Split Love

CHAPTER 59

Gray. Everywhere, there was gray, and it was as if his eyes were the only ones capable of emitting such varied shades of the same cloudy, turbulent color.

Micah's face twisted in agony as he studied her. There was pain reflected in his eyes, but there was also shock, confusion... and guilt.

Jasmine felt her chest begin to vibrate. A type of fluttering that practically sucked all the oxygen from her lungs and stole the little strength she had left in her knees. At that moment, she felt locked up again. The air was heavy. It was hard to breathe and she felt dizzy. Black, blurry dots moved across her vision.

She swallowed down the lump that started forming in her throat, but the darned thing didn't go.

Micah's eyes fell on her arm, and breaking the spell between them, they turned black with rage. In a split second, everything switched.

The loud noise of the gunpowder exploding and releasing the ammunition that hit the man next to her made Jasmine's ears buzz. A shiver ran down her spine, making her hair follicles stand on end. She didn't scream, nor did she move away. It happened too quickly.

The weight of the falling man almost took her with him if it weren't for someone holding her up. Slowly, Jamie looked over and saw it was Irina. Her eyes were wide as she screamed something to Micah that couldn't be heard.

The buzzing was too loud.

Jamie blinked and brought her hands to her ears, pressing her thumbs to try to make it stop. But it didn't.

Damien pulled her into the room before closing the door. With Irina in front of her, Jamie couldn't see what was happening. She felt blind and deaf amid a tornado disaster.

Against the wall, Jamie slid her body down to the floor. Still trying to press her eardrums, she closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. In and out. Slowly, trying to get her heart to beat at the right rhythm.

Her eyes only opened when she felt someone grab her shoulder. Irina was crouched down and watching her intently. Her lips moved quickly, and she handed her a large glass cup with clear liquid-like water inside. Jamie raised her eyebrows in question.

"Drink," Irina said slowly, and Jamie could read her lips. "Water."

There was no smell to the liquid, Jamie noted before she drank it. The water ran down her throat, moisturizing and relieving the dryness. As she swallowed, she could feel her ears opening and the ringing fading.

Micah was furious.

With Irina crouched in front of her, Jamie was able to get a good look at the scene unfolding in front of them. The door remained closed and Micah was pacing back and forth with a gun in his hand. Damien was standing a few feet away beside him.

Jasmine let her eyes dart across the room and froze when she saw the man who had almost killed her. He was there, staring at her. His eyes weren't as crazy as before, but somehow menacing. She flinched and her action made Irina look back quickly.

- Who is it, Jamie? - Irina brought her gaze back to her. - Who did this to you?

Their eyes remained locked for a while. Jamie's body was shaking. Her hands trembled as she held the glass cup between them. Micah continued to pace back and forth, and Irina continued to whisper questions.

Jamie blinked but didn't respond. Her gaze fell on the older man sitting behind a dark, polished wooden desk. With his back reclined against the back of the chair and his fingers intertwined on the table, his posture was impeccable. His implacably empty eyes followed Micah's movements.

In some ways, the man and Micah were similar, Jamie noticed. She concluded that that was their father. Andrei Romanov, she remembered the name Agent West had told her.

- Your father... - Her voice was hoarse but audible.

- Was it him? - Irina asked.

With Irina's help, Jasmine stood up. She could feel her muscles weakening, but seeing the man so close gave her the strength she needed to approach. Her short, slow steps caught the attention of everyone in the office.

Micah stopped with the questions and Irina didn't walk with her to the table. From the chairs positioned in a semi-circle, Jamie sat in the one in front of the man.

She took a breath. Her hands were no longer shaking, but her heart was pounding, spreading the necessary courage throughout her body and perhaps her last minutes of life. Who cared? She had to do this for her family.

The silence was almost deafening.

Jamie swallowed.

- Andrei Romanov. - She began. - My name is Jasmine Davenport. And you tried to kill me for the second time.

The man stared at her. - I don't know who you are and I don't care.

- My name is Jasmine Davenport, - she repeated. - I'm Mikhail's girlfriend. That's why you kidnapped me and tried to kill me now. - She paused and wet her lips. - But my name is also Bethany Rose Hudson. I'm Aaron Hudson's daughter. That's why you kidnapped me and tried to kill me in 1992.

For a full minute of silence, Jasmine - or Bethany at that moment - stared at Andrei, allowing the confession of her discovery to settle between them.

For the first time, she saw his Adam's apple bob, up and down.

- That's a lie, you're dead.

- No.

- I killed you. - He growled. His eyes sparkled with rage.

The raw confession about the death of her parents and especially her sister made her heartache. It hurt to know that her family's death was such a trivial thing to him.

- No, Mr. Romanov. - Jamie took a deep breath. - You killed my sister, Grace Hudson. She was seven.

- You're lying. - Andrei pushed back his chair and stood up. With wide eyes as if he had seen a ghost, he pointed at her. - Aaron Hudson had only one daughter, and I shot her in the head. You remember her, don't you, Mikhail?

His question was followed by silence. Jamie didn't look back. If Micah really knew who her family was, it would hurt too much. She waited.

- She's dead, - The man with the scar said. Jamie could see him in her peripheral vision, but she refused to look. - I was there, I remember.

More silence.

- I didn't know you killed her. - His soft voice made Jasmine turn her head to the side. She didn't look at him, but standing a few feet behind her, he could see her.

So he knew her. Micah knew her.

- She was a child, - he continued. There was remorse in his voice, something Jamie had never heard from him before. - My age. Wh.. What's wrong with you?

- I did what I had to do! - Andrei snapped. - Aaron Hudson was an FBI agent. And a traitor must die! You are not his daughter! - Suddenly, he placed his hands on the table between them and leaned his body forward, getting as close to her as possible. - Because I killed her.

His and Micah's eyes were identical, she realized. Damn genetics.

Jamie swallowed. With her head down, she played with her fingers.

- Yes. Yes, you killed her. You killed my sister and my father, and you shot my mother in the head. - She took a deep breath and boldly looked up at him. - But not in her belly.

She was bluffing. Agent West never explained to Jasmine how she was alive, he didn't have access to her FBI file - a sealed file. The only information she had was that she was born on the same day her family died.

The old man watched her with ghostly eyes.

- You couldn't finish off the Hudsons like you wanted. I survived and I'm here to tell their story. - She then turned to the scarred man. - I'm also here to tell how you tried to kill me too.

Jasmine felt the pain before the thunderous noise reached her ears. Maybe it was the lack of fear of dying, or maybe it was the feeling of power over the whole situation that had overwhelmed her or just the speed at which the sound traveled. But when the impact of the metal bullet piercing her skin and muscles pushed her back, Jasmine knew that the chance of her getting out of that room alive was very small.