by SR Jones
“Ladies,” the man with the heavy Yorkshire accent says. “Time to go.”
He’s handsome, in the same brutal way that Konstantin is; although, he doesn’t look like Konstantin. They simply have a similar presence. This man has dark hair, deep brown eyes, and is tan. He’s got a heavy scruff, and on his left arm he has ink up his inner wrist right to his elbow. It’s lettering, but I can’t read it.
He catches me looking and throws me a shit-eating grin. “Come on, gorgeous,” he says, and pulls me by my wrist as if I’m a child.
“She’s not gorgeous; she’s really rather plain,” Liza says.
She’s so insane that even now, when we might die, all she cares about is being the hotter one. I turn to her and shake my head as I look at her with real pity. “I think it’s well established that you’re the hotter one, Liza, so yay you, for winning the genetic lottery. However, you’re not actually beautiful. You could have been, but your inner ugly shines out and ruins you. You’re already turning as hard as stone.”
With those words, I allow myself to be dragged out of the room by the big man and down the stairs. He throws me into the large living room, which suddenly seems small with so many massive men gathered within its four walls.
I go down on one knee and scramble to my feet as I try to right myself, which I do with an angry glare the big man’s way.
The other two men give Liza similar treatment and roughly shove her into the room.
“Watch it with the merchandise,” Konstantin snaps.
“I didn’t know you cared,” Liza simpers.
“You might be carrying my kid. Not convinced it was Denis’, as I’m not sure he’s up to it, truth be told, so yeah, I care. And you know … you and me, we have history, right?”
“What about her?” She spits the word her out as if I’m poison on her tongue.
“She’s got a life to get back to. There are people wondering where she is, so it wouldn’t do for anything to happen to her. It might be unwanted attention on all of us, but beyond that, I don’t really care.”
“You betrayed me for her?” Andrius jerks his chin at Liza. “You’re a fucking pussy-whipped idiot.”
“I told you,” he says tetchily, “she might be carrying my kid.”
“No, she is not. She’s a fucking whore, and what about my kid?” Andrius thumps his chest as he speaks. Then he releases a volley of incensed, rapid-fire Russian before finishing in English. “You never thought about that, did you? Or Violet? You were like my brother,” he shouts and then roars as he rushes Konstantin, taking him into the wall not four feet away from me.
I scream, not even thinking, just acting on instinct as I jump out of the way.
“Boss?” One of the men looks at Tigran who is watching in amusement.
Konstantin pulls back his fist and punches Andrius in the face. Blood flies from Andrius’ nose, and he rears back and shouts, motherfucker, at Konstantin before punching him in the stomach.
“Leave them,” Tigran says with an evil smirk. “This is deeply entertaining.”
The men are grappling now, almost like wrestlers as they try to get another punch or kick in. Konstantin swings Andrius around, and he misses one of Tigran’s men by mere inches.
“I’ll fucking kill you,” Andrius grunts as he throws Konstantin off him.
Popov makes a whooping sound and does what looks like a little jig. My God, they’re all insane. I glance at Liza and am disgusted to see something akin to raw lust etched on her face.
Popov follows my gaze and looks her way too, and his laughter fades as something ugly and vicious crosses his features. In that moment, he looks truly evil. I shudder and look away, praying that I simply get out of here alive. I don’t care what else happens; I want to live and see my grandparents again. A small part of me also wants Konstantin to live, but I tell her to shut up; after all he betrayed us, didn’t he? Big time.
As the fight nears the center of the room, Konstantin gets the upper hand and throws Andrius off, sending him into one of Tigran’s men. Andrius hits the man with an oomph of exhaled breath, and both crash into the wall.
I’m not sure what happens next because one moment Konstantin and Andrius are fighting, the next Andrius has a gun. Konstantin turns to Tigran and punches him so hard in the face, he goes down.
Popov screams out something in Russian, and his men draw their weapons. Andrius raises his, and I watch in utter horror as he shoots three men so quickly it almost doesn’t register.
Boom-boom, straight in the chest, the first man goes down. Boom, the second man in the head. Oh my God, I’m going to be sick. Then two more shots to the third man, one in the chest, and one in the head.
The noise of the gun is deafening. It’s more like a canon, and my ears are ringing. My vision is also blurring as I bend over and try to get some air. It’s as if I can’t breathe. No matter what I do I’m merely sucking in tiny bits of air as if through a straw.
Something knocks into me, and I turn to see one of my captor’s men push me roughly out of the way as he raises his gun on Konstantin. I don’t even think. I scream and throw my whole weight into the man, knocking his shot off course. The retort of the gun roars in my head as the bullet whizzes right by Konstantin, missing him as he whips around in time to see the man elbow me in the side. I go down to the ground, gasping for air.
Andrius repays the man by shooting him, and he falls on me. I scream and push and push at his dead weight, trying to get him off me. As I scramble to stand, everything slows down as if time itself has broken the laws of physics.
Tigran has righted himself too, and he’s staring at me with a vicious smile. “Fucking liars,” he says with a quick glance to Konstantin, before he raises his gun and points it right at me.
Shit, I’m going to die. My life doesn’t flash in front of me, nothing so dramatic. Instead, I simply think, I’m going to die.
Another huge boom, and blood blossoms on Tigran’s face as a hole opens in the side of his neck, and he goes down like an oak felled in the forest.
I turn as does Konstantin, and we both stare at the big Yorkshire man who’d brought me downstairs.
Why did he shoot his own side? His boss?
“What the fuck?” Popov screams.
Then the room erupts.
There’s more gunfire, and I can’t tell who is shooting who anymore. Konstantin yells at me to get down, but I can’t move. I close my eyes, unable to cope as I stand there in a room torn apart by bullets and violence.
There’s a crashing sound and heavy footsteps. My eyes snap open at this new noise as four big men pile into the room in a band, so tight they move as one. They’re followed by two more men. They are all huge. What the hell? Do they grow them on some farm somewhere? Instead of planting corn, they plant crops of genetically enhanced men?
“You’re out-fucking-numbered, Popov. Call it a day.” It’s a bear of a blond man who speaks, and he’s bigger than any of the others. Massive. He’s got long wavy hair and a friendly face, which contrasts with the gun he’s holding, calmly raised and trained on Popov.
Popov doesn’t speak, but the men on his side of this lower their weapons. Not all of them, though; some keep their guns trained on all of us. There are dead and wounded men on the floor, and I studiously avoid looking at them.
“Seems you’re shit out of luck, Popov. That’s what you get for making me suck your stubby, disgusting dick.” Liza laughs and shakes her head.
He glares at Liza. “I didn’t make you; you offered.”
She turns to Konstantin. “He forced me, baby, I swear it.”
“You told me that Konstantin didn’t have men here,” Popov growls at her. “You said, if we took Vasily out, Konstantin would be a sitting duck as he only had the three men he’d hired recently.” He points to the men around them and snarls. “What the fuck do you call this?”
Konstantin stares at a man he has a gun trained on, but his eyes harden at Popov’s words, and he sends a super-fast g
lance Liza’s way. The gun in his hand twitches, the movement small, but I swear he’s thinking about killing her. It’s as if I can see the cogs turning as he considers whether or not to pull the trigger on her. It must make her betrayal that much sharper that he risked all this to save her.
“You told him to take out Vasily?” He grinds out, his gaze on the man he’s focused on, but his ire all for her. He has his gun on one of Popov’s men, who has his gun on me. Why me? Who here cares if I live or die?
There are so many men in this space now, and so many guns, I think the odds of getting out alive must be miniscule.
“Babe, it’s all lies. He’s a disgusting, little dick—seriously like an acorn— impotent fucking liar,” Liza screeches.
Popov reaches behind him, and before anyone can react, he pulls a small gun from his waistband, aims, and fires.
There’s blood in my hair, on my face, and clothes, along with something unspeakable too. Something that looks an awful lot like skin. I can’t move, can’t make a sound.
I’m frozen in shock. So shocked, I don’t flinch when Popov goes down like a sack of potatoes next to me, hitting the floor with a thud.
The big blond man still has his gun trained on Popov, a blaze of smoke trailing from the barrel. Next to me, making the most horrifying and unspeakable noises, slumped against the wall, with half her face nothing but pulp, is Liza.
Popov shot her.
He shot a pregnant woman. Why? Why would he do that?
There are two more shots, and the big blond man flies back hitting the wall as he swears. Another round of bullets, and then nothing but deafening silence.
The Yorkshire man has his gun on the last two of Popov and Tigran’s men standing, and he’s watching them intently. They aren’t moving a muscle.
“Reece?” A man with short, cropped dark hair runs to the big blond.
“I’ll be okay. I think it grazed me. Hurts like a bitch, but I think I’ll be okay, boss.”
Andrius goes to Reece and starts to look him over. “Da, you’re going to live,” he says and then adds, mysteriously, “Damn it, you zigged when you should have zagged. Be more careful in future.”
Konstantin barks out a laugh at Andrius’ words and walks to Popov, staring down at him. Andrius joins him.
“Holy fuck, always knew he was a crazy fucker,” Andrius says, talking about Popov, but then adding, “Oh damn, you’re still breathing.”
Popov grunts.
“Why did you shoot Liza?” Andrius asks. “Because she mocked your dick? Are you that pathetic?”
“She lied to me,” Popov gasps out. “Set me up.”
Whilst all this is happening, two of the other men who arrived with the big blond have rushed to Liza and lowered her to the ground. As one cradles her ruined head and face in his arms, the other takes out a phone and starts making calls. “We need an ambulance,” he says.
“No, Popov,” Konstantin says as he stares at Liza and shakes his head. “She didn’t betray you. She betrayed me and Vasily, but not you.”
“All these men, yet she said you had none here.” Popov grinds the words out as if forcing them up through his throat.
“I didn’t.” Konstantin laughs. “Liza didn’t betray you, and you’ve just shot a heavily pregnant woman. All because you’re so fucking dense you don’t know what’s actually going on. Now, you’re not going upstairs, your elevator is purely headed down, and it’s time for you to take that ride. You helped kill my wife, and you shot Andrius. You have to know what comes for you next?”
“Don’t give a fuck,” he says.
“Fine.” Konstantin takes out his gun and shoots Popov in the head.
Andrius looks at Konstantin and sighs. “You said you’d kneecap him first. You said you’d make him suffer.”
“Sorry, I forgot. Got a lot on my mind.” Konstantin looks at Andrius’ face and winces. “Think I broke your nose.”
“Think you did,” Andrius confirms.
“Violet will kill you,” one of the four new men says to Andrius, talking about his wife. So they must know one another fairly well. He also has a Yorkshire accent and an unfriendly face. He’s the one tending to Reece.
I don’t know who these men are, and I still can’t speak or move. I’m standing in the middle of this room, arms by my side, something awful on my face, and I can’t move.
Konstantin looks to me, and his face pales. It actually pales. Why? Have I been shot too?
Konstantin reaches into Andrius’ pocket and takes out a fancy silk square and crosses the room to me.
“It’s going to be okay,” he says to me.
I nod dully because frankly I don’t care anymore. Nothing is real. Nothing seems real or feels real, except for the gunk in my hair.
I reach toward my head with a shaky hand, but Konstantin catches it. “No, sunshine, don’t do that. Let me.” He dabs at my face and hair. He checks me over as he does so, turning my face this way and that way.
“Tigran isn’t in charge,” says the big blond. “So who is?”
“Aram Ohanian,” Andrius says. “He’s the one behind this. He’s fucking scum of the earth.”
“How scummy exactly?” asks another moody-looking dark haired man.
“Scummy enough that if he’s set this shitshow in motion, and he’s wanting to build up his power and hit people like me and Konstantin, none of us are safe. Scummy enough that even though my wife will be deeply unhappy about it, I’m coming out of retirement until he’s dealt with.”
“You are?” The big blond…Reece, stares at Andrius. He’s holding his arm, which is bleeding heavily, but he seems okay other than that.
“My wife, my child, everything that matters to me is not safe now. I have taken the life of his second, and he will want revenge for this. I’m back in the game, whether I want to be or not.”
“This is my fault,” Konstantin says. His next words confuse me. “You’ve put the woman you love at risk to help me save Cassie.”
He was saving Liza not me.
Except, she betrayed him, didn’t she? Maybe now he doesn’t want her anymore. Although, I don’t think Liza is going to make it anyway. My thoughts are all jumbled. My hair is so sticky. Once more, I reach up absentmindedly, but Konstantin catches my wrist again. “Leave it, Cassie.” It’s an order, and without thinking, I obey and lower my hand.
“It’s not your fault, K.” Andrius shakes his head. “These fuckers are on the warpath. They think they can move against Allyov, threaten to try to hit me in Corfu, take your woman and get away with it? They only thought they could do this because you and me? We’ve become something we’re not. We are soldiers, and we tried to live as ordinary men. In times of peace, maybe we can do that, but this is now a time of war.”
I glance at Liza who makes an awful, inhuman noise, and a whimper crawls out of my throat. I might not like her, but my God this is awful. The most awful thing I’ve ever witnessed.
“It’s okay, baby,” Konstantin says as he holds me to him, wrapping his arms around me. I push him away, and he frowns as he looks at me.
“Go to Liza,” I tell him. “You might not have long with her.”
“I don’t give a fuck about Liza,” he says with venom. “I am, however, very concerned about you. You’re in shock.”
“You love her, and you came for her.”
He tilts my chin up, looks right into my eyes, and purses his lips as he gives a frustrated shake of his head. “I came for you, Cassie. For you.”
“But you said, in the call to Tigran, you said…” I can’t remember what he said.
“Cassie, whatever bullshit I said wasn’t real. I wanted their focus elsewhere. All you need to know is this—I came for you. Andrius came for you, at great risk, and all these men here came for you. I built an army, in a day, for you.”
I stare at him, unable to speak. Another moan from Liza has my head automatically turning her way, but Konstantin pulls me to him and gently pushes my face into his chest. �
�Don’t look,” he murmurs.
The ear-splitting wail of sirens sounds outside, and moments later people are rushing into the room.
The dour, dark-haired man gives his name as Liam, states he’s working on a case, and then reels off the stats about who is dead. He says Liza needs the most urgent treatment. He lists her as female, early thirties, pregnant.
This is so tragic. She might be horrible, to put it mildly, but she’s young. She could have changed, given a chance, and she’s carrying a totally innocent life.
I look up to see one of the emergency responders take one look at Liza and then turn away, puking into a corner. Not a good sign for her survival, part of my mind thinks; the other part is still in shock, unable to process. Two other paramedics approach Liza and start to examine her.
“What happened?” one asks as she kneels by Liza.
“Crazy Russian thug, Popov, blew half her brains out. They’re all over Cassie; she’s the one in shock. They are the two who need immediate treatment, Liza and Cassie.” The Yorkshire man who was with Popov says this, and all I hear is that her brains are on me. “The blond has been hit, but it’s a graze.”
Her brains are on me? I immediately begin to rake my hands feverishly through my hair, in a panic.
“Shut your mouth,” Konstantin snaps at the man. He turns to me. “Cassie, leave it. It’s okay, we’re going to get you cleaned up. You’re going to the hospital, and they will clean you up, okay?”
Hospital. Why would I need the hospital? The rushing in my ears intensifies, and the world goes like an out of tune TV set, before turning entirely dark.
Chapter Three
Konstantin
I stare at the mess around us. Fuck me, this turned out even more bloody than I imagined.
It’s a miracle we didn’t lose anyone. In this battle, we came out on top. However, we’ve probably ignited a bigger war.
When Andrius suggested involving Liam and his team, I was unsure, convinced they’d say no. Why would a tight-knit group of special forces soldiers help us? But Andrius has history with Reece, and he laid it on thick about how innocent Cassie is in all this and what a danger the Armenians are to him and Violet. He also let slip the fact they’ve been trafficking people. A lot of them into the north, where these men are based, and that’s all it took to get his friend Reece on board. Once Reece said yes, the other three did too. So now we have a small army, complimented by two of Allyov’s men, including Alexei, who it seems is on loan to me now for however long I need him.
