Senga leads the way to the barn, and I blindly follow her. I'm wondering why we're not going to the house, but Senga must have a good reason. Maybe the house is in worse shape, or maybe she has the barn setup like a home.
But when we get into the mostly empty barn except for several piles of hay, ropes, chains and some scattered farm equipment, my feet automatically stop before my brain can even comprehend what's going to happen next.
"Tie her up," Senga commands.
Even though I heard my little sister's words, I'm having a hard time believing she actually said them. But when two men come out of nowhere and grab me, her words finally sink in.
My little sister lied to me. She betrayed me.
But why?
I glare at the younger version of me, and the haunted look that I hadn't seen before is definitely there now. Something happened to Senga while I was gone, and I'm determined to find out.
The rope hanging from a rafter works in the men's favor as they tie me up with it. When they're done, I struggle even though I know it's futile. They tied my wrists too tight, and the rope is way too thick for me to break on my own.
Senga seems pleased with their work as she walks around me in a circle.
I don't want to believe that my own sister would actually betray me, but there's no doubt in my mind now. "How did you afford all this? The land, the men. How did you make your money?" I ask her, desperate to know the answer.
"I won my money through poker games and bets," she says calmly, continuing to circle around me. "Papa had been dragging me into the back of seedy clubs with him after you left. He would sometimes put me in place of his bets to, you know, sweeten the pot."
I cringe at her words. Papa did the same thing with me, and Pavel took advantage of my father's loss that night and took me in return for his debt.
"So I made sure he won every night. I learned how to cheat, how to count cards, how to do anything and everything I could to make sure he won…and that I went home to my own bed that night." She stops walking, and her eyes look out of the barn entrance into the distance as if remembering something. "But Papa loved the money I was raking in for him, so he kept taking me and betting higher and higher and higher. Finally, I cracked under the pressure and killed him one night when he was too drunk to remember his own name. I took his money and left that place."
She killed our father? "And what happened to Mama?" I blurt out.
Senga shrugs. "Who knows. Maybe she survived. Maybe she died on the streets. I left that poor, pathetic excuse of a woman to her own devices." Her eyes meet mine as she says, "She deserved to starve and die. She deserved it because she let Papa use me as a pawn all those years."
Tears well up in my eyes. In the blink of an eye, I lost my entire family — the one thing that kept me going for all those years. The one thing I wanted to return to. The one thing I was still fighting for.
I slump against my restraints, fighting back a sob. If only my father wouldn't have been a gambling fool, if only Pavel wouldn't have accepted me as payment…perhaps everything would have turned out differently. Perhaps Senga wouldn't have turned into the ice princess with the stone-cold heart that she ultimately became.
"So, while you were off being a trophy wife for some rich guy, I was at home trying to take care of our mother and not be sold by our father," she spits with hatred lacing her tone.
"Trophy wife? Is that what you think became of me?" I ask her incredulously. "Papa used me; same as he used you. Pavel wanted me in exchange for our father's debt!"
My sister narrows her eyes. She doesn't believe me, but I will make her believe.
"Pavel wasn't a good man, and I was far from a trophy wife. He raped me repeatedly — him and his friends. Pavel beat me, threw me down the stairs more times than I could ever count, starved me, locked me up for weeks at a time." I stare at my sister, trying to convey in my eyes just how much I truly suffered. "I'm covered in scars, because he hurt me deeper and more savagely than a person should ever be hurt." I stop talking and release a shuddering breath. I have never said most of those things out loud before, and it actually feels good to have them out in the open. I've opened up a little to Jax, but he will never know the true extent of what I went through.
"Why didn't you run away?" she asks, her voice just a whisper now.
"Pavel told me that if I left him, he would go back for you. He would take you in my place." And I vowed to never let that happen. I suffered the abuse for Senga even though some days I wanted to die from the agony I was put through. I did it all for her. Everything was always for her.
Her eyes widen for a fraction of a second, and for a moment I can see the little sister I once knew behind that stony façade. But it only lasts for a second before she shakes her head. "You're lying."
"I'm not lying!" I scream at her. I went through hell and back because of her, to keep her safe. And all this time my father's debt wasn't even owed…because he was dead. And my sister was out of the country, safe. I could have left Pavel years ago, but I endured his abuse for ten solid years. Ten fucking years!
Angrily, I pull at the rope, screaming in frustration. "I stayed with that abusive asshole for you, Senga! I did it for you! I did it for you! I did it for you!" I scream over and over again, struggling against my bonds.
A loud crack sounds before the rotten rafter I'm tied to comes crashing down. I fall back just in time to roll out of the way of the large, wood beam that slams onto the floor only inches away from me.
Quickly slipping out of the now loosened ropes around my wrists, having learned to be an escape artist a long time ago after many punishable nights with Pavel, I stand and run towards the exit.
"Don't let her escape!" my sister yells at Franc.
Franc comes towards me, and I panic, backing up towards the way I just ran from. But then my mind comes into sharp focus because I've been in this situation before. Franc is the same size as Wraith. They have the same menacing stature, same build.
You can do this, I tell myself.
Instead of retreating, I advance on him. Like Wraith taught me, even though he's much, much bigger, his size compared to mine will always be his downfall. I can outmaneuver a stronger, larger man.
Franc looks surprised by the sudden turn of events, but he keeps coming towards me with his gun drawn. When I'm only a few inches away, I throw a block out to knock away his hand holding the gun. Then, I lift my leg and kick him so hard in the balls that his grandchildren will ultimately feel it.
I had practiced the move time and time again with Wraith, although he didn't actually let me land the second blow to his family jewels.
And now, the soft tissue connecting with my boot and the look of pain on Franc's face give me all the satisfaction I've needed.
The gun goes skittering across the hay-strewn floor. While Franc falls to his knees in pain, I lunge for the weapon. I get my hand around the cold metal and put my finger on the trigger before rising to my knees, keeping Franc in my line of sight.
He's still doubled over and incapacitated at the moment. With all of my attention on him, I never hear my sister until it's too late.
A shot rings out, and my eyes snap up as I see the gun in Senga's hand raised too high to be aiming for me. I realize that was a warning shot to get my attention.
"You're worth more alive to me than dead," she says as an explanation to why she didn't shoot me dead on the spot.
"How nice of you to say," I hiss at her.
"But I still get some of the money from the Bratva even if you're dead, so I'll leave that choice up to you." Then she lowers her weapon to point it straight at my chest.
I should have known she was working with the Russian mafia. It all makes sense now.
Keeping my hand steady, I aim for Franc's leg and pull the trigger. The bullet rips through the meaty part of his thigh, and he screams out in pain. It's not a debilitating injury, but it will keep him from sneaking up on me once he recovers from that kick to the balls.
"Marko!" she calls towards the open barn door. "Eli!"
She's calling in for reinforcements, but they never come. I'm surprised her hired help didn't run in here after the first shot was fired. Something must be wrong.
"Feeling lonely?" I ask her.
Senga's eyes narrow. "Shut the fuck up." Then, she looks nervously towards the door once again. "Marko!"
Silence.
"Doesn't look like they're coming," I tell her with a grin.
Senga begins to fidget, the gun shaking in her grasp. I guess my little sister isn't so bad ass without her big, musclebound goons backing her up.
"So, what are you going to do, Senga? It looks like your men abandoned you."
Her face scrunches in anger, and she takes a step towards me, the gun trembling in her hand.
I won't shoot first. At least that's what I tell myself. But at this point, the way the gun is shaking in her grip, Senga might even shoot me accidentally.
And then that's when I hear it.
Footsteps.
My stomach churns as I realize her bodyguards didn't actually desert her. But I know I can't take them all out by myself. I did the impossible by taking Franc out. I can't do that two or maybe three more times.
But then I hear my sister ask, "Who are you?"
Risking a peek over my shoulder, I glance back.
And my whole world turns upside-down.
CHAPTER 41
JACKSON
"WHO ARE YOU?" the younger version of Katya asks. They could pass for twins if they were a little closer in age.
Wraith aims his weapon for Senga, and I take a few steps towards Katya. There are tears in her eyes when she locks her gaze on me. There's so much I want to say to her in that moment, but it will all have to wait.
When I heard the gunshots before we made it to the barn, I thought I was going to find her lying on the ground, bleeding…or dead. I'm so relieved to see her alive and holding her own.
That's my girl.
"Don't take another step!" Senga calls out to me, and I halt in my tracks.
I don't have a gun, so I simply put my hands up and decide to rely on Wraith's uncanny skills with these types of situations.
When Wraith first told me in the car on the way here not to worry, I worried anyway.
But when we arrived and he took out two huge guys without so much as breaking a sweat, I started to worry a little less.
No wonder Lucien hired the giant bastard. He's fucking incredible, like Liam Neeson in all those Taken movies.
"Don't do anything stupid. I will shoot you," Wraith spits out. And then he turns toward a man on the ground bleeding from his thigh and trying to crawl out the door. It only takes a second for Wraith to swiftly kick him in the head, effectively knocking him out and rendering him no longer a threat.
So we're at a standoff with two guns trained on Senga. Three against one, really, but I'm practically useless without a gun right now.
Senga swings the gun around to Katya once again. With tears in her eyes and her trembling hands wrapped around the metal, she whispers, "Did Pavel really hurt you like you said?"
Katya nods with tears streaming down her face. Her hand is steady on the trigger, unlike her sister's.
"I believe you, Katya. I believe you." Senga nods slowly, lowering the gun for only a fraction of a second before raising it once again. "But you have to understand that if I don't deliver you to them, as I promised, they'll kill me," she says with conviction.
Katya shakes her head. "I'll protect you. I'll make sure they never find you."
Senga gives her a sad smile. "You can never hide from the Bratva." Then she whispers, "I wish things could have been different. I'm sorry, sestra."
Two shots ring out almost simultaneously, and Katya and Senga both collapse on the ground.
"No!" I scream out, running to Katya and falling to my knees on the floor beside her. Blood is blossoming onto her white shirt, but I can't find the source. Tearing the fabric, I see the wound — it's only a graze on her left arm.
"Oh, thank fuck," I whisper as I tear off the remainder of the sleeve and tie it around her arm tightly over the wound. She'll be fine until we can get her stitched up.
Opening her eyes slowly, Katya blinks up at me. "W-what happened?" she asks me.
"You got shot, but you're gonna be fine. The bullet just grazed you." I hug her close and whisper in her hair, "Fuck, if I would have lost you…" I allow the words to linger in the air.
I didn't lose her.
She didn't leave me.
We're together.
We'll always be together.
"Senga?" she pulls back and asks.
I raise my eyes to glance over at Wraith, who is standing above the girl with his gun still drawn. He meets my stare and gives me a sad shake of his head.
"Senga?" Katya calls, sitting up quickly. She crawls over to her sister's lifeless body. A growing pool of red is in the center of her chest, spreading out on her light blue shirt like a rose bloom of death.
"No!" Katya sobs, pulling her dead sister into her arms. "No!" she cries, rocking her back and forth. "I'm sorry, sestra. I'm so sorry!"
I stand and join Wraith near the back of the barn, and we allow Katya some time to grieve her sister. It's clear that Senga didn't want to kill her sister. She missed on purpose. But Katya reacted just like anyone else would in that kind of situation. She thought her sister was shooting to kill, so she did the same.
Katya couldn't have known. It's not her fault.
After a few minutes, I gather Katya in my arms and pull her away from her sister. "No!" she protests. "I can't leave her! I can't leave her here alone like this!"
"We have to go. The Bratva could be here any minute."
She fights against me, beating her fists against my chest in anger. But I just hold her tightly and allow her to take her anger out on me until her hits become softer…and then she's pulling me closer instead of pushing me away.
"I'm not going to lose you again," I whisper in her ear. "I never want to lose you."
Her trembling fingers grab the lapels of my jacket as she sobs against my chest.
Wraith gives me a worried look, and I nod. "We have to go," I tell Katya.
She nods, and I reach down and scoop her into my arms, cradling her against me as I carry her to the car.
CHAPTER 42
KATYA
ONCE BACK AT the hospital, I get stitched up quickly in the ER. I made up some story about falling while Jax and I were hiking and cutting my arm against a sharp rock. And even though the nurse raised her eyebrow more than once while I spun the tall tale, she stitched me up with no other questions asked.
After I'm done, I join Jax in the mostly empty waiting room. He stands when he sees me, relief etched all over his face. He hasn't stopped hovering ever since we left the barn, and it actually feels good to have someone care about me that much for once.
"Good as new?" he asks me.
I nod, and he smiles a heartbreakingly beautiful smile.
Pulling me into his arms, I ask Jax the question that's been burning in the back of my mind for hours. "How did you even find me?"
He hesitates for a moment before answering with, "The anklet I gave you has a GPS chip in it."
"Ah," I say in response. While I should be mad that he gave me a gift with an ulterior motive, it ultimately saved my life…and brought me back to him.
"And now I have a question for you," he whispers against my ear before pulling back to look me in my eyes. His steel-gray eyes look sad with his dark brows pulled low over them when he asks, "Why did you leave, Katya? Why did you do it?"
Swallowing my emotions, I take a few seconds before I answer him. "Now that you have Adeline back in your life, I didn't know where I stood." I almost crumble from th
e confession, but I manage to hold myself together. "I didn't want to be your backup plan in case things didn't work out with Adeline. I know how much you love her, Jax. I just didn't want to get hurt, and it seemed like my sister showing up here was like it was meant to be…even though I was absolutely terrified at the thought of never seeing you again."
It pains me to talk about my sister since I just lost her…and I'm the one who pulled the trigger. But the little girl I knew so long ago was not the woman who I met today.
No, my sister died a long time ago. And I will mourn Senga for who she was, not who she ultimately became.
Jax grimaces at my words and pulls back to look into my eyes. "I love Adeline as a friend. And only as a friend. It took me a while to figure that out. Probably longer than it should have, but don't you know how stubborn and stupid men can be?" he asks with a small grin.
"Oh, I have some clue," I say softly.
He stares into my eyes. "You'll never be my backup plan. You're my first choice. My only choice. I've fallen head over heels in love with you, Katya. Don't you get it?" He grips me tighter as he tells me, "I fucking love you."
"I fucking love you, too," I tell him with tears in my eyes before grabbing the lapels of his jacket and pulling him in for a soul-burning kiss.
EPILOGUE
KATYA
Two years later…
LIFE ON A private island can be good for the mind, body and soul. I quickly came to realize that after Jax and I took up residence in the mansion along with Lucien's beautiful little family.
Adeline gave birth to Alexander about a year and a half ago, and the little guy has truly become the light of everyone's lives.
As I sit and stare outside the window, Adeline steps out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. I see her reflection in the glass and smile before turning around. Her wedding dress is ivory and stunning with all sorts of lace and fancy beading, which glitter in the sunlight streaming in from the floor-to-ceiling windows. She looks beautiful, and it makes me a little choked up and teary eyed just at the sight of her.
Watching Her: A Dark Romance (Keep Me Series Book 3) Page 16
