“You think killing me will help you? Mikhail won’t be happy.”
“Mikhail doesn’t need to know I did it.”
I gasp when she presses the knife harder against my neck, drawing blood.
The door slams open, and Mikhail rushes into the room. Irina backs away, but she doesn’t make it far before Mikhail grabs her and forces the knife out of her hand.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he snarls, shaking her.
I sit up and cover my body with the covers. “Mikhail.”
“Are you ok?” he asks me without taking his eyes off Irina.
My fingers touch my neck and come away with blood. “I’ll be fine.” The cut isn’t too deep. I think I’d be dead if it were.
“You messed up, Irina. Sofiya, get dressed and come with me.”
Uncertainly, I get out of the bed and grab my dress that has been folded nicely on the nightstand table. I slip it on.
“Come on,” Mikhail growls, dragging Irina out of the room. I follow, but keeping up in my heels and sore body is hard. Mikhail leaves from the club's back exit, which leads into an alleyway. No one else is there. He tosses Irina onto the ground.
“Please,” Irina sobs. “You loved me once. Remember? We can have that again.”
“I never loved you, Irina.” He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a gun. I freeze, watching in horror as Mikhail points the gun at Irina’s head and shoots, killing her instantly. Her body slumps to the ground.
“Wha …” I trail off.
He pulls out his phone next and calls someone. He speaks in Russian, so I have no idea what he’s saying. He hangs up and grabs my hand. “Come on. We’re going home.”
“But … Irina …”
“Will be taken care of. I just called my best man for the job. Now, we need to leave.”
I slump forward, falling into his arms. Mikhail picks me up, carries me out of the alleyway, and returns to his car.
The image of Irina’s dead body lying on the ground with a bullet through her brain will haunt me forever.
Chapter
Thirteen
SOFIYA
Is this what pure shock feels like? Numb and nothing else. I stare out the window as Mikhail drives us away from the club, Irina’s dead body seared into my brain. He killed her. He killed her right in front of me.
I know Bratva men are dangerous. I know Mikhail does things when it comes to his work—dark things I don’t question because it’s not my place. I am his wife, not his employee. I don’t need to know what he does for his job. How he became the strongest, most powerful man in Moscow. I just don’t need to know.
But tonight, I saw it first-hand. He did whip Andrei in front of me, but he didn’t kill him. With Irina, he killed her. All because she tried to kill me.
My fingers touch the cut on my throat. The blood has dried now, but it still stings. “I’ll need a Band-Aid,” I whisper.
Mikhail glances over at me. “What?”
“I’ll need a Band-Aid.” I point at my neck.
His eyes narrow, and his hands clench the steering wheel. “Of course. I’ll find you a bandage when we get back home.”
“And Neosporin. I don’t want it to get infected.”
“I’ll clean your wound. Don’t worry. I won’t let it get infected.”
“Ok. Ok. That sounds good.” I don’t even realize my fingers are shaking until I clench my hands together.
“Are you all right?”
The sound that leaves me is between a laugh and a sob. “No. You just killed someone. Right in front of me.”
Mikhail frowns. “She was trying to kill you.”
“But you and Irina were close at one point. You just killed her.”
“Because she was trying to kill you,” he repeats. “I’ll always protect you, Sofiya. You’re my number one concern now.”
“But you cared for her and were able to kill her. Will you do the same to me?”
He almost swerves the car off the road but gets it back under control. “What? I would never kill you, Sofiya.”
“But you killed Irina!” My shout is loud within the car. I think I’m panicking.
