Page 66 of Beautiful Agony

Olga doesn't answer. Instead, her bloody lips curl into a smile. "Are you going to kill me, bastard?"

"I very much want to.” My finger remains steady on the trigger as rain soaks my brow. "For everything you've done."

"Then what's stopping you?"

"Because you saved my mother." The words taste like ash in my mouth. "Even if she was just another piece on your board."

Olga's laugh turns into a wet cough. "Is that what you think, bastard? That I saved her to spite Pyotr?" She shakes her head, wincing at the movement. "No. The truth was, I pitied her. There are nights when I can still hear her screams in that awful room when he forced all of us to watch."

My grip tightens on the gun. "Don't pretend?—"

"You want to know why I really hate you?"

Her eyes bore into mine with sudden intensity.

"Because you have a soft heart. Just like my Slava. Neither of you inherited that monster's soul." She continues, her voice barely above a whisper. "But Slava suffered, and you lived in his place."

The rain feels colder suddenly.

"All these years." Tears streams from her eyes, mixing with the blood from her forehead "I kept asking myself: just what did I do to deserve this punishment? Why couldn't I protect my own son from him?"

My finger trembles on the trigger as Olga's words sink in. Despite everything she's done, I understand why she did it.

"If you're going to do it, do it now." Olga's voice cuts through the pounding rain.

"Not until you tell me where Kirsan and Sayanaa are."

She closes her eyes, a bitter smile twisting her bloodied lips. "Still fighting that useless crusade. We both know I won't make it out of this car tonight. I have nothing left to lose, and no reason to commit yet another betrayal."

Rain streams down my face as I wait.

"Then again, if you go looking for a fight." She opens her eyes, meeting mine. "And die while you're at it, then maybe it'll all be worth it in the end."

The rain comes down fast and hard.

"Los Angeles," she whispers.

"Thank you." The gun shakes in my hand. "Polina Vladimirovna sends her regards."

She turns her cheek away from me, presenting the side of her head. She's ready. "Make it quick, Vadim Petrovich. Don't make me hurt like he did."

I squeeze the trigger.

The sound echoes across the empty bridge, swallowed by the drumming rain.

Her body slumps in the twisted wreck, and her blood mixes with rainwater. Ribbons of red twist away under the rumbling night sky. For a moment, I stand there, letting the rain wash over me.

The gun slides back into my shoulder holster, still warm. Water streams off my coat as I slip behind the wheel.

The windshield wipers beat a steady rhythm as I navigate through the empty streets toward Pankration. My hands grip the steering wheel tight enough that my knuckles show white, but I barely notice. All I can think about is Olga's final words about my brother, and the weight of thirty-four years of misplaced vengeance.

I drive in silence, leaving the wreckage of Olga's car behind me in the rain pondering what she just said.

My earpiece crackles. "Vadim Petrovich. Dr. Chen wants to talk to you."

I tap my earpiece. "Where?"

"Kelly's Diner off Aurora."

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