“No,” Aleks interrupts, “she hasn’t. But you have. And she’s going to pay the price for that. I did tell you her safety depended on you, didn’t I?”
Fear flashes across Rob’s face as he realizes the vulnerable position he’s placed me in.
“It’s okay, Rob,” I tell him, making sure to meet his gaze. “It’s okay. I’ll be fine. Do what you have to do. I’m not the only one who matters.”
“I won’t abandon you, Liv,” he says. His jaw sets with determination as his gaze flicks back to Aleks. “You don’t want to make this a full-blown battle, Makarova. I work for the goddamn FBI. The house always wins.”
Aleks smiles. Menace rolls off him in waves. “You forget, Robert: chaos is where I’m most comfortable.”
Suddenly, I notice movement outside the open windows. At the same time, I register the click of a dozen different weapons being pointed in our direction.
“FBI! Drop your weapons now!”
I look around, realizing the entire building is surrounded by agents who are dressed in full riot gear. Rob looks triumphant as he takes another step forward.
“You’re surrounded,” he announces to Aleks. “If you want to walk out of here alive, you’ll let my sister go right now.”
I search Aleks's face for any sign of fear or nerves, but I find none. He just smiles at Rob. “Why would I do that when I have the upper hand?”
Before Rob can say a word, I notice more movement.
More men.
More guns.
And behind each of the FBI men, I see a Bratva soldier—masked and clad head to toe in riot gear—step up and press a pistol into their throats.
“I didn’t think you’d stick to our bargain,” Aleks tells Rob, who looks suddenly seasick. “So I didn’t, either. Tell your men to drop their weapons or I’ll tell mine to blow their fucking heads off.”
Rob looks around and the color drains from his face. His eyes are desperate and searching, but there’s no changing the reality. No way to spin this as a victory for him.
Aleks Makarova holds all the cards.
His shoulders slump. “Drop your weapons!” he barks into an invisible microphone in his shirt cuff. “Now.”
None of his agents listen. They keep their weapons up despite the Bratva guns jammed into their jaws.
“Do it!” Rob bellows.
Finally, after some hesitation, the agents drop their weapons, one by one.
Looking amused, Aleks moves closer to me, angling his body just behind mine. I see Rob’s eyes bulge. He makes a fumbling grab for his gun, and I don’t understand why—until I feel cold metal press to the side of my head.
The stench and weight of Aleks’s gun sends shivers of fear racing through me. Oil and metal and blood. Heavy with death.
Would he really shoot me? Something inside of me is saying no. But I don’t think I can trust my own intuition anymore.
Truth be told, I haven’t been able to trust myself since I first met Aleks. Since I learned who he really was. I should hate him, but I don’t. I can’t.
And that’s all I need to know to know that I cannot be trusted.
“This is what you did, Robert,” Aleks says calmly. “She is at my mercy now because you decided to overplay your hand.”
“Drop your weapon, motherfucker!” Rob screams.
“You first.”
Rob’s hand is white-knuckling on the butt of his holstered service pistol. But every single soul in the room but him knows he can’t draw it. Or rather, won’t draw it, for fear of what would happen to me if he does.
And eventually, he realizes the truth, too: that he’s lost. I can see the defeat splattered across his face.
I’m sorry, he mouths to me.
I close my eyes and crinkle my nose, the same way Dad used to do when we were kids. I wish I could say something to him. Something that will convince him I’ll be okay, no matter what.
But my throat is locked down tight. I can’t even seem to get a sound out. Breathing itself is hard.
“Order your men to leave,” Aleks says. “Now.”
“L-leave?” Rob stammers.
Aleks nods. “I want them out of here in two minutes or I will blow her pretty little head off. What are you going to tell your mother, Robert? What are you going to tell Mia? That your baby sister is dead because you refused to sacrifice your pride?”
“Keep my family’s names out of your mouth, you fucking snake.”
“Ninety seconds left, Agent Lawrence.”
Rob raises his hidden microphone once again and gives the command in a mumbled growl. There’s scattered talk, but a minute later, I see motion through the windows. The agents set their weapons down and retreat to their vehicles, with Aleks’s men shadowing close at their backs.
Rob looks at Aleks with uncertainty. “My men—”
“As long as they cooperate, none of them will be hurt,” he says.
We all watch in strangled silence as the FBI agents load up into their vans and disappear.
Rob stays where he is, mired in loneliness and despair a few feet away. He’s still got his gun in his holster, but his hand hangs next to it, limp and useless. He might as well be unarmed.
Aleks raises his hand to the side of his face as someone gives him a report through the earpiece. He nods once and turns his gaze on Rob. “Looks like you’re alone, Robert. The way it should have been from the beginning.”
Panic starts snaking its way up my spine. My brother is standing opposite me all alone, surrounded by Aleks’s men. He’s the most vulnerable he’s ever been and there’s nothing stopping Aleks from killing him.
“I did what you asked,” Rob whispers hoarsely. “Now, can you please stop pointing the gun at her?”
Aleks smirks and pops open the clip, revealing that it was unloaded the entire time. Rob’s eyes bulge.
“Just needed to make a point,” he says mildly. “But it’s good to know how far you’ll go to protect your sister. She is quite something, isn’t she?”
I twist around and grab the front of Aleks’s shirt. “Please don’t hurt him. Let him go. I’ll stay with you if you let him go. I won’t put up a fight.”
“Liv, no!” Rob cries.
I ignore him and focus only on Aleks’s deep blue eyes. “Please.”
He looks down at me with an unreadable emotion on his face. Almost tenderly, he peels my hands off his shirt, although he keeps them enveloped in his as he gazes at me.
“It would be easy, wouldn’t it?” he murmurs. “To just walk away from here and call it a day?”
Oh, God. Oh, God.
“But then Robert won’t learn his lesson,” Aleks continues calmly. “We had a deal, Rob. You drop the investigation and bury it. You come alone and we work out terms to make sure I get what I want and you get your sister back. But you thought you could outsmart me. And now? Well, now there need to be consequences. So that you understand exactly who the fuck you’re dealing with.”
“No!” I scream, terrified now. “No, please, Aleks! Please don’t hurt him!”
“Don’t worry, Olivia,” he tuts. “I’m not going to kill him. I’m just going to make him suffer.”