Page 41 of Embrace of the Russian Tiger

Anna gasped, her eyes widening as she tried to wriggle free from his grasp, but Nikolai held her tighter, almost like he was feeding off the fear in the room.

“Well, you see, Katya was a bitch,” Nikolai spat, his face twisting into something dark and sinister. "She thought she was too good for me. Too high and mighty to even consider going on a date with someone like me. And when she refused... well, I just had to put her in her place. You feel me?”

My grip tightened on the gun, but I held myself back. I needed to hear the rest. As much as it killed me, I needed to know.

“I asked your cunt sister out, and she refused! She said,you are like a brother to me,” he taunted in a mock voice. “She refusedme!So I had no choice, Max. You understand, don’t you? You have your little toy right here. How do you feel when she tells you “No”? In any case, let’s cut the story short. I told Rossi she kept talking shit about him on the streets. Told people his dick was too small. And Rossi… well, you knew Rossi. He was a beast. He went after her and I lured her in. I saw him smashing her head against the table and bend her over. Then…”

My mind flashed to that night. The night they found her, broken and lifeless. I had always known Rossi was responsible, but now... now I understood how it all fit together. Nikolai had set it up. I never understood how a man like Rossi got involvedwith Katya. Now it clicked. It was Nikolai who had been the one to light the match.

"He fucked her good," Nikolai said, his voice gleeful now. "Right in front of me. Every scream, every cry, every begging, every word that fell from her mouth—it was like music, Maxim. I stood there, and I watched her get raped. And I enjoyed every fucking second of it."

I saw red. My vision blurred as fury overtook me, every muscle in my body screaming to pull the trigger. His words vibrating in my body. Every single breath that came out of his body punched me in the gut. I wanted to rip him apart with my own hands. But I couldn’t. Not yet. Not with Anna still in his grip.

"And when Russo was done with her, all bruised and broken, I was the one who took her," Nikolai continued, his eyes glinting with satisfaction. "I drove her to that river, dumped her like the trash she was, and before I left, I took that little necklace of hers. You know, the one she used to wear all the time? It’s a shame you never got to say goodbye properly, but..."

"You’re dead," I whispered, the words barely audible over the roaring in my ears. "You’re fucking dead."

Nikolai’s chuckle reverberated in the air, that sick, twisted sound gnawing at my every nerve. He was savoring this, dragging out every moment like he was in complete control. The gun pressed harder against Anna’s temple, causing her to flinch. Her eyes widened slightly, but she held herself together, her chest rising and falling as her breaths quickened. My heart pounded, but my mind was a steel trap, calculating every angle, every possibility.

“Not before I get what I want, Maxim,” Nikolai taunted, a cruel smirk tugging at his lips. “You’re going to hand over everything. Your empire, your power… or she dies right here.I’ll finish her just like I did with Katya.” His eyes gleamed with satisfaction. “You might kill me, but you won’t have her.”

I felt the cold rage coil tighter inside me, threatening to snap. He had the audacity to mention Katya, to weaponize her memory against me. My jaw clenched so hard it felt like my teeth would shatter.

"You are a coward," I growled, my voice low, trembling with barely contained fury. My grip on the gun tightened, but I kept my arm steady, my focus locked on him. "You think I’ll let you walk away from this? You think you’ve won?"

"You don’t have a choice," he sneered, his finger twitching on the trigger, the barrel digging into Anna’s skin. "Give me what I want, or watch her die like your sister."

Everything stilled. Time froze. The weight of his words slammed into me, threatening to crush the breath out of my lungs. Katya’s death played out in my mind, the helplessness, the agony of losing her all over again. But I wasn’t that man anymore. I wasn’t powerless. I couldn’t lose Anna. Not like Katya.

Anna’s eyes, wide and shimmering with fear, locked onto mine. There was a silent plea in her gaze—trust, desperation—but more than that, there was resolve. She was ready. Ready for whatever was about to happen. Ready to play the game with me, whatever the cost.

Nikolai’s smile twisted into something darker, his eyes glinting with sadistic pleasure as he dared me to move. I studied every inch of him, searching for the moment, for the opening I needed. He thought he had me cornered. He thought he could control me.

But he had no idea what was coming.

I held his gaze, my voice lowering to a lethal calm. “I hope you enjoyed every second of this, Nikolai. It’s the last time you’ll ever feel powerful.”

His eyes flickered, just for a second, as I saw it—the hesitation, the moment when arrogance clouded his judgment. And in that heartbeat, I acted.

I squeezed the trigger.

The sound of the gunshot echoed like thunder through the warehouse, and Nikolai’s face twisted in agony as the bullet tore into his groin. He screamed, a high, guttural sound that filled the space as his legs gave out beneath him. His hand slipped from Anna, and she scrambled away, her breath ragged, her body trembling but alive.

Blood gushed from his wound, staining his pants as he writhed on the ground, clutching himself, gasping and choking on his own cries.

I didn’t hesitate. I moved toward him, slow and deliberate, my gun still raised. My heart was pounding, but my mind was ice-cold. Calculated. Controlled. Nikolai had always overestimated himself, thinking he could toy with me. But he had underestimated the kind of man I had become—the kind who could make this decision without blinking.

"Maxim!" he gasped, his voice ragged, broken by the pain that was now ripping through his body. "You can’t... please...!"

I didn’t flinch. I didn’t respond. My boots echoed against the concrete floor as I approached him, every step measured, deliberate. The screams filled the space, but they were nothing to me. Just noise. Nikolai had no power now. He was nothing but a broken man, lying in his own blood.

When I reached him, I stood over his crumpled body. His face was twisted in agony, tears streaming down his cheeks as he clutched at the gaping wound in his groin, blood seeping through his fingers. He looked up at me, eyes wide with terror, pleading for mercy that I had no intention of giving.

"You enjoyed every second of Katya’s death?" I asked, my voice low, devoid of any humanity. "How does it feel now, Nikolai? Does it feel good?"

He sobbed, his entire body convulsing. "Please... Maxim... I can give you... anything... just?—"

"I neednothingfrom you," I interrupted, my voice steady, unshaken. I raised the gun, pointing it at his face, watching as his eyes widened in terror. "I just need you dead."

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