Page 35 of Kristoff

“Kristoff! C’mon,” Carlos calls me.

I shove my boot into Viktor’s groin one last time, not getting any reaction out of his lifeless eyes, and turn back to Carlos and Magdalena.

Her eyes are on me and her mouth is parted.

“I told you I’ll kill them all. They will all pay,” I say to her and press a kiss to her cheek. “Now, let’s go.”

We get to Carlos’s car and I get her strapped in with no arguments from her. She’s still staring at me like she’s just seeing me for the first time.

“Magdalena, you listen to Carlos okay? Don’t fight him, even if what he asks you to do seems scary, okay? He’s going to keep you safe until I come for you.”

She nods. “You’ll come for me.”

“Right.” I press another kiss to her forehead. “I love you. I need you to know that before you go.” Because there’s a chance she may not see me again, I may not survive this attack.

Her brow furrows again in confusion.

“I know, it makes no fucking sense to me either, but it’s true.” I look at Carlos and nod. “You listen to him, or you’ll answer to me when I see you.”

She starts to say something, but I close the door. If it’s an argument, I won’t listen to it anyway, and if she’s going to tell me how she feels about me, I don't want to know. A monster like me doesn’t deserve such an innocent angel like her.

16

Wemake it through the main gates of the property, but I can sense Carlos getting nervous. He’s checking the rearview mirror too often.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, my stomach rolling with nausea.

“Nothing, everything’s fine,” he says and looks over his shoulder at the cars behind us in traffic.

“Doesn’t seem that way,” I say wondering why Kristoff would put me in this man’s care if he was so skittish.

“Everything’s—”

A high pitch squeal hits my ears just before the crunch of metal. I’m thrown to the right, straight into Carlos. The car is dragged up the sidewalk and into a pole.

I hear Carlos screaming, but I can’t see him. Where is he? A woman walks up to us, while I struggle to get out of my belt. My door has caved in. Blood covers my shirt on my side, and the pain is unreal, but I have to get out.

“Carlos!” I call for him. He’s on the sidewalk outside the car, glass is sticking out of his arm.

A woman walks up to the car. Her hair is pulled back, silver-blond, and tied off behind her neck. She’s wearing thick round sunglasses, so I can’t see her eyes when she sticks her head through my window. Shards of glass cover me. Her car is still wedged into my door.

“Help my friend,” I say pointing to him. She looks past me to where Carlos is starting to get to his feet.

“Sure,” she says and leaves me, walks around the car to where he’s scrambling to his feet.

She looks familiar, her walk, her voice. I shout a warning, but it’s too late. Carlos is shot in the head. Blood sprays the sidewalk, his legs spasm then go quiet, but I’m still screaming. And stuck. I can’t get the fucking seat belt off of me.

The woman yanks his door open more and bends to look at me. “C’mon sis, we got to go.” She flashes me a smile. One I’ve seen millions of times since I was born.

“Danuta?” I ask, unbelieving.

“Let’s go, Maggie, I’m on a schedule here.” She points her gun at me. My sister. I’m her fucking sister, and she’s pointing a gun at me.

“Danuta, what are you doing?” I ask, making my way over the center console of the car. The gear shift shoves into my hip and I curse. There isn’t an inch of me that doesn’t hurt.

She grabs hold of my arm and pulls me out. I stumble but manage to get to my feet. I check my side, pulling the tear in the sweater open to see the wound from the door. A nasty gash is bleeding. I hiss and press hard against it.

“Let’s go,” she says again and pulls me away from the wreck. I glance over my shoulder, at Carlos. He said he owed Kristoff a great debt, but I doubt his life was worth it.

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