Page 148 of Thorns of Silence

“His fatherrapedyour mother. Doesn’t that count for anything?”

I wanted to scream. I needed to rage as we stared at each other. “His father’s sins aren’t his.” I shook my head in disappointment. “Don’t come anywhere near my family, or—”

My words were cut off when a bang shook the ground. A body slammed into me, flattening me to the ground. The phone was forgotten as chaos erupted. I met my husband’s eyes, and we exchanged looks full of promises before he reached for his gun and started shooting.

“Skye.” I wasn’t sure if my daughter’s name was a scream or a thought. All I knew was that I had to get to her. I couldn’t lose her. Not again.

Cesar had crawled to the window and was shooting outside at an invisible enemy. He fired nonstop until there were no bullets left.

The three of us looked at each other and released long breaths. This was it. Our happily ever after was being cut short again.

It was history repeating itself.

FIFTY-NINE

DANTE

Cesar and I fired our guns, and from the sound of it, we were taking men down, but we were also outnumbered and unprepared. The fun really began when we were out of ammo. Vasili, Alexei, and Sasha Nikolaev stood at the doorway.

“Grab Skye and run,” I mouthed to Nix.

“I’m not leaving you.” Stubborn woman. I knew there was no sense in arguing with her. I shoved her behind me, then pulled out my knife just as I saw Cesar do the same. We ran toward the three men. Sasha went after me, Alexei after Cesar. Vasili just leaned against the doorway and observed. I guess the fucker didn’t want to get his hands dirty.

“I’m going to end you and your woman.”

I grinned savagely. “You can try, Nikolaev. But don’t think I won’t take you down with me.”

Sasha slashed his knife at me, and I blocked it with my own. One of the Nikolaev men appeared out of nowhere and jabbed toward my stomach, but I dodged it. In return, I rammed my knife into his thigh.

He went down with a cry and tried to get up, but Nix was right behind him, smashing a vase against his skull.

“That’s my wife,” I said proudly.

“That’s a kidnapper,” Sasha hissed.

Cesar seemed to be struggling to keep Alexei at bay—not that I could blame him. The word on the street was that Alexei Nikolaev grew up fighting to survive, so he fought dirty.

My right-hand man went down with a battle cry, fighting with all he had, but eventually Alexei caught him from behind, one arm locked around his throat.

Sasha jumped forward, but I dodged him again, slashing his wrist so he’d drop the knife. The goddamn idiot refused. I suspected he’d hold on to that knife even if his fingers were broken and his arms were full of bullet holes.

In one swift move, I whipped around and pulled him into a chokehold. Now we stood facing Alexei against Cesar, all four of us breathing heavily and muttering curses. Sasha grunted but still refused to drop his knife. He struggled like a madman until we lost our balance. We landed on the ground, me on top of him. Debris and broken glass everywhere.

Nix gasped, but I kept my focus on Sasha, keeping Alexei in my peripheral vision.

“Papà.” It was barely a whisper, but we all froze. My eyes found my daughter, Nix already running to her. She picked her up and turned her away from the Nikolaev men, using her own body as a shield.

“Why is my daughter calling you papà?” Sasha growled like a madman.

“Because she’s my daughter.”

He started fighting me again. “No, she’s not. She’s mine.”

“Stoooop.” Nix’s wailing startled us all.

“Boys, you might want to listen to her for now. The child doesn’t need to see this shit.” At least Vasili Nikolaev had some sense.

“What’s happening, Mamma?” Skye signed, her hands shaking, and my heart twisted. She wasn’t supposed to witness this, much less be caught in the crossfire. “Why is Sasha beating up Papà?”