Page 44 of Between Power and Passion

He turns to Valentina, who is still sobbing uncontrollably. "You're scared now, but everything will be over very soon," he says, his voice sickeningly gentle. "You'll be brand new for me again. I forgive you for your past sins, but I cannot forgive the baby."

Valentina's eyes widen in horror as she understands the full weight of his words. "Please, Mikhail," she begs, her voice cracking with desperation. "Leave my baby alone. Please, I'm begging you."

My heart clenches at her pleading tone, a mixture of rage and helplessness surging through me. I struggle against my bonds, feeling the rope bite deeper into my wrists, but it's useless.

Mikhail smirks at my futile efforts before calling out for someone. The door opens, and a man in a white coat enters the room. He greets Mikhail with a nod.

"Get it over with," Mikhail orders, his tone icy.

Valentina's cries intensify as the man in the white coat approaches her.

"There are two ways," he says, his voice unnervingly calm. "The easy way or the hard way. Which do you prefer?"

Valentina's eyes widen, and she struggles against her restraints, her movements frantic and desperate. She doesn't answer him, her breath coming in short, panicked gasps.

The man sighs, as if disappointed by her silence. "I see," he says softly. "I know you may not like pain, so you can take the pill. But if you refuse..." He trails off, letting the implication hang in the air.

"No!" I shout, my voice raw with desperation. "Don't go near her!"

The man ignores me. Mikhail watches with an almost bored expression, as if this is all a mere inconvenience.

"Give her the drugs," Mikhail orders, his tone cold and impatient. "What if she dies in surgery? I need her alive."

The man nods and reaches into his coat pocket, pulling out a small bottle of pills. He shakes ten of them into his gloved hand and holds them out toward Valentina.

"That'll kill her!" I yell, my voice breaking with panic. "You can't give her that many!"

Mikhail shushes me with a dismissive wave of his hand. "You're not a doctor, Dmitri. Let the man do his job."

Just as the man grabs a glass of water from a nearby table and starts moving toward Valentina again, gunshots ring out in the air. The sudden burst of noise makes me freeze. Mikhail's eyes widen in surprise as he turns toward the source of the gunfire.

The man in the white coat drops both the pills and the glass of water in shock, his face going pale as he stares at the doorway where the shots came from.

Mikhail marches out toward it.

"Finish it," he commands over his shoulder, not bothering to look back. "Get rid of it before I come back."

The man in the white coat steps closer to Valentina, his expression turning grim. "Don't make this hard for either of us," he says softly, though there's no kindness in his voice. He retrieves the pills from the floor, one by one. "Just take the pills."

Valentina's eyes dart frantically around the room, searching for an escape that isn't there. I struggle against my bonds with renewed desperation.

"Please," she whispers, her voice trembling. "Don't do this."

The man shakes his head and reaches out to force the pills into her mouth. Just as his hand approaches her pursed lips, a deafening crack splits the air.

Two shots.

The man crumples to the floor, a look of shock frozen on his face. Blood pools beneath him, spreading like a dark halo.

Alexei stands in the doorway, gun still raised, a cocky grin on his face.

"You always have to make things dramatic, don't you?" he says, lowering the weapon.

"Alexei," I breathe out, relief flooding my veins. "What the hell took you so long?"

He shrugs nonchalantly as he steps into the room. "Traffic was a bitch," he says with a smirk. "And I had to stop for coffee."

Valentina lets out a choked sob of relief and dissolves into tears.

---