Page 41 of Baby for the Bratva King

My blood boils, adrenaline sending the knife straight into the bastard’s chest. He coughs, splutters and slides down the wall, leaving a trail of blood behind him.

I crouch down next to him, watching the lights disappear in his eyes. His breath rattles, scratching against his throat as he heaves for oxygen, desperate for one last breath.

But death doesn’t wait until you’re ready.

His eyes turn vacant, disappearing into the unknown. I slip my phone from my pocket, sending a quick message over to Gabriel and the clean-up team, needing them over here.

I stay with the man waiting for them to arrive, slipping in and out of consciousness as I let my thoughts drift.

Saskia asked about my family. Not many people ask about that.

“You push people away,” she said, and she’s right.

Isolation is safe. I erect walls around my life, and only a select few people are allowed to enter the gates and have access.

I’m hoping Saskia looks closely at the facts and backs off.

GABRIEL: Send us your location. We’re outside the casino.

I shoot a text back to Gabriel and return my phone to my pocket, watching the man die in a pool of his own blood.

Footsteps crescendo a few minutes later, Gabriel and two others arriving to take care of the rest.

“Don’t you want to stay for the fun part?” says Gabriel.

“I’m good,” I grumble. “I need to get back.”

“Looks like a sentimental kill,” observes the other.

“I don’t know this man.”

“What did he tell you?”

“Something about being too late to report things. There must have been more to it than the gambling.” I pause. “Did Triks say who the client was?”

“I looked at the log,” says Gabriel. “It was nobody important, just some pissed off investment broker.”

I nod, taking the clean suit jacket from Gabriel, fastening the buttons. “I’ll see you gentlemen tomorrow.”

I hand over the bloody knife and make tracks, heading through the alleyway and circling back onto the main street. Cars roll down the road, horns blaring up ahead. I hop in the private car waiting around the corner for me, shutting the door.

Blood shines on my shirt, shining in the city lights. I stare out of the window, allowing thoughts to drift. Memories flash through my head, the glittering lights transforming me back to those first few nights.

“Lo and behold, the big city,” announces my father.

We take a cab from Brooklyn, heading over the bridge into Manhattan.

“Cities make you invisible.”

“Sounds enthralling,” I groan.

Traveling halfway across the world does not erase your problems.

My heart sits heavy in my chest, the ache almost unbearable after losing Yusen.

I remind myself that good times are coming. The worst is behind us. No more rukovoditel controlling everything. This is the land of the free. We can make our own way, carve our own paths.

“Where are we going?” I shift in the backseats as we draw closer to Manhattan. Buildings soar into the air. It feels like I’m living in the future. “It’s almost 2 a.m.”