Page 52 of Darkest Sin

“He needs to die,” Mikhail says. “I’m going after him. I’ll save your sisters.”

All I can do is stand there while Jackson protects me as Mikhail runs after Denis. For a moment, I feel powerful and now, all I feel is hopeless.

Mikhail

I sprint out of the building and come to a stop when I see Denis dive into his car. In the backseat, I can just make out Sasha’s facebefore the door shuts. I shoot at the tires of the car but Denis’s guard is already driving away. I keep shooting at the car anyway, in the hopes I might be able to stop it.

But I don’t.

And the more I shoot, the more I draw attention to myself. This is New York. People are used to strange things but even they get scared when you fire off a gun.

I hurry back inside the building.

“Well?” Natalya asks, hope on her face. I hate that I have to crush it for her.

“No,” I say. “I’m sorry. They were already driving away by the time I got out there. I couldn’t stop it. I caught the license plate number but there’s a chance Denis will ditch the car. Besides, we know where he’s going. He’s going to take them back to your house and up the guards, making it impossible to get them out. I’m sorry, Natalya.”

Tears spill down her face as she shakes her head. “No. You didn’t try hard enough.”

“I’m not a superhero, baby. I can’t run down a moving car. I’m sorry.”

“You promised me you’d save them.”

“And I tried.”

“So try again!” she shouts, her voice echoing through the empty lobby.

“I know you’re upset right now, so I’ll forgive you for talking to me like this.”

“Fuck that,” she snaps. “You don’t get to tell me how to feel right now. I was this close to getting my sisters back and now I’ll never see them again.”

“We’ll discuss that language more when we get home. We need to leave before Denis sends any more men after us.” I try to grab her arm but she twists out of my grip.

“No. You promised me you’d save them and you failed.”

I sigh. “I will try to get them back but it will require another plan. I am sorry. These things always go wrong in my world. Plans never go exactly how you planned.”

“My sisters are not just a plan. They’re people and my uncle will hurt them if we don’t save them. He will marry them off to monsters.”

“I will keep trying but there is nothing I can do right now. And you have to stop talking to me this way. I will not allow it.”

“Fuck that,” she snaps again. “I don’t care.”

I grab her and spank her ass in one quick motion. She gasps. “Stop. You are upset. I know. But being this upset will only hurt yourself even more. Now, we have to go.” I throw her over my shoulder and walk us out the back. Jackson tries to follow but I shake my head at him. “You failed today, Jackson. You were supposed to make sure you weren’t followed.” I shoot him right in the head.

Natalya screams as Jackson’s body flops onto the ground. I set Natalya in the car then pick up Jackson and stuff him into my trunk. I’ll have to get it cleaned. Fuck. Just another thing I need to worry about.

Natalya flinches from me when I get into the car.

“Are you scared of me?” I ask.

“You just shot him.”

“Because he failed at his job. That’s the kind of man I am, Natalya. A ruthless one. Now put your seat belt on. We’re going home.”

With shaky fingers, she does as I instruct.

We drive home in silence. I can feel Natalya sneaking glances at me out of the corner of my eye but I don’t look. She needs time to process what happened. I need time myself.