Page 31 of Bound Vows (Empire City Syndicate #3)

Maya

Being yanked out of post-coital bliss by emergency alarms proves that married life with a crime boss comes with occupational hazards normal couples never have to deal with.

“How many explosives do you think she brought?” I ask as I hop into my jeans.

“Enough to level half the building if she’s as prepared as I suspect.” Andrei throws on his shirt and reaches for the gun he keeps in our nightstand. “I’m more concerned about the tactical advantage she gains by forcing us to fight on multiple fronts.”

The alarms shriek on as we finish dressing, punctuated by gunfire from the lower floors. Muzzle flashes reflect off neighboring buildings through our bedroom windows as Katarina’s assault team engages our perimeter guards.

“She came prepared for war.” I strap my backup knife to my ankle. “This isn’t just revenge. This is a suicide mission designed to take as many of us with her as possible.”

Before I can say more, an explosion rocks the penthouse with enough force to send picture frames crashing to the floor. The blast originates somewhere below us, and the building sways.

“She’s bringing the place down,” I breathe as smoke filters under our bedroom door.

“Not if we stop her first.” Andrei opens the door to find Max and Vincent rushing down the hallway with their weapons drawn. “Status report?”

“Katarina’s team breached through the parking garage,” Max barks as he checks his ammunition. “They’ve got the elevator shafts rigged with explosives, and they’re working their way up, floor by floor.”

“Casualties?”

“Two of our men down, but we evacuated most of the civilians before the worst started.” Vincent gestures toward the emergency stairwell. “We need to move fast. The structural damage is compromising the building’s integrity.”

Another explosion, closer this time, sends us stumbling as debris rains from the ceiling. I bite back a grunt as the impact aggravates my shoulder, but adrenaline overrides most of the pain.

“Where’s Katarina?” I demand, steadying myself against the wall.

Max rushes to the window and looks out at the city below. “Twenty-second floor, last we knew. She’s holed up in what used to be building security, using the monitors to track our movements. Maya, you need to get out of here. Let us handle this.”

“Like hell I’m running while that psycho destroys everything we’ve built. She murdered Elena, betrayed Andrei, and tried to kill me. This ends now.”

“You’re injured, and she’s desperate.” Andrei’s tone carries resignation rather than authority. “Desperate people make unpredictable choices.”

“So do pissed-off wives who are tired of being hunted by deranged stalkers.” I check my weapon and move toward the stairwell. “Besides, Katarina expects you to protect me by keeping me away from the action. Let’s give her a surprise she won’t see coming.”

The emergency stairs fill with smoke as we descend toward the twenty-second floor. Each step brings the sounds of combat closer—automatic weapons fire through the stairwell along with shouts in Russian and Italian.

“Movement on twenty-two,” Vincent reports through his radio. “Multiple hostiles, heavy resistance, and what looks like additional explosives.”

“Secure any remaining civilians, then converge on Katarina.” Andrei signals for us to pause at the landing.

I push past the men and peer through the stairwell door’s window into the security office.

Overturned furniture creates improvised barricades while computer monitors flicker with feeds from the building.

Katarina’s voice carries over the sound of breaking glass as she shouts orders to her remaining team members.

“She’s turned this into a command center,” I whisper to the others, “but it looks like she’s down to maybe three or four people.”

Another blast from directly overhead sends chunks of concrete cascading down the stairwell. The building groans with structural stress, and I realize we’re running out of time before Katarina’s demolition work makes escape impossible.

“New plan.” I reach for the door handle. “You three take her remaining soldiers. I’ll handle Katarina.”

“Absolutely not.” Andrei grabs my uninjured arm. “You’re not facing her alone.”

I pull free from his grip and draw my gun. “Trust me to finish this, Andrei.”

Before anyone can object further, I slip through the stairwell door and into the smoke-filled room. The layout works to my advantage as I move between overturned desks and shattered windows, using debris for cover while tracking Katarina’s voice.

Gunfire booms behind me as the men engage Katarina’s remaining soldiers, creating enough distraction for me to circle toward the spot she’s established as her command post.

“I know you’re there, Maya,” Katarina calls out without turning from the bank of surveillance monitors. “I can hear you breathing like a wounded animal.”

I step into the study with my weapon trained on her back. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing about you. Though wounded animals usually have enough sense to find a hole and die quietly.”

Katarina spins to face me, and I’m shocked by how much she’s deteriorated since our last encounter. Her platinum hair hangs in tangled strands, her clothes are torn and bloodstained, and her eyes hold the kind of madness that comes from losing everything.

“You destroyed my life,” she snarls, raising her gun. “Eight years of devotion, eight years of loyalty, eight years of love, and you ruined it all by existing.”

“I didn’t ruin anything. You ruined it yourself by murdering your sister and spending years lying to the man you claimed to love.” I keep my weapon steady despite the pain radiating through my shoulder. “Elena’s death is on you, not me.”

“Elena was weak! She would have gotten him killed with her gentleness!” Katarina’s voice rises to a near shriek. “I protected him by removing a liability!”

“You protected yourself by eliminating competition.”

That hits home, and Katarina’s face contorts with rage that makes her look genuinely insane. “You don’t understand what real love is! You don’t understand sacrifice or devotion!”

“Real love doesn’t involve murdering innocent people.” I take a step closer, noting how her gun hand trembles. “Real love certainly doesn’t involve trying to blow up buildings when the person you claim to love is inside.”

Katarina’s finger tightens on the trigger. “At least when we’re all dead, he’ll understand that I was the one who truly cared!”

She fires first, but her deteriorated mental state affects her aim enough that the bullet goes wide and shatters one of the surveillance monitors. I return fire, but my injured shoulder throws off my accuracy, and the shot clips her thigh.

Katarina screams and stumbles backward into the bank of monitors, sending sparks flying as electronic equipment shorts out around her. Blood streams down her leg, but she remains upright and dangerous.

“You pathetic little girl,” she gasps while struggling to maintain her grip on the gun. “You think you can replace Elena?”

“I think I can give him something you never offered—honesty, genuine partnership, and love that doesn’t come with conditions. I can give him a future instead of an obsession with the past.”

Katarina lunges forward, and we collide in the center of the study with enough force to send our weapons flying across the floor. My shoulder screams in protest as we crash into Andrei’s desk, but adrenaline and rage carry me through the pain.

She’s stronger than I expected, fueled by madness and desperation. Her nails rake across my face while she wraps her hands around my throat, and I drive my knee into her wounded thigh.

“You killed an innocent woman!” I snarl, grappling for control. “You destroyed your sister for your sick fantasies!”

“I saved him from weakness!” Katarina screams back as she tries to slam my head into the desk corner. “Elena would have gotten him killed!”

We roll across the floor, destroying everything in our path as the fight becomes increasingly brutal. Katarina fights like she’s already dead, taking damage without flinching while inflicting as much harm as possible. I fight like someone protecting everything that matters.

When we crash into the bank of surveillance monitors, broken glass explodes around us in deadly fragments. I grab the largest shard I can reach and drive it toward Katarina’s chest, but she catches my wrist and twists until I nearly drop the improvised weapon.

“He’ll never love you the way he loved her!” Katarina gasps as we struggle for control of the glass shard. “You’re just a replacement!”

I use my uninjured arm to break her grip and reverse our positions. “Then why are you so afraid of me? If I’m a replacement, why go to all this trouble to eliminate me?”

The question breaks something in Katarina’s facade, and her face crumples in despair. I use that moment to drive the glass shard deep into her chest, piercing her heart with the same finality she brought to Elena.

“Because,” Katarina whispers as blood bubbles from her lips, “you make him happy.”

She collapses backward into the wreckage of the surveillance equipment, and I watch the madness fade from her eyes as death takes hold. The threat that’s haunted our marriage ends with her last breath.

“Maya!” Andrei’s voice carries from the doorway as he rushes into the study with smoke swirling around him. “The building’s coming down. We need to evacuate.”

I push myself up from Katarina’s body, watching the blood from glass cuts on my hands mingle with older stains on the floor. “It’s finished. She’s dead.”

“Good.” Andrei sweeps me into his arms despite my protests. “We’ll celebrate once we’re not trapped in a collapsing building.”

The evacuation becomes a race against structural failure as support beams groan and ceiling tiles rain down. Andrei carries me through smoke-filled hallways while Max and Vincent coordinate the retreat of our surviving forces.

By the time we reach the street, half the building is engulfed in flames. Emergency vehicles line the block as paramedics tend to our wounded and firefighters work to contain the blaze.

“Is everyone accounted for?” I ask as I accept a blanket from one of the EMTs.

“All civilians evacuated, minimal casualties among our people,” Vincent reports. “Still, we’ll be rebuilding our home from scratch.”

“Buildings can be replaced,” Max adds before shaking hands with Andrei. “Family members can’t.”

I watch this historic moment—the official cementing of an alliance between organizations that have been enemies for generations—and realize that Katarina’s obsession ultimately created something positive from its destruction.

“Ready to build a real life together?” I ask Andrei as the paramedics help us into an ambulance for medical evaluation.

“More than ready,” he replies with a smirk. “Though next time we plan a romantic evening, maybe we should choose a location that’s not rigged with explosives.”

“Where’s the fun in that?” I settle against his chest as the ambulance pulls away from the burning remains of his penthouse. “Besides, our children will expect epic love stories from their parents.”

As the ambulance carries us toward whatever comes next, surrounded by family members who fought beside us instead of against us, I realize that some fairy tales end with the princess saving herself and claiming the kingdom, too.