“But what about the dead bodies? What if someone saw us, and we get arrested?”
I place my hand on her arm, calming her down. “Mila, Mikhail will make sure we’re all right. We just need to get back to him now. But first, let’s take Andrei’s body inside. You’re right. We don’t want to draw more attention to us than we need to.”
Together, we drag Andrei inside the house and lay him beside Boris’s body. Seeing both men lying side by side, dead, when they were the most terrifying men around just moments ago is surreal. Mila and I did that.
I did that.
I killed both of these men.
I’ve become a lot more like my husband, partaking in the dark underworld of life. I have blood on my hands, just like him. It makes me understand him better—why he might have killed in the past. Sometimes, you have to do what you have to do to protect the ones you love.
Mila slips her hand in mine and holds on tight. We’ll be forever changed by this. My innocent sister might not be as innocent after this.
Footsteps outside make us both stand to attention.
The door opens, and someone steps inside. It’s the driver. His eyes widen when he sees Mila and me standing over the dead bodies of his employers. He scrambles for his gun …
… but a bullet rips through his head, sending him sprawling to the floor, face down. Mila gasps, whereas I don’t make a sound. I’ve seen so much death today that I think I’m in shock. It doesn’t faze me anymore.
Footsteps follow behind the dead driver, and another man enters the house.
A man I know very well.
Mikhail.
He takes in the scene of Mila and me holding each other for dear life with Boris and Andrei dead at our feet. Without a second glance at the man he just killed, he walks over to me.
What will he say? Will he punish me for murdering people? I wasn’t exactly a “good girl” today. I’m now drenched in the blood of the Bratva.
I knew the Bratva had a hold on me after my parents’ death. It’s just come to collect now.
Without a word, Mikhail opens his arms, inviting me into them.
I don’t waste another second before running right to him.
Chapter
Nineteen
SOFIYA
Mila clings to me the entire ride home.
I stare out the window feeling … numb. I killed two men, and I don’t feel anything. It’s probably shock more than anything else, and right now, I’m grateful for it. I don’t think I want to feel everything.
Mikhail doesn’t say a word as he drives us home. He knows Mila and I went through something traumatizing, and I appreciate that he’s not pushing either of us to open up.
All he did before we left Andrei’s house was call his man who handles the cleanup of dead bodies.
Dead bodies. Because I killed two men.
“Pull over,” I croak out. “Now.”
Mikhail stops the car, and I rip the door open just in time to puke. Mila rubs my back and pulls my hair out of the way.
“Sofiya?” Mikhail asks.
I groan as I wipe my mouth and sit back in my seat. “I just want to go home.”
He nods once and restarts the car, even though he gazes at me in the rearview mirror, showing me just how concerned he really is.
When we arrive at the penthouse, Mikhail helps us out of the car. Mila trembles like a leaf against me.
The moment we walk through the front door of the penthouse, Vik is on top of us.
“Oh my god,” she says, wrapping her arms around Mila and me. “You’re alive. I was so scared.”
Mila suddenly breaks down crying, and we all hold onto each other. Mikhail walks away to give us space.
We don’t let go of each other for a long time.
Mila eventually gets so tired that she has to go to bed, even though it’s the middle of the day. Vik and I remain in the living room, talking about what happened.
“You really killed them both?” she asks.
“I did.”
