𝐓𝐈𝐋𝐋 𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇 𝐃𝐎 𝐔𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐓 - 𝟏𝟖+

E I G H T

K E I R A

Moscow, Russia

"Then I kill you,"

His ruthless words continued playing inside my head on a loop, no matter what I did, I couldn't shake off the hatred in his silver gaze. The same icy eyes that once looked at me with so much warmth and adoration were just cold. I'd known something about that stranger who took me mere days ago was familiar like he was the missing piece I'd found but lost again because I didn't hold on tight. He was Niko. My Niko. Except that he was no longer the man I married years ago.

This man was corrupt. Reveled in sin, and I was the shadow that pulled him under, beyond the veil of shadows to a lethal world. Where monsters didn't hide behind wealth, it was the playground of monsters, and Nikolai Chernov was the fucking ringleader. It wasn't hard to see it, his posture, his rugged beauty was a reminder of all the things he'd seen and done.

Then why couldn't I see him for the rival that he was? If we were no longer the people we once were (as he so helpfully reminded me) why was I falling to pieces thinking that he couldn't stand me.

Out of all the scenarios I'd imagined for our nearly impossible reunion, seeing hatred in his frozen gaze wasn't one of them. I'd imagined flames, a deep fall, and perhaps finding each other again. Still, something told me he was still a broken man underneath those suits, and it was my fault.

I couldn't compare his pain to mine, our agonies might've been the same, but their melodies were different; hearts never broke even after all.

"Keira, what do you think?" I heard Kyzer call out to me, and turned my attention back towards the conversation we were having. Fuck, I'd zoned out again, and this wasn't the time to make mistakes, not when Nikolai was watching for me to slip.

"About what?" I asked, my gaze moving between the other four.

"About Chernov, I want his head off his body," Maxim groaned like a teenager, and I rolled my eyes. No matter who he was, none of them were getting their hands around his throat, not even if he had his gun on my head.

I'd protected him once, and ripped both our hearts out in the process. I'd protect him again, even if it meant the muscle inside my chest would stop beating.

"Yeah, and how would you do that, Maxim?" Kyzer mocked in his oxford accent. I thought he'd lost it over the years like me, "He nearly made you piss your pants, sit your arse down."

Maxim opened his mouth to argue, but Maria cut him, "Shut up," She turned to Kyzer, "Both of you. Keira, you went after him, which if I must say was a mistake, now tell me did you manage to catch him?"

"No," The lie came to me naturally, too easily. Maybe Niko did have reasons to hate me, I was a liar. I ruined our happiness. I showed him smoke and mirrors. He might've been the villain that answered the pleas of desperate people, but I was the villain of his life. "And it doesn't matter," I quickly added, "He's vengeful, why did you think threatening him on his turf was a good idea?"

"Because he's a beggar amongst aristocrats, a little money won't change that." Oh, if only Maria knew, he had what none of us did, hostility in his heart, all we had was a legacy that bound us.

"Your problem always was underestimating the enemy," Kyzer added leisurely as he leaned back in his seat, looking bored, "I suggest since we screwed it up, let's leave, for now, I don't know about you, but I intend to live another day."

"He can't kill us," Maxim added.

"Logically he can," Jacob spoke up, his fingers tracing his jaw, "We're in his territory, without any reinforcements to show our willingness for the truce, which your immaturity ruined, Zavod, so while we look for prospective solutions to the mess you made, I suggest you sit your fucking useless cunt down."