Page 126 of Sixth Sin

I wait for an alarm that never comes.

This is too easy. Things are going too textbook.

As we step inside the dimly lit house, I whisper, “Where did you get a—”

A glass hits the floor and shatters. “Papa!”

My heart slams against my ribcage as I turn to my right, and that’s when I see her. The girl with the bright green eyes and short dark hair. She’s standing frozen in terror, a shattered glass of water at her feet.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Why is she up? This wasn’t supposed to happen. It wasn’t supposed to go this way.

I catch a flash of metal out of the corner of my eye a fraction of a second before Joey pulls the trigger. The girl’s chest blooms dark red seconds before she hits the floor.

I can’t speak. I can’t breathe. All I can do is stare at this kid, barely a few years younger than me. I don’t think she saw it coming. It was a clean shot, so she didn’t suffer.

That’s something. Right?

It has to be something.

We’re no longer hidden by the shadows. Joey’s rogue bullet has caused every light to flicker on like scattered dominoes. My hand shakes as sweat drips down my temples.

He just killed an innocent kid. He fucking shot a defenseless little girl.

Joey walks past me. “Come on. It’s showtime.”

“What the hell are you doing? She was a kid! That wasn’t part of the plan!”

“New plan.”

“Oksana!” I barely have time to look up before another Romanov kid comes barreling toward her fallen sister. This one is even younger. Even more innocent.

She doesn’t see us.

Please see us.

Joey pulls the trigger again, and another little girl falls only a few feet from her sibling. “Two down, five to go.”

This can’t be happening. I’m a monster, but even I have limits. Killing kids is a sin even I won’t lay at the devil’s feet. And Joey, fuck, it’s like he’s taken a line up the nose. He’s high off the slaughter of the innocent and seems to be getting off on it.

Luciano is a criminal. He’s a cold-blooded killer, but I refuse to believe he’d sanction this. I don’t care who ordered it.

“Stop it!” I yell. “Don’t fucking shoot another kid, or I swear to God, I’ll—”

“You’ll what, bitch boy? You gonna shoot me? Go ahead. Go back and tell Marco Vitoli you put a bullet in one of his own men over some worthless targets and see how long you last.”

A guttural howl echoes at the bottom of the stairs. “Nyet!” No!

Joey gets off another shot, but misses his mark, hitting Nicholas in the shoulder. The miss knocks him off his game for a split second, but that split second is all the Romanov patriarch needs to fire back. Staggering off the railing, he shoots, landing a lucky shot into Joey’s upper thigh.

“Russian cocksucker!” Growling in pain, he doubles over while hissing my name. “Go! Find the mother and the other three brats.”

So, I go. But not for the reason he thinks. I can’t do anything for those two little girls, but maybe I can save the other three.

Nicholas raises his gun again when multiple footsteps race down the staircase behind him.

“Papa!”

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