother, you’ll regret it.”

“Listen to your husband.” Darya sneers at him. “Dead men can make good points sometimes.”

The stalemate doesn’t break. Both my mother and my husband stare at each other, daring the other to move first. I don’t know what to do, and panic starts to take control. If I don’t decide, Molchanie’s going to kill Seamus. I can’t let that happen. Not after everything. Not when I made up my mind.

“He’s the one,” I say, tears streaming down my face. “I want to have a family with him. I want children.”

Molchanie’s face twists in pure rage. “You won’t make the same mistake I did!”

“No!” I scream, and I’m sure she’s going to cut his throat?—

When the front door rattles and opens.

Everyone looks over. Even Molchanie takes her eyes off Seamus for a moment.

My father moves slowly into the room.

“What the hell is he doing here?” Molchanie hisses, and I notice her hand beginning to shake. The blade draws a slight bead of red on Seamus’s neck. One wrong move and he’s dead.