Page 121 of Stolen Seconds

It would’ve been one of my biggest regrets not getting to know him.

I stepped back and glanced at my father before catching Nico’s brown eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“You were right before.” He shrugged, running a hand through his disheveled hair. “I can’t escape my fate.”

I blinked at him, hoping he wasn’t planning on doing what I was thinking.

“I’ve decided to stay in Russia.”

Panic rose in my throat, and the sudden emotion felt uncalled for when this had been the plan all along.

“Did you have something to do with this?” I asked, narrowing my gaze at my father.

I had been wrong before. Nicolai could escape his fate; he could alter it. If he didn’t want to be the nextPakhan,then he could say no. It had only taken a gunshot wound to the chest for me to realize I also had choices.

“Yes, because I’d beensosuccessful in my endeavors before.” Sarcasm laced my father’s tone, but the underlying steel peaked through, reminding me of who exactly I was dealing with.

Ivan Morozov was feared by all and for no other reason than being a vicious leader who did as he pleased without considering others.

Yet he never let me be on the receiving end of his wrath, let alone raising his voice at me.

He stood from his seat, hands behind his back as he regarded me with the same shade of blue eyes I had. “He wants this, Irina.”

“Roman won’t like this,” Luca chimed in, crossing his arms over his wide chest.

“I’ll deal with him,” Nico replied, his expression drawn with distress.

Luca pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’ll never hear the end of it from him,” he muttered to himself.

I caressed his arm soothingly. When Roman finds out, I’d no doubt that they’d be at each other’s throats.

“I’ll be here whether you want to pursue this path or not, Nico.” I gave him a small smile to reassure him that he was stuck with me.

His dimples appeared as he returned me a smile and I knew after all this chaos was settled, that we’d be fine.

“Where’s Viktor?” I stood toe to toe with my father, a vicious rage searing through me from his name alone. “If my brother is staying here, I want him dead.”

I hadn’t seen him around, but I’d no doubt he fed my father a story that would cover his ass.

“He did this to me.” I pointed at the scar on my face, the rage bubbling over. “He tortured Nicolai and was the one who shot me.” Tears threatened to release when I thought about how much he’d stripped from me. “All because of a title he was never deserving of in the first place.”

My father leaned forward and cupped my face, pain flashing in his eyes as if he felt my hurt, if not more. “And he’ll never do it again. No one will, for that matter.” He wiped a fallen tear from my cheek with his thumb. “He’s also floating somewhere in the Moskva.”

What?“He’s dead?”

“Did you think I’d let him live after what he did to you?” he asked, anger lining his forehead.

My pulse raced, cold sweat running down my neck. “How did you figure it out?”

“After the bullet was extracted from your chest, I asked to see it.”

Realization dawned on me. The bullet was Viktor’s, which meant it had the same symbol as my own gun had.

Had he been so careless, blinded by his revenge that he didn’t realize he’d set himself up or had he assumed my father would never question his loyalty.

“I’d taken my time drawing out his pain until he begged for death,” my father continued, a crease formingbetween his brows. “As my nephew, I’d trusted him blindly and I shouldn’t have.”

“At first, I thought it was quite stupid to give engraved bullets to specific people in the Bratva, but I stand corrected,” Luca inserted his opinion per usual, and I could tell it irritated my father with the way his demeanor changed.

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