Page 28

My father’s face contorts into a terrifying mask. The same one I remember from childhood. The same one that always used to send me into a panic. Back then, he used his anger as a weapon, and it worked. He knew how to hurt me.

But not this time.

This time, I don’t shrink back. This time, I’m not the small, powerless girl who lived in constant fear.

He speaks in a low voice that carries authority born of decades of cruelty. “I gave you a chance to come back. Instead, you went behind my back and called the very man who caused all this? Do you understand how reckless that was?”

My hands flex at my sides. He’s trying to intimidate me, but I refuse to back down.

“I understand more than you realize. I understand that you don’t care about me, or Seraphina, or anyone or anything except for your control.

You kept me as a prisoner for years. Did you ever once consider what that did to me? ”

A muscle twitches under his temple. “You speak to me as though I owe you an apology. I gave you everything you could’ve ever wanted!

A home, a family. You were naive then. Maybe you still are.

Dimitri Barkov is no better than me. He sees you as leverage, nothing more.

Why do you think he married you? Out of love? Don’t be foolish.”

Hot rage ignites in my chest. “You don’t know him. You don’t know what he and I share. You never cared enough to see me as a person, so I don’t expect you to understand. But Dimitri does. He cares about me.”

“Is that so? Then where is he now?”

I steel myself, refusing to reveal my hand just to placate my pride. Dimitri is coming. I know that much. Even if my father pretends otherwise, Dimitri would never abandon me.

“You continue to test me,” he practically growls. “It’s time I make an example of you. I gave you life, and I can take it away.”

My heart slams against my ribcage, but I hold my ground.

This is the moment I’ve dreaded for years—my father turning his unchecked aggression on me.

A part of me trembles inside, remembering the times I saw him lash out at underlings or threaten Seraphina, but I refuse to let that fear control me.

I’m pregnant, carrying Dimitri’s child, and I won’t let my father’s tyranny define our future.

He notices the shift in my posture, the way I plant my feet. “What’s this?” he drawls, mocking. “You think you can stand up to me now? Just because you have Dimitri’s name?”

“I think you’ve manipulated me for the last time. I’m finished being your puppet or your asset. I’m finished living in your shadow.”

“You ungrateful brat. After everything I did—”

“Everything you did was for you .” My voice cuts through his tirade. “You never cared about me. You never cared about Seraphina. We were just convenient pawns in your war. Well, no more.”

“You want to talk about cruelty? You sided with the Barkovs. That’s not just betrayal, it’s stupidity. Did you think that would end well?”

“Better with them than spending another day under your rule. You’re the real threat here. You destroyed any hope Seraphina had for a normal life. You would do the same to me if I let you.”

His face flushes, and he leans in, dropping his voice. “You dare speak to me like that? I’m your father.”

“You’re not. You forfeited that title the second you started using me as leverage. I’m done with you.”

For a moment, he looks stunned. Then a snarl contorts his mouth. “You’re finished, all right. Dimitri can’t save you now. You’re inside my compound. My men surround this place, and I decide who lives or dies.”

“I’m not afraid of you anymore.”

I realize too late that I’ve provoked him more than ever before.

His hand shoots up, moving with a speed fueled by anger.

I see it coming, but I have no time to block.

Just as his arm arcs toward me, ready to strike, the doors to the room burst open.

A rush of bodies floods inside, weapons drawn.

Gunshots ring out, deafening, as men in black sweep through.

My father spins, half-stunned. I stumble back and duck behind a chair.

In the confusion, I catch sight of Dimitri’s brothers—Grigor, Maksim, Aleksei, Akim, and Nikolai—fanning out.

They take aim at my father’s men, who scramble for cover.

There’s a savage efficiency in the way the Barkov brothers handle their firearms. Each shot is razor-focused.

Within moments, half of my father’s guards are down as bullets find their marks before they can even raise their weapons.

My father calls for reinforcements, but the men he reaches out to are pinned down by the onslaught.

Grigor ducks behind a column, firing back at two men who try to flank him.

They collapse under his rapid shots. Nikolai slips around a table and plunges a knife into the nearest guard’s side.

Aleksei covers Akim, who launches a brutal takedown on a pair of guards who foolishly tried to rush him.

Maksim prowls near the walls, picking off stragglers with chilling accuracy.

Amid the chaos, Dimitri steps through the open doorway.

His gaze lands on me, and I swear I see relief flash in his eyes.

But he doesn’t pause. He raises his rifle and shoots a guard who’s aiming at me from behind a chair.

The guard topples with a groan. Dimitri doesn’t stop.

Another man on my father’s side rushes him, but Dimitri pivots, slamming the butt of his rifle into the man’s face. A sickening thud, and the man slumps.

My father, cornered now, grabs a fallen gun from the floor. He tries to take aim at Dimitri, but Dimitri fires first. The bullet catches my father in the shoulder, spinning him around in agony.

“Cecily, get down!” Dimitri calls, racing forward.

I crouch lower as fear collides with a strange sense of consolation.

My father’s men are either dead or disarmed, moaning on the ground.

Smoke from gun barrels drifts into the air, and the reek of gunpowder burns my nostrils.

Another guard is crawling toward a sidearm, but before he can reach it, Maksim’s shot puts him down. That’s the last threat.

But before anyone can move, a second wave of my father’s men storms into the room. The doorframe splinters under gunfire as reinforcements rush in.

Dimitri shoves me behind him and fires, dropping the first man through the doorway.

His brothers react instantly. Aleksei flips a heavy oak table onto its side, using it as cover while Grigor and Akim dive behind an overturned chair.

Maksim rolls across the floor, narrowly avoiding a burst of bullets, and returns fire, hitting one of the incoming guards in the throat.

The man gurgles and collapses against the wall.

The gunfight turns brutal. Two of my father’s men manage to take cover behind the bookcase, laying down suppressive fire to keep us pinned. My ears ring as bullets rip into the furniture around us, splintering wood and sending debris flying.

Dimitri ducks, reloads, and pulls a knife from his belt. He glances at his brothers and signals—a sharp jerk of his chin. Aleksei nods, then turns to Nikolai. They move in tandem.

Nikolai fires a barrage of shots, forcing the enemy to keep their heads down.

At the same time, Aleksei dashes to the far end of the room, flanking them.

In a swift motion, he vaults over a chair, lands beside one of the guards, and drives his knife deep into the man’s side.

The guard lets out a strangled cry before crumpling.

Another man lunges for Aleksei, but before he can fire, Grigor moves in.

He catches the man’s wrist, twisting the gun from his grip before slamming his elbow into the guard’s temple.

The man stumbles. Akim takes the opening and shoves the muzzle of his pistol beneath his chin, pulling the trigger. Blood sprays across the floor.

A guard rushes toward me from the side with his gun trained on my chest. I freeze, and my body locks up for one fatal second.

Dimitri doesn’t.

He grabs a chair and hurls it across the room.

It smashes into the guard’s legs, knocking him off balance.

Before the man can recover, Dimitri is on him.

He wrenches the gun from his grip and slams his knee into the man’s stomach, sending him crashing to the floor.

With brutal efficiency, Dimitri brings his boot down on the man’s throat, crushing it beneath his weight.

A loud grunt draws my attention. Akim is locked in a vicious fight with a burly guard, and their weapons have been knocked aside.

The man swings, but Akim ducks and drives his fist into the guard’s gut.

The man stumbles back, only to find Maksim waiting.

Maksim grabs the back of his head and smashes it into the desk’s edge.

The sickening crack of bone echoes through the room as the guard slumps lifelessly to the floor.

The remaining enemies panic. One tries to flee, but Nikolai takes him down with a clean shot to the spine. Another throws his gun down and raises his hands, trembling. Aleksei steps forward and puts a bullet between his eyes without a second thought.

My father’s men are gone. Dead or incapacitated. Now, it’s just my father, wounded and furious, facing Dimitri. He clutches his injured shoulder with red staining his shirt. “You think you’ve won?” he snarls. “You know nothing of me, Barkov.”

Dimitri steps closer, weapon at the ready. “I know you used both your daughters for your own ends. You stole their lives, their choices.”

My father’s breath rasps. “Cecily’s my daughter. You have no right to take her from me.”

“She’s my wife ,” Dimitri snaps.

He aims. My father’s eyes flit to me, then to Dimitri’s rifle.

I watch the realization dawn on him: he’s lost. Without warning, he lunges, trying to raise his gun with his good arm.

Dimitri fires. The shot rips through my father’s chest, halting him mid-charge.

His eyes go wide, and he drops to his knees before he keels over.

For a second, no one moves. My father stares at the floor, with his chest heaving with ragged breaths. Then he exhales one final time, and his body goes still.

He’s dead.

I slump back against the wall with adrenaline crashing through me. My father is gone. The man who haunted my life for so long—his tyranny, his manipulation—ended with a bullet from Dimitri’s rifle. Relief swirls with guilt, sadness, and a taste of freedom I never dared hope for.

Dimitri tosses his rifle aside and rushes to my side. “Cecily,” he breathes. He checks me over as though ensuring I’m not harmed. “Did he hurt you?”

I shake my head as tears prickle at the corners of my eyes. “No. He tried to…but you came.”

He pulls me into an embrace so tight I can hardly breathe, yet I cling to him and sob into his chest. The conflict, the fear, the heartbreak all pour out in gasping cries. He whispers soft words against my hair and wraps his arms around me like a shield.

A hand touches my shoulder gently. I glance up to see Aleksei standing beside us. “Well, this isn’t exactly how we planned it, but I suppose we accomplished more than we intended today.”

Maksim steps forward, reloading his pistol. “Are you sure you’re not hurt, Cecily?” His voice is gentler than I’ve ever heard. “You went through hell.”

I try to steady myself and wipe my tears with the back of my hand. “I’m okay. Thank you.”

Grigor nods to Dimitri. “We’ll sweep the perimeter, ensure no one else tries anything. We’ll give you two a minute.”

Dimitri bows his head in gratitude. The brothers quietly slip out, leaving the room scattered with bodies but no immediate threat. A hush settles, broken only by my ragged breathing and Dimitri’s quiet attempts to soothe me.

He cups my cheek and tilts my face to meet his eyes. “I was so afraid we’d be too late.”

The tears threaten to resurface. “I was terrified he’d kill me before you arrived.”

His hands slip around my waist. “Never again. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

I bite my lip, summoning the courage to tell him everything. “Dimitri, I—I have to say something important. The reason I left… I’m pregnant, Dimitri.”

For a moment, he just stares, as though trying to process what that means. Then his expression softens with so much emotion I can hardly bear it. “Pregnant,” he whispers, brushing my tears aside. “With our child.”

I nod, voice trembling. “Yes.”

He releases a shaky breath. “You…are carrying my baby?”

I swallow hard, feeling a flood of relief that I can finally share this secret. “I wasn’t sure how to tell you. I was afraid. Afraid you might lock me up even more. Or that you wouldn’t want this.

He cradles my face and presses his forehead to mine. “Cecily, I want it more than anything. I want you, and I want our child. I’m sorry if I ever made you think otherwise.”

“You kept me so protected that I thought you didn’t trust me at all. But now I realize you were just scared, too.”

He kisses me, swallowing my tears. It’s desperate and tender, and the thunder of blood in my ears mixes with the taste of salt and gunmetal. His lips part from mine just enough to speak. “I love you. I’m sorry I didn’t say it before. I love you.”

I cling to him as tears drip from my lashes. “I love you, too.”

We stay like that for a moment with everything else melting away.

I blink around the room one last time, seeing my father’s form slumped near his desk.

Years of torment, undone by a single firefight.

My gaze moves to Dimitri’s brothers, who wait near the door.

They came together to save me. The Barkov family risked a war for me, proving my father wrong about them.

I search myself for guilt or sorrow, but I find only numbness and an odd sense of closure. “He can’t hurt anyone anymore,” I whisper.

Dimitri nods. “I wish it hadn’t come to that, but I won’t lose sleep over him.”

I cling to the warmth of Dimitri’s presence, letting it soothe me. “Take me home.”

He presses a kiss to my knuckles. “I will,” he vows.

Home. The Barkov estate. Once I hated that place. I saw it as another gilded cage. But now I realize the difference. Dimitri never wanted to break me; he just wanted me safe. I was too proud to see that. I was too angry, too hurt, too afraid.

But not anymore.

Now, I understand. Now, I have no fear. I can trust the man I married. And the Barkov estate has become more than a house—it holds a future for me.

With Dimitri.