“Leah, baby.” I tug her behind the beam and frame her face as bullets ricochet around us. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah. You?” she asks, swiping her thumb against my bloody lip.
“Of course. You need to get out of here. I’ll cover you.”
“Let’s not waste our last moments arguing over something pointless. I’m not leaving you.
We fight, we die, but we do it together.”
I would drag her out myself if I could, but I know she won’t budge.
“God, I love you,” I say, kissing her forehead. “I’m sorry I wasted so much time. We would have been like five kids deep by now.”
Leah and I share a teary, half-hearted laugh.
“When this is all over. When we...” Her voice breaks. “Come find me, baby.” I slam my mouth onto hers and kiss her as if it’s the last time.
Because it is.
“Ya tebya lyublyu.”
“Te amo.”
With one last kiss, we jump to our feet, prepared to go out fighting. But as we aim our weapons, a barrage of automatic gunfire explodes, and we hit the floor. A deafening silence follows until hurried footfalls echo in our direction.
“Leah? Mikhail?”
Leah’s eyes widen as Rodrigo’s voice rings out. Her hard pants raise the dust around our faces as she looks at me, unsure of what to do. If he’s here to take her from me, he’ll have to pry her from my dead hands.
“Leah,” he calls, his tone softer now. “Please don’t be dead. Papá is lucky I haven’t slit his fucking throat and hung him from a bridge. But if he made me...”
There’s a crack in his voice, and Leah doesn’t hesitate.
“Rodri?”
His gun falls beside him as she runs into his arms. “How about you answer your goddamn phone?” he says, lifting her off the floor in a tight hug.
Letting them have their moment, I breathe a sigh of relief until I spot movement in my peripheral. And a grin crooks the side of my mouth.
Isaac attempts to drag himself across the floor, sliding in a pool of his own blood. I kneel beside him and toss him onto his back.
“If you keep moving at this pace, I’m sure you’ll make it to the door before bleeding out.” He tries to speak, but gags on the blood dripping out of his mouth.
“You had a lot to say earlier when you were disrespecting my girl, and I can’t let that slide, Isaac. You owe me your tongue.” I pat my pockets. “Lucky for you, I didn’t bring my blade.” I grip my fingers around his throat. “But don’t worry, I can be creative.”
I squeeze into his neck until the skin ruptures, and his mouth gapes in a silent scream. He claws at my arm, but I keep digging and tearing flesh as he shudders and uselessly tries to fight me off.
“Ah, there it is.” The squelching sound of muscle tearing fills me with a sense of satisfaction. “Uvidimsya v adu.” (See you in hell.)
Isaac is still twitching as I straighten and toss his goddamn tongue across the room where everything went to shit.
None of that matters when I find the smiling face of the woman I love. The world can crumble and burn to ash around us, but as long as she’s by my side, there’s always a tomorrow.
MIKHAIL
EPILOGUE
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Waves of dark hair fall down her back as she twists in front of the mirror, hands smoothing down a fitted white dress—the third one she’s tried on in the last hour. Uncertainty flashes across her face, and she reaches toward the zipper at her side with a sigh of defeat.
“Don’t you dare take that off.”
Leah startles and whips around. “I’m not sure it’s the right one—” she says as she returns to her reflection.
I stalk toward her, sweeping the hair from her shoulders and dropping kisses along her skin. “What’s the matter, my love? You look— Fuck, you look exquisite.”
She closes her eyes and leans into my chest. “I’m nervous, Mikhail. Your father knows who I am and everything I represent to you, your family, and his empire. I’m afraid he won’t accept me. Neither will your brothers. Especially when they find out my father has allied with Yuri.”
“Look at me.” After a beat of hesitation, she meets my eyes in the mirror. “My family will welcome you with open arms because you’re the woman I love. They all know what happened and are still excited to meet you. I promise. And Roman and Nadia will be there.”
She sighs and nods, eyes back on the dress. “I trust you.”
“And even if by some twist of fate, they don’t. It changes nothing, pretty girl.” I dip to her ear. “Remember what I said, I’ll burn it all down for you.”
Leah lets herself melt into my arms. “I love you.”
