A SLAP across the face startles me awake.
For a second, I’m too disoriented to realize where I am. It’s dark, strange, and smells of humidity.
Then everything crashes down on me in one go.
Daniels, the officers who spoke in Russian, and then—
My head jerks up and I freeze.
Light blue eyes stare down at me with malice so tangible I feel it crawling along my skin. He’s wearing a black suit, and his whitish blond hair is cut short, showcasing his square jawline.
I know who he is even before he says a word.
My mom’s nightmare.
The one who killed her then took my sister.
The one who killed my dad.
The one who made my childhood hell and orphaned me.
Ivan Sokolov.
I wiggle in my seat, but the tightly secured ropes keep me in place. I’m sitting on a metal chair in the middle of a sterile room. The earlier smell of humidity is replaced by something more potent: blood. No—piss and blood.
A shudder goes through me at the thought of what they do here.
The lamp hanging from the ceiling barely gives me a sense of time or space. I have no idea how long I’ve been out or if we’re even still on American soil. Maybe we’re in Russia already? It’s a terrible thought, but I need to weigh all the possibilities. This is someone who slaughtered my entire family and wouldn’t hesitate to end my life.
I stare at him with all the hatred I’ve felt for years, the grudge, the need for revenge.
“If it isn’t the other suka.” His voice is slightly accented but otherwise refined. “You two are so much like Mia. Too bad she didn’t live to see you grow up.”
I bite my lower lip to not lash out. I recognize what he’s doing, trying to bring out my anger so he can have me in the palm of his hand, but he should know looks aren’t the only thing Reina and I got from Mom. We have her wit, too.
Realizing I won’t fall for his bait, Ivan smiles, and it’s too deranged, too…fucked up, almost like a sick Game on of sorts.
“Now, Reina, a birdie has told me you’re regaining your memories, and I would like to know where your sister disappeared to.”
“Well, your birdie is wrong.”
I curse internally. It must’ve been Detective Daniels. That asshole was keeping an eye on me on Ivan’s behalf all this time until he was sure I’d have information for this jerk.
He must’ve figured out I’m regaining my memories from our last encounter.
Ivan slaps me across the face so hard my body jerks with the sting. That hurts.
“Lose the fucking attitude. All of you spawn of Nikolai need lessons in manners.”
I bite down the pain and stare at him. This is between me and him, and if he thinks I’ll give up easily, he must not know how much of Mom’s survival instinct lives within me.
“I’ll be nice.” He crouches in front of me, almost like a doting uncle. “Tell me where Rai is and I’ll let you go.”
An acute sense of relief washes over me at his words. If he’s searching for her then he thinks she’s alive, and if he can’t find her, that should mean she’s safe.
At least that’s what my brain hopes for.
“You want me to believe you’ll let me go?”
“You’re right—I won’t. ” He laughs; it’s short and sharp. “I can’t rule if any of Nikolai’s filthy blood live on. If that fucker bodyguard hadn’t taken Rai that day, both of you would be dead by now. I had to keep you alive to draw her out.”
She’s alive. Reina is alive. I can almost feel her breathing now.
“I’m a generous man, Reina. If you tell me where she is, I promise your end won’t be painful—just a single bullet like Mia. If you don’t, well…you’ll just die from torture and I’ll throw your head in front of Rai before she takes her last breaths.” He stands to his full height, almost casting a shadow over me. “What will it be?”
My spine jerks and spasms of fear dance along it. I have no doubt he’ll follow through on his threats. He must be under a lot of pressure from the other leaders, and he knows all too well he won’t be able to rule without the ledger Reina has.
He’s a desperate man, and desperate people have no limits, especially desperate, dangerous people.
What he doesn’t realize is that I’m a desperate woman, too. Since I lost Mom nine years ago, I’ve been half-empty waiting for the day I can return the favor of Reina saving me, hoping against hope she survived and is alive somewhere.
That chance is today. Now, I’m desperate to save her, desperate to see that light in her eyes again.
To say I’m not scared of what Ivan can do to me would be a lie. Not only is he a member of the mafia, he’s also successfully carried out numerous hits. My limbs are slightly shaking and I couldn’t stop them even if I wanted to.
I might’ve had gloomy thoughts before, but I never once carried it out because deep down, I knew there was so much more I should be living for. There are people who love me even though I’ve been an imposter since I was twelve.
There was also someone, the boy who turned into a messed-up man, the boy I loved and the man I fell in love with all over again.
There are many reasons why I should hold on to life, but now that my sister’s life is at stake, I’d rather die than turn my back on her again.
Besides, it’s not a lie as I say, “I don’t know.”
He raises his hand and I brace myself for the slap, but he punches me in the face. I jerk in my seat as blood explodes on my lower lip and I taste metal. Coughing, I meet his gaze again.
It’s filled with the hunger for power, the need to rise, to crush everyone. It’s almost laughable how obvious he is. I don’t laugh, of course, because I still need my life.
“My nice phase is coming to an end, Reina.” He slams a hand against my face, only allowing me to look at him through his fat, meaty fingers. “Where. Is. She?”
“I d-don’t know.” I choke on the words.
His next punch makes me see stars. My teeth chatter and my fingers tighten against each other behind my back. I cough up the blood that gathers in my mouth.
“Last chance.” He closes in on me, his face mere inches from mine. “Where the fuck is she?”
People say you can never see your end coming. It happens too suddenly, and once you realize it, it’s too late.
I see it, though—my end. I see it in his unfeeling blue eyes and the desperation they reek of. He’ll kill me no matter what I do or say. He’s been planning that since the moment he got his men to kidnap me.
I might not be able to finish him, but I have belief Reina would. I hope she makes him regret the day he was born. I know she’ll get justice for Mom, Dad, and me.
“I don’t know.” My voice is broken due to how I speak over the blood. “Even if I did, I would never tell you.” Then I do the only thing I can under the circumstances. I spit blood on his clean-shaven face, the droplets splattering on his skin. “You’ll die like a fucking pig.”
For a second, he watches me with wide eyes, as if he never expected me to do that. I smile with triumph, but it doesn’t last as he punches me again.
This time, the chair topples and I fall backward. My limbs don’t catch me since they’re tied, and my head hits the ground. Pain explodes in my body as a boot connects with my ribs, knocking the air out of my lungs.
I gasp for air and find nothing.
A pop sounds in my body as he kicks me again and again.
“I’ll make your death the most painful possible.” He calls a name and the door opens. I barely hear the words or make out my surroundings.
It’s blurry and dark, shadows dancing in my vision as if they’re real.
“Bring me my tools,” Ivan says with a smirk. “We have a long night ahead.”
It’s supposed to scare me, but I’m too numb for that, too…out of this world.
One face keeps flickering in my mind as my vision slowly withers away.
Asher…our last encounter and the way I ran away from him…
I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d kissed him harder and told him I love him.
I wish I’d let go of my shackles and confessed my feelings earlier. Maybe everything would be different.
Maybe I wouldn’t be lying here, choking on my own blood and leaving the world with so many regrets.
But it’s too late.
It’s true, you know. The end comes once you realize it’s too late.
Ivan’s shoe slams into my ribs and darkness sucks me into its clutches.
