by Liz K. Lorde
Even in my utter terror, the words come easily.
After all, they’re the truth. I’ve been here before, facing down a life with this madman. My choice then is no different than now. I would rather lose my life than spend another second with him.
Again, his laugh reaches me, sounding all the more threatening now that his men are closing in.
“Go to hell, Yuri.”
His eyes shine hotly out at me, anger creasing his previously calm face.
With a flick of his finger, the men around us move forward, their own expressions cold and unyielding.
I reach slowly behind me, tucking the pregnancy test discreetly into the waistband of my pants.
I know exactly what’s meant to come next.
I’ve been down this path before.
This time though, everything’s different. I have something to live for now. I have everything to live for.
I think of Cas, patiently waiting for me back at the loft.
I think of the box, tucked away behind me.
Everything that that test represents seems to solidify in my mind, my spine straightening at the thought.
I’m outmatched, outnumbered, and certainly outgunned, but I refuse to walk quietly away from the life I’ve started to build.
I set my feet, staring challengingly into Yuri’s eyes.
No matter what happens next, I’m not going without a fight.
Chapter 23
Cas
I pace the length of my loft, my feet thumping rhythmically across the floor.
My worry seems to build with each step, slivering deeply into my mind until I’m on the verge of panic.
I know it’s illogical—Ana hasn’t even been gone that long—but I feel a growing sense of doom nonetheless, my head flashing to every awful thing that could happen to her.
I run my hands roughly through my hair, turning to cross the room for what must be the hundredth time.
A small rapping sound reaches my ears as I do, knuckles smacking insistently on my front door.
Ana!
I spin in place, running quickly towards the door.
In my excitement, it doesn’t occur to me that Ana wouldn’t bother knocking until I’m already pulling hard at the knob.
Nico’s smiling face meets me, his eyes sparkling in what looks like excitement.
He lifts up his hands in greeting, one clutching a darkened bottle by its neck.
I had completely forgotten about Nico.
“Brother,” he says, “have you figured it out?”
I step back from the doorway, the smile dying on my lips.
With one arm I gesture for him to enter, closing the door quickly behind him.
“Have I figured what out?” I ask once he’s inside.
“What happened last night. Don’t tell me you still don’t remember.”
I rub a hand over my face, trying to focus my attention onto his words rather than my tumultuous thoughts.
“I’m sorry, what?”
He laughs amusedly, again holding the bottle up for display.
“You look like you need a drink.” He says, roughly shoving the container into my hands.
Idly, I glance down, reading the label as I cross to my bar.
“Scotch?”
“You bet your ass. We’re celebrating!”
I reach for two tumblers, eyeing Nico over the bar.
“And what are we celebrating again?”
“Your happy fucking union, of course!”
I shake my head, filling the glasses halfway before crossing back towards my brother.
He accepts the drink with a nod as I reach him.
“I’m sorry,” I say, “a little distracted. Mind repeating that?”
He rolls his eyes, chuckling in good humor.
“Alright, asshole. What I said was, we are celebrating your happy union. Your marriage, Cas!”
Finally, something breaks through. I feel my lips peeling back at his words, my smile widening immensely despite my worry.
“There you go, that’s better,” he chides.
I can’t help but laugh at his obvious excitement.
Gesturing to the sofa, I turn to sit as well.
“You were there?” I ask excitedly.
“Of course I was there. Who else could stomach being your best man?” He asks laughing, throwing his arms back for emphasis.
A drop of scotch spills from his glass at the sudden movement, falling silently to the cushions below.
I spare a glance towards my bedroom, smiling at the thought of the veil that now sits on my mattress.
“How was it?” I ask, genuinely invested in the conversation now.
“I have pictures!” He announces, reaching quickly for his phone.
He unlocks the screen, his fingers flying quickly over its surface.
Smiling even more than before, he passes it my way.
“See?”
I laugh aloud as my eyes land on the first image, Nico with his arm around someone vaguely resembling Elvis.
“Not an Elvis impersonator.” I groan.
“Of course, an Elvis impersonator. It’s Vegas, baby!”
I continue to laugh as I swipe through the pictures. There are showgirls at the head of the altar, my own side profile occasionally peeking out amongst them.
What else could I expect with Nico as our photographer?
When I reach the pictures of Ana, though, I feel my mirth change dramatically. Seeing her this way again, white dress and flowing veil, my heart seems to sputter. I gaze intently at the phone in my hand, drinking in the images before me.
I can’t believe I got too drunk to remember!
How could I go and screw up something like my wedding day?
“Bring back any memories?” Nico asks as I finish flipping through the photos.
I shake my head in response, kicking myself for screwing this up.
“Not a thing,” I tell him, frustrated now.
“Oh, don’t sweat it; it’ll come back to you. Just give it a while.”
I nod, hoping that he’s right.
“Where is your lovely bride, anyway?” Nico asks, glancing pointedly around the room.
“She walked to the store, remember?”
“Oh, right. I’m surprised you let her go.”
“I didn’t.” I growl. “She left before I woke up.”
Nico chuckles again. “Sure she didn’t skip out on you?”
I shoot him a murderous look that doesn’t seem to faze him in the least.
“Alright, alright, well how long has she been gone now?”
“Long enough,” I answer simply, my worry returning quickly now that I’m thinking about it again.
“I’m sure she’s fine. You worry too much, Cas.”
I sigh, leaning back into my seat with a nod.
Nico’s almost certainly right; it’s unlikely that any harm has befallen Ana on the short walk to the drug store.
Still though, my stomach churns, worry racing through me despite his logic.
“She’ll walk through the door any minute now,” he says, draining the last vestiges of scotch from his glass.
I look to my own drink, my eyes catching on the light reflecting from its surface.
“You’re right. I just need to relax.”
I lift the glass to my lips, telling myself to stop worrying even as my eyes remain glued to the front door.
Nico and I sit silently, minutes seeming to drag by in our impatience.
My eyes roam constantly from the doorway to my phone, tracking time intently.
Ten minutes pass, then twenty. After thirty, Nico stops trying to reassure me, his eyes also finding their way to the door.
“It’s been too long.” I finally declare, standing abruptly.
Nico nods in understanding, the frivolity of earlier now distinctly absent from his face.
“What do you want me to do?” He asks, his voice serious.
“Get everyone together
, and hurry. Something isn’t right.”
“I’m on it.”
Nico grabs his phone, already dialing as I head for the bedroom.
Ana should be back by now.
My mind races at the thought.
There’s only one explanation that seems to make any sense to me: her father must have found her, tracked her somehow.
I growl as I pull open the drawer of my nightstand, grabbing quickly for my gun. I will not lose her again. I slam the drawer roughly, turning back towards the living room.
Wherever she is, I’m going to find her.
And God help anyone who tries to get in my way.
Chapter 24
Ana
I want to scream. I want to raise hell.
But before I know it, I’m being bundled into the back of a limousine. I can’t believe this is happening to me.
I look to my left. The pawn shop owner who I forced Cas to save is sitting beside me. He looks at me guiltily.
Oh, no.
So I do it. I scream.
But in half a second, Yuri’s hand is over my mouth as he slides in beside me and slams the door of the limo.
“There are better ways to show how happy you are to see me, my love,” he sneers, taunting me.
I do what any completely rational person would do in my situation: I bite his hand. Fucking hard.
Yuri yowls in pain as he withdraws his hand. He throws me a look that ensures a slap to the face is coming my way. And then…
“Ana.”
I turn from Yuri to look at the man sitting in front of me: it’s my father.
He doesn’t look angry or sad or relieved. He doesn’t even look happy to see me. This is all “just business” after all.
“What do you want?” I spit out as the driver kicks the limo into first gear and drives away.
My father sighs, almost resignedly. “You know what I want. It’s what I’ve always wanted. It’s what needs to happen for the family business.”
“I’m not marrying Yuri!” I shriek, knowing full-well it’s what he always wanted.
My dad holds a level gaze against me. I do my best to contain my emotions and stare right back at him the exact same way.
I don’t mention the fact that I literally just married Cas. I don’t want to put his life in any more danger than it clearly already is.
Beside me, Yuri has gotten over my attack on his hand, and he laughs cruelly in my face.
“As if you have a choice, Ana. You never had a choice. Which is lucky for me.”
I want to kill him. I wish I had killed him, back when he had been pawing at my breasts and taunting me before our sham of a fucking marriage.
Screw waiting until we were on the altar. Had I done it in that dressing room in the church, Cas would have shown up just moments later, and we could have run off, blissful and free of our troubles.
But I never could have known he was going to show up. And now…
Now I’m locked in a car with my father, who views me as a bargaining chip; Yuri, who I’m destined to hate until the end of time itself; and a man who betrayed me even after—
“I saved your fucking life!” I throw at the pawn shop owner’s face. He stares back at me, abashed. “He was going to kill you—he should have killed you—and I took pity on you and saved your life! And now you’ve destroyed mine!”
“And how wonderful that you did, Ana, because for the right price, he brought you back to my arms,” Yuri says, all false sweetness. “And now, he can pay off his debts to that group of mongrels who call themselves the Italian mafia. I’d call that a win-win.”
I lash out at him, but Yuri grabs me by the throat and pins me back to my chair. His fingers tighten painfully around my neck. I can’t breathe.
“Yuri,” my father says mildly.
Yuri smirks; his pale green eyes glitter darkly as he stares me down.
“Later, then,” he whispers into my ear.
I can’t help but shiver at his words, eyes wide. I hate the look of pleasure on Yuri’s face at my response.
He lets go of my neck, and I cough and splutter blessed air back into my lungs. I fling a glare at the pawn shop owner.
You did this to me. You did this to me, and you can be damn well sure Cas will know about this.
He doesn’t look back at me.
Eventually, the limo stops, and the man is ushered out. I realize I can see Cas’ penthouse from where we’ve parked. My blood runs cold.
“What are we doing here?” I demand, though I’m fairly certain I do not want to know the answer.
For the third time, Yuri laughs in my face.
I look out the window. I recognize three of Yuri’s henchmen loitering around the building that houses Cas’ apartment. Even as I watch, another man leaves the building, holding what looks suspiciously like an empty can of gasoline.
I turn to look at my father. “Dad, no. Please don’t do this to me. Please.”
My father’s face remains impassive to my plea. “You brought this on yourself, Ana. You deliberately went against the family’s wishes—not once, but twice. All of this could have been avoided if you had just listened to me.”
“He’s done nothing wrong! I walked out of the wedding by myself! Leave him alone!”
As if I need to qualify who “he” is.
Yuri turns my face to look at me, squashing my cheeks against his fingers. “Then you’re marrying me.”
I glance at my father out of the corner of my eye; he nods in agreement with Yuri’s words.
“I don’t imagine you want to watch Caspian Andreas die before your eyes once more,” he reasons quietly.
Yuri looks as if he would want nothing more than to witness exactly that. But if I marry him, that will take that option off the table. It’s a no-brainer.
“Fine,” I bite out, barely audible.
“What was that, lovely?” Yuri coos, far too close to me for my liking; though being in the same damn country is too close for my liking.
I shake free of his grip on my face. “I said fine! I’ll do it. I’ll marry your murderous lapdog, Father.”
“You flatter me,” Yuri laughs, then forces my lips against his in a crushing kiss.
I push away in a moment.
“But you leave Cas alone!” I yell at my father—not at Yuri, who would never listen to me. “You don’t go near him. Ever. He gets to live. He gets to be safe.”
“As promised, Ana. I won’t touch him, so long as you do as you’re told.”
I breathe a heavy sigh of relief. Cas will be fine. Cas will be saved.
If worst comes to worst, I can run with my original plan and kill Yuri before taking out myself.
An uncomfortable prodding against the small of my back reminds me of the pregnancy test still hidden in the waistband of my jeans, underneath the fabric of my top. And I feel some of the color leave my face.
If I’m pregnant, I can’t kill myself. I couldn’t bear to do that to Cas’ child. Our child.
I have no choice but to figure a way out of this marriage to Yuri before it’s too late—for my potential child’s sake, not mine.
But Yuri must have seen something in my eyes, some giveaway that I’m already up to something, for he pulls out a radio phone.
“Do it,” he commands in Russian.
Behind me, in the direction of Cas’ penthouse, I hear an explosion.
I see fire reflected in Yuri’s eyes before I turn around to a sight of absolute carnage. Cars and people alike have been blown away from the sidewalk like matchsticks. And Cas’ building is up in flames.
Massive ugly plumes of black smoke shoot up into the sky from a hell-scape of red and orange flames. The acrid smell of burning stings my nose even inside the limousine.
What little color I had left in my face drains immediately.
“Cas! Cas!” I shriek as I struggle against Yuri’s arms to escape the car, but the man is too strong for me to break away from.
I tear my eyes away f
rom the destruction outside to stare accusingly at my father.
“You said you wouldn’t! You said you wouldn’t!”
My father allows just an inkling of emotion break his mask of a face. He’s angry. No—he’s furious.
“I said I wouldn’t touch him if you do as you’re told. You have already failed to do so—twice. I won’t see there be a third time.”
“No.”
Yuri turns me around. “Oh, but yes, Ana. This is what you get when you go against us. I hope you appreciate the pre-wedding fireworks.”
He glances over my shoulder pointedly at the flames outside, laughing. I can see people screaming and burning and dying in his eyes. And he’s laughing.
“You’re a monster,” I spit in his face, but that only makes him laugh harder.
“Which makes you the monster’s bride, cuore mio.”
I recoil from his use of Cas’ words. “Don’t you ever say that to me!”
He looms over me threateningly. “I’ll say whatever I damn well please. I’ll do whatever I damn well please. You don’t get a choice in the matter, Ana.”
I look at my father. Even he can’t possibly allow Yuri to get away with saying all of this to me. But his eyes are empty.
He gestures for the driver to start the limousine back up.
I stare at the wreckage left in my father’s wake as we drive away.
Cas is gone. They took him away. Again.
I’m all alone.
Chapter 25
Cas
I don’t think I’ve ever watched my own supposed demise before.
I’ve never been so glad to have trusted my instincts that something had gone awry. Had I not convinced Nico to rally the troops, and had I not decided to go out looking for Ana—I give Nico a meaningful glance—we’d have died.
Well, that’s two in two attempts from Yuri and Ana’s father that have failed. I don’t intend to give them a third chance.
I’ll succeed against them on my first.
I stare out at my apartment. My building. My street.
It’s now a flaming mess.
My men are already running about, helping those that have been injured until emergency services arrive.
There are so many burning corpses littering the ground. Yuri is going to pay; I’ll make sure of it. For every person he killed on this street.
