Mine (Ties that Bind Book 1)
Page 19
“Okay.” I hold up my hands in an attempt to placate him. “Just let her go, Andrei. Your beef is with me, not her.”
“You were supposed to kill her!” he bites out. “You know she can’t live. Vasily won’t allow it. I won’t allow it.”
Kat’s gaze moves to mine, and I can feel the betrayal in her eyes. I want to tell her he’s full of shit. I want to tell her every pretty lie I can think of right now. But first, I need to worry about getting her out of here alive.
“All these years, you’ve been telling me what to do,” Andrei continues. “Telling me what a fuckup I am. How I ruin everything. And you can’t follow a simple fucking order to put a bullet in this bitch’s head. You’re so pathetic, I can’t even look at you.”
His voice is rising with every syllable, years of repressed jealousy and rage unleashing itself. I know it’s only a matter of time, and he will make good on his offer. It’s too late to give him false assurances about Kat. I’m caught in the web I wove, and there’s only one way out now.
“Do you think I don’t know how much you hate me?” I meet his gaze. “It kills you that your father has only ever respected me. This won’t change anything, Andrei. The one thing you’ve always wanted? It’s never going to be yours. Because you won’t leave here without killing both of us today. And your father will never forgive you for that.”
His lip curls, and I know I’ve hit a nerve. But I’m not trying to provoke him. I’m trying to distract him. Because I can see Pasha at the back door now, his eyes wide as he signals to me. He’s already called for backup, but I can’t count on that.
“I was planning to be merciful.” Andrei dips his head, breathing Kat in while she struggles to pull away. “But maybe I’ll make you watch. I’m in no hurry.”
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” I choke on the words. “Your whole life, you’ve wanted what’s mine. That’s why you did it, isn’t it?”
“Did what?” Andrei asks distractedly as he traces the curve of Kat’s throat with his gun.
“Killed my mother.”
His gaze snaps up to mine, and a sinister gleam flashes between his lips as they curl into a sickening smile.
“You know about that?”
His confirmation should come as no surprise, but the admission still feels like a knife to the heart.
“Not everything.” I force the words out. “But you may as well tell me. Because I can guarantee you this. Only one of us is leaving here alive today.”
He seems to consider it, but I know he’s just toying with me. If there is one thing I’ve come to understand about Andrei, it’s that he loves to poke at this wound. For years, he’s brought up my mother, a constant reminder of what I lost. But now I understand he was just laughing at his own private joke, adding salt to my wound.
I don’t want the details. Not really. But it’s the only thing I can think of that will keep him talking. From the corner of my eye, I can see Pasha creeping over the broken glass. He’s trying to slip in unnoticed, but I don’t know if he’ll manage. Upstairs, Josh’s frantic cries are growing louder. He’s screaming for his mother, and every second feels like the span of an hour.
“Shut that goddamn kid up!” Andrei screeches. “Or I’ll do it myself.”
“No!” Kat screams, fighting in his grasp. I meet her eyes, silently pleading with her not to move.
“Tell me what happened that night, Andrei. Tell me what you did to my mother.”
He sniffs, his leg bouncing up and down with an agitation that feels like the longest countdown of my life. I’m running out of fucking time, and he’s running out of patience.
“You want to know what happened to dear old mom?” he repeats. “I’ll tell you what happened. She was a weak fucking link, just like you.”
The floor creaks under Pasha’s shoes during his rant, but he doesn’t notice. Pasha edges closer, and I keep my attention focused on Andrei as he rages on, unleashing the story he’s kept bottled up for all these years.
“I fucked her, you know,” he tells me. “And she loved every second of it.”
I feel like I’m going to puke, and my head is moving on autopilot. “No. You didn’t.”
“I did.” He grins. “She threatened to expose everything she knew about Vasily. All she had to do was keep her mouth shut, but she couldn’t. She’d been talking to that neighbor of yours, betraying her own family. Vasily couldn’t stand the sight of her anymore. Everyone is expendable, Lev, even you.”
Pasha is encroaching. I can feel his presence, but I can’t rip my gaze from Andrei’s. I don’t want to believe what he’s telling me. I don’t want to accept that my mother’s final hours were so horrific.
“He told me to take care of her, and he left,” Andrei goes on, lost in the memory of the moment. “It was supposed to be my first kill. I had something to prove. He said there is nothing that comes before our loyalty, even our own blood. I tortured her until she vomited all over me. That was the first time I realized what I was capable of. That I was superior to my father in every way. He didn’t have the stomach to do it, but I did.”
“You’re full of shit,” I bite out.
“You’re just like her,” Andrei spits. “Too weak to do what’s necessary. That’s why we’re here, Lev. That’s how it all comes full circle. And now, you understand that the only person leaving here alive today is me.”
My fists curl at my sides as I take another step toward him. But as I do, the floorboard behind him creaks, and his head snaps to the left, colliding with Pasha as he lunges for him. In the aftermath, everything happens in a blur.
I lunge for Kat at the same time Pasha tackles Andrei from behind. An ear-piercing scream reverberates off the walls, and it can only be Kat’s. I’m trying to get to her, trying to throw my body on top of hers, but I’m too late.
A gunshot echoes off the walls, followed by another. And another.
And then, there is only silence.
***
Thank you for reading MINE. I hope you love Lev and Kat!
Their story concludes in HIS, the final book of the Ties that Bind Duet. Click here to buy HIS now!
Thank you
Thank you for reading MINE. I hope you love Lev and Kat!
Their story concludes in HIS, the second and final book of the Ties that Bind Duet. Click here to buy HIS now!
HIS
I’ve been in hiding for four years. On the run from the man in whose bed I once slept.
I saw something I shouldn’t have seen.
Took something I shouldn’t have taken.
And he’s just found me.
But it’s not just my safety I have to worry about. I have a little boy. His little boy. The secret baby of a Russian mobster.
He told me in no uncertain terms that I’m his. That we would be a family.
But his uncle still wants me dead and I know the man whose been hunting me is the only one who can keep us safe.
Also by A. Zavarelli
Boston Underworld Series
CROW: Boston Underworld #1
REAPER: Boston Underworld #2
GHOST: Boston Underworld #3
SAINT: Boston Underworld #4
THIEF: Boston Underworld #5
CONOR: Boston Underworld #6
Sin City Salvation Series
Confess
Convict
Bleeding Hearts Series
Echo: A Bleeding Hearts Novel Volume One
Stutter: A Bleeding Hearts Novel Volume Two
Twisted Ever After Series
BEAST: Twisted Ever After #1
Standalones
Tap Left
Hate Crush
For a complete list of books and audios, visit http://www.azavarelli.com/books
Also by Natasha Knight
Ties that Bind Duet
Mine
His
Collateral Damage Duet
Collateral: an Arranged Marriage Mafia Romance
Damage: an Arranged
Marriage Mafia Romance
Dark Legacy Trilogy
Taken (Dark Legacy, Book 1)
Torn (Dark Legacy, Book 2)
Twisted (Dark Legacy, Book 3)
MacLeod Brothers
Devil’s Bargain
Benedetti Mafia World
Salvatore: a Dark Mafia Romance
Dominic: a Dark Mafia Romance
Sergio: a Dark Mafia Romance
The Benedetti Brothers Box Set (Contains Salvatore, Dominic and Sergio)
Killian: a Dark Mafia Romance
Giovanni: a Dark Mafia Romance
The Amado Brothers
Dishonorable
Disgraced
Unhinged
Standalone Dark Romance
Descent
Deviant
Beautiful Liar
Retribution
Theirs To Take
Captive, Mine
Alpha
Given to the Savage
Taken by the Beast
Claimed by the Beast
Captive’s Desire
Protective Custody
Amy’s Strict Doctor
Taming Emma
Taming Megan
Taming Naia
Reclaiming Sophie
The Firefighter’s Girl
Dangerous Defiance
Her Rogue Knight
Taught To Kneel
Tamed: the Roark Brothers Trilogy
About A. Zavarelli
A. Zavarelli is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author of dark and contemporary romance.
When she’s not putting her characters through hell, she can usually be found watching bizarre and twisted documentaries in the name of research.
She currently lives in the Northwest with her lumberjack and an entire brood of fur babies.
Want to stay up to date on Ashleigh and Natasha’s releases? Sign up for our newsletters here: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/x3s0k6
About Natasha Knight
USA Today bestselling author of contemporary romance, Natasha Knight specializes in dark, tortured heroes. Happily-Ever-Afters are guaranteed, but she likes to put her characters through hell to get them there. She’s evil like that.
Want to stay up to date on Ashleigh and Natasha’s releases? Sign up for our newsletters here: https://landing.mailerlite.com/webforms/landing/x3s0k6