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“You’re not going to get me, Lev Karsavin!” Moretti shouts, but he doesn’t sound as certain as he did before.

“I have a clear shot,” Aleksandr says through my earpiece.

“Take it.”

I’d prefer to bring Moretti down myself, but every second I waste here puts more distance between Allegra and me.

“Why don’t you come out and face me?” Moretti shouts.

Aleksandr’s bullet tears through Moretti’s shoulder, spinning him around. A second strikes his thigh and drops him to the ground. His gun tumbles out of his hand.

I walk up to him. Good. I’m glad Aleksandr left me the chance to deliver the finishing blow.

Moretti glares up at me, panic in his eyes. He can still see that I’m the one in charge now.

I raise my gun and aim it at his head.

“Game number three—send the devil back to hell.” I smile.

I pull the trigger three times, ending the man who destroyed my family. His head looks like pulp.

Rage urges me to keep firing, but Allegra needs me.

I turn and run, praying Danillo hasn’t caught her.

Chapter

Fifty-One

Allegra

Irun as fast as I can, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other. My head still feels light, but I keep going. Danillo is behind me, and gunfire is erupting all around us. I don’t even know where it’s coming from.

I need to keep moving straight ahead.

I’m not faster than Danillo, but the bullets coming his way from Lev’s men slow him down.

I glance behind me and see him take cover behind a pillar as gunfire sprays in his direction. I seize the opportunity and run outside, straight into the night.

I emerge into a junkyard filled with rusty equipment, machinery, and shipping containers. I hide behind the nearest one, hoping the darkness will conceal me.

I scan my surroundings. Moonlight provides the only illumination. I can’t stay here. It’s too open. Danillo will find me eventually.

“I know you’re out here!” Danillo’s voice echoes around me.

Oh God.

Footsteps approach my hiding place, so I take off again, slipping into the shadowy passage between two containers. I try to stay light on my feet while moving as quickly as I can.

I spot an old tractor near the fence ahead. If I can reach it and hide underneath, I might stand a chance. I creep out of the darkness. Just as I’m about to sprint forward, a pair of large hands grabs me, hoists me into the air, and slams me onto the ground.

“You little bitch!” Danillo screams, enraged.

The impact knocks the breath from my lungs, but that’s the least of my worries. Danillo gets on top of me, flipping me onto my back to face him.

“That bastard called you Allegra. Why did he call you Allegra?” he snarls.

He’s looking at me like he knows the answer, but he wants me to say it. The moonlight sharpens the fury in his face, making him look feral and inhuman.