“Sasha!”
“Aleksandra!” Babushka screeches, pulling her cane from my fingers and stomping it on the ground. “I should’ve known a girl would be good for nothing. You’ve fallen for the monster, haven’t you?”
“N-no.” I clear my throat. “He’s my savior, and I refuse to betray him.”
“If you don’t move out of the way,” she warns. “Mark my words, Aleksandra Ivanova, I will disown you.”
I pause, my fingers shaking and my heart thumping so loudly, I can hear it in my ears.
Sweat breaks out on my temples and upper lip as I stare at my grandmother.
The thought of being a stranger to my family rips my chest open, but no more than the mere thought of losing Kirill.
So I stand there, unmoving.
“Sasha,” Uncle pleads, but I shake my head.
“You are dead to me,” Babushka says with another stomp of her cane. “I will think that you were killed that day with everyone else.”
Then she turns around and leaves, hitting her cane on the ground all the way. Tears fill my eyes, but I don’t let them loose.
“It’s not too late to fix it, Sashenka,” Uncle says gently, pleadingly almost. “Do the right thing.”
“Killing my savior is not the right thing. Far from it.”
“This is not over even if I walk away right now. I will come back for Kirill’s life. It’s my duty toward this family. If you decide to stop me, be ready to kill me.” His eyes soften, and he releases a long sigh. “I wish I’d never sent you to the army.”
Then he follows Babushka out.
As I watch their retreating backs, a part of me rips through my chest, spills out in front of me, and dies a slow death.
The worst part is that I can’t do anything about it.
I’ve always thought I’d be with them for the rest of my life, but now, it feels like everything was for nothing.
I don’t pause to wallow in misery for too long, though. I need to get Kirill out of this hospital. Now.
If Uncle said he’ll come back, he means it. And this time, one of us really has to die.
I run to the hospital’s public phone and dial the number I learned by heart.
“Who is this?” Viktor’s gruff, tension-filled voice sounds from the other end.
“It’s me. Sasha.”
“Lipovsky, you fucking fucker! What happened to Boss? I knew he was following you after your impromptu visit to Russia. I went searching for him, and although it took me hours, I only found traces of blood. That blood better not be his, or I swear to fuck—”
“It’s his. He was shot, and he’s in the ICU at the local hospital.”
“What the fuck—”
“Listen to me, Viktor,” I cut him off and lean closer to the phone. “His life is in immediate danger. You need to make the arrangements to fly him out of here now. I’ll remain on guard until you have everything sorted. Hurry. His life depends on it.”
“Are you the reason he was shot?” he asks with frightening calm.
I bite my lower lip and then quickly release it. “That’s not important right now—”
“Are you?”
“No.” Lie. I was completely the reason behind it, though indirectly. But if I tell Viktor that, he’ll separate me from Kirill, and I can’t have that.
He inhales sharply. “Now, you listen to me, motherfucker. You will guard him with your life until I get there. Once I do, you better not show your face, or I will punch you on sight.”
I tighten my hand on the phone, but I don’t say anything.
It doesn’t matter if Viktor, Kirill, and everyone else hate me as long as I can get him to safety.
4
SASHA
Viktor might be the most stoic person I know, whose personality can only be compared to walls and steel, but he’s also the most efficient.
In just a few hours, he managed to find not only transportation to the airfield, but also a few bodyguards, a doctor, and a nurse who will accompany Kirill on his flight back to New York.
I haven’t been able to stop studying my surroundings for the past hour, even with all the security that Viktor specifically hired to ensure Kirill’s safety.
There’s no telling what my uncle and his men will do. Hell, Babushka might have given him the green light to get rid of me as well if I dare to get in the way of their revenge.
I tap my chest, fruitlessly trying to eliminate the knot that’s growing there.
No, it’s not their revenge. It’s mine, too.
I lost as much as they did. And I don’t only mean my parents and the rest of my family, but also my identity and my femininity. I’m nothing more than an entity of violence now who can never go back to the way things were.
That doesn’t mean I’m giving up on retribution, but right now, as Kirill battles against death, I can’t think about that lifelong mission.
My main concern is getting him out of here alive. I might not have been able to save him on that hill, but I’ll put my life on the line to ensure his safety now.
“Lipovsky.”
I turn around at the sound of Viktor’s voice, and my face flies sideways from his brutal punch. My cheek stings and red drips on the hospital tiles from my lip. I can feel my mouth swelling within a fraction of a second.
That hurts.
What’s with people slapping, hitting, and punching me today? And that’s not counting the metaphorical stab I felt when my own uncle shot Kirill.
Why can’t this day fucking end already?
Despite the pain, I stand erect and face my assailant. Viktor’s expression has never been welcoming, but as he stares at me right now, I have the urgent need to run before he squashes me between his fingers.
“I told you I’d punch you. In fact, I’m in the mood to shoot you, but I need you to answer my questions first.”
“If you shoot me, we’ll have less security for Kirill. You and I both know we need all the help we can get under these extraordinary circumstances, so why don’t we call a truce?”
“Fuck that. How could you let this happen? In fact, care to explain why he was shot right in front of you?”
I purse my lips. If Viktor finds out the truth, a punch will be the least of my problems. He’ll kill me without thinking twice.
And I can’t just die before making sure Kirill is home safe and sound.
Sure, he might be the one to kill me once he wakes up, but I’m ready to face his wrath and everything he has to dish out as long as he’s alive.
I wipe the corner of my lip with the back of my hand. “That’s not important right now. If we don’t get him out of here soon, he’ll be in mortal danger.”
“Haven’t you heard what the doctor said? We can’t move him out of the ICU before he wakes up.”
I know that, I do. But the threat of an attack from my uncle is imminent at this point. I can’t hurt the only father figure I have or indirectly cause harm to Mike and even Babushka.
She might have disowned me, but the three of them are all I have left.
But at the same time, allowing anyone to hurt Kirill is out of the question.
“What happened, Lipovsky?” Viktor insists.
“He’ll tell you when he wakes up.”
“Bullshit.” He grabs me by the arm and shakes me until he nearly dislodges all my cells. “What’s the deal with you, little fucker? You’re always roaming around him and sticking close, despite your subpar skills. Are you perhaps threatening him with something? Why would he put trackers on you and follow you all alone to the middle of fucking nowhere?”