Unveiling the Truth

KAIA

The sharp sting of the blade cutting into my skin was almost unbearable. Nadya’s hand trembled as she saw the fury in Aleksandr’s eyes the moment the knife touched me.

“If you harm her, Nadya, there’s no place on earth you can hide from me.” Aleksandr’s voice was chilling. “I’ll chase you to the depths of hell if necessary.”

Nadya blinked, then flashed a wide smile. But I could see his words had rattled her. She seemed ~jealous~.

“You really do love her, don’t you?” The knife dug deeper into my skin. “Even more than you loved me?”

I could feel the warm blood trickling down my neck.

“You promised you wouldn’t hurt her!” Ilya’s voice echoed from somewhere behind us.

“Shut up!” Nadya snapped back at him. Her face twisted into a scowl as she turned back to Aleksandr. “I’ll kill her, Aleksandr. Is that what you want? To see the woman you love die?”

When he didn’t respond, the knife pressed deeper, causing me to whimper.

“You think I won’t do it? I’ll fucking do it.”

Aleksandr’s face was expressionless as he watched her, but I could tell he was seething with anger by the throbbing vein in his neck.

“I believe you. Just like I believe you killed all those people in Lipeshin.”

Ilya gasped. Nadya’s mouth fell open in surprise, but she quickly regained her composure.

“What are you talking about? I had nothing to do with that.” Her eyes darted away from his, and I found that very telling.

“Really? The orders came from my computer, right? You just confessed that you had access to it while we were together.”

Aleksandr turned to look at Ilya, and my mind began to race.

“I’m guessing you gave Kaia the code to access my personal files. Only one other person knew that code, and I thought it was safe because she was dead.”

Ilya stepped forward, looking at Nadya as if seeing her for the first time.

“You gave me the code,” he said to her.

Nadya’s face hardened.

“You told me to contact Kaia. To get her on our side. Were you planning to kill her? And Irina?” Ilya’s hand clenched near his gun.

Nadya shook her head, removing her hand from my neck to glare at Ilya.

“He’s filling your head with lies, Ilya.”

“It makes sense,” I whispered, turning to face them. “I saw the messages in the file on Aleksandr’s computer. The orders were sent via email. Why would you give such an order by email unless you wanted to hide your true identity?”

Nadya scoffed.

“Why would I care about some small town in Russia?”

“You didn’t. But my father did,” Aleksandr interjected. “You said you were trying to convince some of my men to join you. The only way you could do that was if you were working with my father.”

It wasn’t a question. Aleksandr had already pieced together the truth.

A heavy silence filled the room before Nadya sneered, dropping all pretense.

“Your father thought you were ~weak~ and I agreed with him,” she said. “But you were his only son. His ~heir~. He couldn’t kill you. Instead, he wanted to teach you a lesson, so together we twisted your orders.”

Suddenly, Ilya lunged at Nadya, grabbing her by the neck and slamming her against the wall.

The knife clattered to the floor as Nadya dropped it, clawing at Ilya’s hands. Her face turned red as she struggled for breath.

I quickly dropped to the floor, kicking the knife toward me. But my fingers were too numb from being tied up to grip it properly.

“Kick it here, kotik,” Aleksandr commanded, and I instantly obeyed.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” Nadya screamed.

A gunshot rang out, and I felt the rush of a bullet as it whizzed past my ear.

“Get down!” Aleksandr ordered, and I immediately hit the floor.

Somehow, in less than a minute, Aleksandr had freed his arms and was working on the ties around his feet.

The gunshot echoed once more, and Ilya’s grunt of pain was audible before his body crashed against the wall. He slid down the concrete, leaving a crimson trail in his wake.

“Ilya!” I cried out, only to find myself staring down the barrel of Nadya’s gun. Her eyes were wild as she pointed it at me, sprawled on the floor.

“Stand up!”

She gestured with the gun, motioning me to rise. Then, she swung the weapon behind me.

“Don’t you dare move, Aleksandr! I’ll shoot her,” she warned, the gun aimed directly at my heart.

Another gunshot rang out from outside, causing Nadya’s shoulders to tense.

“My men are here, Nadya,” Aleksandr’s voice was steady. “You’ve got nowhere to run.”

Her grip on the gun didn’t falter.

“Shut up.”

But Aleksandr kept talking in that same calm tone. All the while, he was subtly shifting his body, trying to maneuver around me.

“You should’ve planned this better,” he scolded. “Did you really think your men could outmatch mine? Or should I say, my father’s men?”

Her face flushed a deep purple, and she moved the gun from my chest to Aleksandr.

“I said shut the fuck up!”

That was the moment Aleksandr had been waiting for. He pushed me aside and lunged at her.

The gun fired repeatedly, and I heard Aleksandr grunt as his hands closed around Nadya’s wrists, forcing the gun upward.

“No!” I screamed, watching as Aleksandr’s shirt darkened with the blood seeping from his wound.

Adrenaline surged through me, propelling me into action.

“Get off me!” Nadya shrieked at Aleksandr, whose movements were growing sluggish.

I watched in horror as his body slid down hers, staining her dress with blood, and plunged a knife into her neck. Her eyes widened, lips parting in shock, and then the gun clattered to the floor as she clutched the knife handle protruding from her neck.

I dropped to my knees beside Aleksandr, my body wracked with sobs as I took in his rigid form and closed eyes.

“Please no, no, no,” I pleaded. Blood was pooling under his body, and his usually tanned skin was rapidly paling. “Don’t leave me, Aleks. ~Please~.”

His eyelids fluttered, and his lips twitched, as if he was trying to smile.

“Does that mean you’ll stay with me, kotik?”

I pressed my hands against his chest, trying to stem the bleeding, and glared at him.

An explosion sounded from outside, and I flinched, instinctively shielding his body with mine.

“If you survive this and we make it out, I’ll marry you whenever you want, pakhan,” I vowed.

His eyes closed again.

“I’m holding you to that,” he murmured, and then his body went limp.