Total pages in book: 83
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 79312 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 397(@200wpm)___ 317(@250wpm)___ 264(@300wpm)
“This place is going up in flames, Lydia. But I’ve got you. Do you trust me?”
She licks her lips and nods. “I trust you with my life.”
“Here, baby. Light it up.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Lydia
I’ve never felt more powerful in my life. I tell myself that he is almost dead, that he’ll bleed out in minutes anyway. I tell myself that ending him means my mom will be safe. Vera, Nikko, and sweet little Ivy. All of them. Everyone. And Viktor.
Especially Viktor.
I stand with Viktor at my back, his presence reassuring, my enemy in front of me. He’s bleeding and gasping his last breaths.
I take a deep breath, and I light the match. The familiar, sweet scent of sulfur fills the cabin. The tiny flame dances, casting flickering shadows on walls. I watch the flame lick down the matchstick until it nearly burns my fingers. A part of me wants to feel the pain.
I release it, and it falls to the fluid-soaked floor. Flames instantly erupt, hungry and fierce, devouring everything in their path. I light a second match and then a third, dropping them around the first. The fire grows around us. Flames bite at my skin, a sharp reminder of the danger, until Viktor’s arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back.
“It’s enough, baby. You did it. Let’s get to safety.”
His voice is a low, gravelly rumble. I toss the rest of the matches into the fire, watching as they are quickly swallowed by the inferno. Viktor bends and effortlessly lifts me in his arms. The flames lick at my back.
We burst through the door of the cabin, the heat and smoke following behind us, greedy and hungry.
Viktor marches to the boat Timur used to get us here, anchored to shore. He reaches for the chain with one hand and yanks it closer, places me on my feet, and leaps into the boat. It wobbles under his weight, but he quickly rights himself, his movements swift and assured. He reaches for my hand, his grip strong.
He nestles me into the boat beside him as flames roar behind us.
“Are you alright?” Vera screams from shore.
“Yes!” Viktor shouts back.
We take a moment to watch in silence, secure on shore, as the cabin erupts in flames. I stare, mesmerized by the destruction, the finality of it. Purging.
Viktor's hand rests on my knee, a grounding touch amidst the chaos. I turn to him, seeing the reflection of the fire in his dark, intense eyes. He is my protector. His obsession with me, his unwavering determination to keep me safe, it all makes sense at this moment.
“Are you okay?” he asks, his voice a soft growl filled with concern.
I nod, unable to find the words. My throat is tight, my emotions a tangled mess. But in his arms, I feel safe. For the first time in a long time, I feel like I have control over my life, my destiny.
As the cabin collapses in on itself, the flames roaring in triumph, I lean into Viktor. He holds me close, his warmth a stark contrast to the inferno behind us. We are survivors. Forged in a crucible. His world is brutal and chaotic, only interspersed with quiet like this… but now I know.
It's my world, too.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Viktor
“I’m fine,” I tell Vera, but she insists on inspecting every wound.
“You’re not fine,” she snaps. “Lydia, for the love of God, tell him to let me do this.”
“Viktor, please,” Lydia says. “Let her take care of you.”
“As long as I know you’re fine.”
I’m a mess, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. I’ll be fine. I made sure she saw Lydia first, but now that Lydia’s few injuries are doctored up, she’s showered and changed and is sitting by the fire beside her mother.
“How are you feeling?” she asks Zofia, her brows knit in concern.
“My God, don’t worry about me,” her mother says. “All that I care about is that you’re okay.” She shakes her head. “You two did a thorough job of it, didn’t you?”
Lydia meets my eyes. I wink at her. “We did.”
Nikko and my brothers are in the campground. Thanks to Aleks and our connections, no one called the fire department until hours after we were done. I’m thankful Yudin had the foresight to see that his crematorium was apart from everything else, so we didn’t have to burn the whole campground to the ground.
Not that I wouldn’t have done it.
They’ve taken the bodies of Yudin’s accomplices, all now safely in the ash of the cabin. We’ll come up with a story for the press. Mikhail’s already dealing with the blowback from the Ledyanoye Bratstvo, but he’ll have that under control. With the combined forces of the Ivanovs, we’ve got this handled.
“You cut your feet on the rocks,” Vera says, shaking her head. “And you’ve got knife wounds. But I think this time you’re going to be fine.” She puts one final bandage on me and stands.