Page 26

Ilya was sitting at his desk when a staff member led us to him. Despite today being his wedding day, he looked terrible. I highly doubt he slept.

Cigarette smoke still hung in the air. Whiskey glasses cluttered the room.

Papers covered the ground and occupied the sofas. Broken glass pooled under the left wall, making me wonder what exactly happened earlier.

With the turn of the handle, I opened the window, letting the morning breeze in.

I remained there, in my familiar spot, when I spoke to the man who was apparently in desperate need of us. “Ilya. You do realize that I’m not a dog to be summoned. ”

With no regard for my words, he barked out orders. “I need you to follow Malek throughout the wedding,” Ilya urged. “Keep an eye on his movements. Who he talks to, and report back to me.”

A deep breath helped me stay calm.

“Let me get this straight. You want me to be your witness and play spy?” I eyed him. “What’s this really about, Ilya?”

His hand waved dismissively through the air. “We’ll talk after the ceremony.”

“Fine, I’ll watch him,” I agreed. “But I’m not going out of my way.”

My answer displeased him, the vein on his forehead pulsing in response.

“You will do as I say!”

Unacceptable. His manner and tone were far too disrespectful.

“I’m going to pretend none of this happened because I don’t want to ruin Alisa’s special day,” I said, my voice steady. I truly didn’t want to, even if her fiancé was being a dick. “But this behavior won’t fly with me anymore.”

I leaned against the front of the desk. “I am nobody’s toy.”

The Pakhan laughed. Right in my face. A full-hearted, deep laugh that resonated through the room, making my blood boil. I turned to the Galkins behind me, wondering if I was the only one seeing this, but they looked just as confused.

Before we could make sense of Ilya’s strange behavior, he started rambling. “I knew the fucker wanted to overthrow me for a while. There wasn’t much I could do. He had the numbers. My very own people turned against me.”

A fist pounded against the desk, and I instinctively took a step back, preparing myself for whatever was coming next. I could already tell I wasn’t going to like his next words when he looked at me.

“Malek listed his demands, and I agreed to give him what he wants.”

He spoke loud enough for the room to hear, but his words felt like they were meant for me .

“I’m preventing a war. One person’s sacrifice compared to the hundreds of lives a war would cost us.”

What war? The question formed, but it died on my tongue at his next words.

“Taya, as part of the deal, you will marry Malek. Today.”

Nothing could have prepared me for this moment. Not years of training.

Not even the level of control I possessed.

Words escaped me. Logic and reason abandoned me. Never have I ever been this blindsided.

When I finally regained some composure, I addressed him with a shaky breath. “I am sorry. What did you say?”

Far too calmly, Ilya repeated. “His first demand was that I make you an official member and agree to a union.”

Union? Marriage?

The words resonated, and the anger began to build. Forgoing any formalities, considering he had lost my respect mere seconds ago, I demanded, “Why the fuck would he want to marry me?”

Silence.

“You agreed?”

“The paperwork is complete.” Ilya inclined his head.

An image flashed through my mind of the two men shaking hands over someone else’s fate. My fate. They exchanged me, negotiated over me. A person. A woman. Like livestock, sold on the market. I became a transaction.

For the greater good? Or for personal gain? They bartered with my life as if it was theirs to possess.

I was so done with all these people. All these men.

“What the fuck, Ilya?” I gritted my teeth, letting out the emotions swirling inside. “Do I mean nothing to you?” A na?ve attempt at reaching whatever humanity he had left.

“You were always meant to be something to me,” Ilya replied. “After all, I shaped you into who you are.”

I laughed, a bitter one at his expense, well knowing it was hard work and dedication that got me here. “Please,” I mocked.

He dared to sound annoyed. “If you chose him once before, you can choose him again.”

“For the rest of my life?” I yelled at him over the ringing in my ears.

Moisture gathered in the corner of my eyes.

Blurry spots clouded my vision, but I refused to let any tears fall.

Painfully aware of the other men witnessing the exchange, I took comfort in knowing they were here to see the situation unravel.

I didn’t glance their way, focusing on the problem at hand.

“How many times have I asked you what’s going on?” I reasoned. “You never mentioned anything.”

The boss’s voice took over. “It’s my decision as Pakhan. And you will accept it.”

By this point, I barely stood still. “I am not yours to command, you hear me?” I gathered any strength left and pushed back. “I will fight this, Ilya. With everything I have.”

“You mean to tell me you will put lives at risk?” he tried guilting me. “Why? Because you can’t be with a guy?”

Enraged at his audacity, I growled. “Don’t you dare put this on me!”

Ilya insisted, pointing an accusatory finger at me. “It is on you. If the deal fails, Malek will come after us.”

There is no us, I wanted to scream. My hands flew to my hair. I pulled on the strands, struggling to maintain composure.

“Stop trying to manipulate me.”

Perhaps I would have crumbled if the pressure he applied continued, but as the breeze hit me, so did the thoughts of the past, and I knew. In my heart of hearts, I knew. It was time for me to fight.

For myself, for those whose lives this decision would affect .

I’d sooner shoulder the burden than accept the fate they tried to impose.

The lies they fabricated and the guilt they attempted to fill me with.

Once, around the time I met Ilya, I might have admired him. Not anymore.

I wanted to be great in my own right. And his presence had run its course.

We will never know the “ifs” because now the fighter had awakened, and she roared.

Ilya picked up on the shift in the air, and with a gesture, he called his guards. To restrain me. To lock me up. Whatever his intentions were, I’d go down fighting before I went down at all.

“Call them off. Last warning.”

Ilya sat there, unmoving. A man I’d known for years and considered my close friend. My only friend for a while. I’d even saved his life once, a long time ago. Yet he sold mine out in the blink of an eye.

His goons were closing in, approaching from behind.

Before they got a hold of me, I launched.

Timing my move, I played to my strength: precision.

I bent and moved out of the way. A moment of hesitation on their part allowed me to execute the move perfectly, their heads clashing together.

The sound of the impact wasn’t pretty, but they’d have nothing more than a nasty headache. It could’ve been much worse.

When the guards’ bodies hit the ground, I worked quickly. Pulling out their guns, I pointed one at Ilya and the other at Maxim.

I didn’t intend to involve the Galkins, who now stood to my left, but to make a safe exit, I had to keep control of the situation, which meant covering all fronts. Besides, they worked for him. In a couple of hours, they’d become family. I couldn’t trust them. Any of them.

Eyes narrowed on Ilya, I cocked the gun at him, demanding compliance.

“Back away from the table.”

He remained seated, calling my bluff. Frustration surged within me. I wanted to slap him out of whatever delusional state he was in .

Raising my voice to a new high, I spelled out the words, aware of the gun taped to the bottom part of the desk. “I said back away!”

I couldn’t afford him reaching for the weapon. Sure, the Galkins were armed, but the code dictated that they must comply and ensure the safety of their Pakhan.

Since it was me who held the upper hand, they better double-think their moves. Thankfully, the reputation I built affected the way I was approached, so they were all wary.

Ilya, not taking my words seriously despite being the one who encouraged me to be who I was, only added fuel to the fire. And I was burning.

Mentally checking out, I aimed the gun and shot. The bullet landed in the wooden panel behind the desk, grazing Ilya’s now bleeding ear shell in the process.

The room reached a scorching temperature. By now, the guns were drawn, pointing directly at me. A shot of adrenaline surged through my veins.

Hopefully, this would make them understand.

Ilya’s ears were ringing, no doubt, when he finally surrendered to my demands. He stood over the desk while the Galkins followed every move closely, prepared to pounce.

Something close to shock or annoyance took over Ilya’s features. I couldn’t care less.

His bed was made, and I kick-started the exit plan.

“Here’s how it’s going to go down,” I said, controlling the narrative. “You’re going to let me leave in Galkin’s car.”

Connecting eyes with Maxim, I schooled my face to be neutral.

Indifferent, as I continued, “The second I’m past that gate, whatever friendship there was between us?

It’s over,” I warned. “I am coming for you and Malek. I will call in every favor. Gather every rat looking for an opportunity in this city. ”

Words weren’t registering with his thick fucking head, I could tell. He was dead set.

Still, his expression didn’t stop me from pleading one last time. To stop this madness. In self-preservation or a pathetic attempt to maintain the peace we once had.

“Don’t make me do this. Think of your people.” Alisa. Your fellow members. I silently repeated the names.

What I could never let him find out was that I had a longer list of people to protect, to lose. Which meant I’d have to be two steps ahead of them.

“It’s you who should be thinking of them,” Ilya stuck with the guilt.

I physically cringed at his words. How could he turn this to me? What sort of twisted psychological game was he trying to play?

“I want you to know that this didn’t have to happen.” If only he looked beyond his greed. “If you told me what was going on, we would have found a way together. But you sided with Malek instead.”

There wasn’t more to be said.

With a glance at Maxim, not wanting to raise suspicions about our involvement, I discreetly winked, using a move out of his textbook, before I bolted out of the room.

In another life, I thought, as my legs carried me out of the cage they tried to entrap me in.