Page 133 of Cruel Honor

Juno tentatively steps into the room and freezes at the sight of Abram on the ground. “Evie, come with me. We can get away now.”

“No. You just want to lock me up again. And you want to help kill Dimitri. I can never trust you again, Juno. We’re done. I meant it before when I said it, and I still mean it.”

“I didn’t want him to hurt you. I just wanted him to …”

“Kill my husband?” I ask flatly.

She flushes but doesn’t deny it.

“Shut the door,” Katya tells her. Juno doesn’t move, so Katya points her gun at her. “Shut the damn door.”

That makes Juno squeak, and she rushes to close the door.

Katya aims her gun back at Abram’s head. “You’re not going anywhere. Evie, call Dimitri. Tell him we have Abram and to get his ass here now.”

“Ok.” I grab Katya’s cell phone off the nightstand table and dial Dimitri’s number. My heart won’t stop racing. He picks up after two rings.

“Katya?”

“It’s Evie. Abram is in our hotel room. Katya shot him in the leg, but he’s still alive. You need to get here now.”

“I’m on it. And Evie, are you ok?”

“I’m ok.”

We hang up.

“If you’re going to kill me,” Abram groans, “then just kill me.”

It’s then I notice Katya’s hands are trembling. She’s never killed anyone before. Letting Tatiana die wasn’t exactly killing her, and I was the one who pushed her in the first place. Not Katya.

“Just ignore him,” I say. “Keep the gun on him, but you don’t have to do what he says. Dimitri will be here soon.”

“Ok.” I can tell she’s trying to sound brave, but she’s failing at it.

And Abram notices.

“You’re too weak to kill me,” he mutters. “You girls. It’s a miracle you’ve survived this long. You’re all so fucking weak with your soft ways. If you were like your brother, I’d be dead by now.”

“Then maybe it’s a good thing I’m not like my brother.”

“You’re a whore. Everyone in the Bratva knows it. The great Katya Ivanov. You have a reputation, you know.”

“I’m no whore. I’m saving myself for marriage. Unlike your daughter. She just couldn’t wait to fuck my brother.”

Abram’s face contorts into something so ugly I can barely look at him.

“Katya,” I say quietly. “Maybe don’t make him angrier. Let’s just ignore him.”

“It’s hard to ignore him when I have a gun pointed right at him.”

“You know what I mean. Don’t listen to him. Don’t talk to him. Let him say what he has to say. You and I both know he’s not long for this world.”

Her eyes flick to mine, and she visibly relaxes. “Ok. You’re right.”

In that one split second that Katya looked away, Abram dives toward his gun on the ground, but I run forward and stomp on his hand. I try to grab the gun, but he grabs my ankle and yanks me forward.

I fall straight onto my back. All the wind is knocked out of me.

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