Page 120 of Like An Animal

I have the feeling those are some words he used to use on her from the venom in her tone.

Then, she drops the shotgun before turning around. “He’s all yours,” she says, looking right at Nikolai.

He looks impressed and I can’t blame him. I am as well.

“I think you had the right idea,” he says before he picks up the shotgun and walks around the table. Nikolai shoves theshotgun back up Isaac’s ass, pushing it up even further than Bron got it. Isaac screams, his eyes tensing and screwing up from the pain, before Nikolai motions for us to move. “Nighty night, Isaac.”

Cheryl, Bron, and I move off to the side and Nikolai pulls the trigger. The bullet travels and blasts through his mouth, leaving a massive hole where his mouth used to be before it lodges into the door.

Ding dong.

The villain is dead.

EPILOGUE

THE GHOST

Two Years Later…

My life has changed a lot in the past two years and I can’t say I don’t like most of it.

Life is pretty great. I have a husband that I absolutely adore, three beautiful children, and a family I never thought would come together.

Charlotte loves being a big sister and she doesn’t acknowledge a difference between little Max and Alexei.

Alexei was adopted but it was a special circumstance that brought him to us. Alexei is six months older than little Max and we were shocked when Silva brought her adult daughter to us, claiming Massimo got her pregnant before he died.

Tatiana, Alexei’s birth mother, told us Massimo was fully aware that she was pregnant and they had discussed what they were going to do about it. A paternity test was already performed and she came armed with the results.

She always planned to give Alexei up. Originally, she was going to sign over custody to Massimo, but with his death, she couldn’t do that anymore. Nikolai offered to assume custody,but she didn’t feel comfortable giving her child to someone she didn’t know. Tatiana knew us already.

However, when it came to naming the little boy she handed over to us, we had a hard time. I wanted to honor Massimo’s wishes. I knew he never liked when parents named their child after someone who died so we didn’t give him the same name. Massimo did like when people honored their heritage so, we chose a Russian name for his son.

And, when our third child was born, we named him Massimo Borza, but we call him Max just like we did his name sake.

Two of our children honor our fallen friend who left us too soon.

I still cry sometimes when I think of him, but my heart always hurts when I think of him not being here.

After we dealt with Dimitri and Jeremy took over as the Bratva, we had to clear out Dimitri’s house where we found the answers to the burning question.

Why the hell did he hate my mother so much?

Dimitri left mountains of journals, some way older than me, and it was those that gave me the answers I wanted.

Turns out, Dimitri did meet my mother when she traveled to New York, but what Cheryl forgot to mention was that my mother was only fourteen and Dimitri was already in his late forties. He met her and became obsessed with her. He groomed her to be his mistress, but when she turned him down for anything long term, he became violent. She barely escaped and ran back to Texas. Since then, he had been obsessively hating her and wanting to destroy the woman who was already dead.

It was that obsession that ultimately killed him and countless others.

Now, Charlotte and I can walk around out in the open without a fear of The Father’s finding us. The danger is gone and now we can enjoy our lives.

I pat the bed next to me, searching out my husband, but he’s nowhere to be found. Though it's a struggle to open my eyes, I do it, calling out his name.

Luckily, I didn’t wake up from a nightmare this time, but it’s still concerning that he’s not here with me. Grabbing my robe off the chair next to our bed, I slip it on before walking toward the door. I stop in the doorway and slowly turn around, looking atthatspot. Every time I walk past it, it’s like a cold breeze flows across my skin.

I don’t like looking back at it because it reminds me of that horrible day, but I can’t avoid it.

Massimo was gunned down in our bedroom and it’s something we have to live with.