Page 15 of Love's Unexpected Surprise

“I need you to look after her. If I don't come back, you swear to me that you will keep her safe,” I say in a hushed voice.

“What are you talking about?” Marcus asks, worry growing in his eyes. I explain everything to him, knowing he'll understand where I'm coming from. He's been in love before, and he knows what it can do to you. Dimitri might not have been the one to pull the trigger on Penelope, but that didn't mean he was okay with him doing this to Amelia. “Have you really thought this through? I know you can act irrationally sometimes, but maybe this isn't what you think it is.”

“It's the only answer. Dimitri doesn't want me to lose focus, so he'll do anything to make sure I'm in his pocket. I can't let him hurt Amelia. I won't lose her.” I stare at him with desperation on my face. I can see the sympathy in his eyes, and I feel bad for dragging my brother into this mess, but I need his help. “After everything I've done for you, please just do this for me.”

“You have my word,” Marcus says, slapping a hand on my shoulder and squeezing it. “I won't let anything happen to her.”

I don't waste a second. As soon as I know she'll be safe, I run toward the front door of his house, tossing one glance over at Amelia to see what it is I'm fighting for one last time. She jumps up from the couch and rushes over to me.

“Are you sure this is the right thing to do? What am I supposed to do if you don't come back?” I can see the fear in her eyes and I would give anything to take that away. After I'm done with Dimitri, she won't have to worry about anything ever again.

“I won't ever leave you. I promise you I will come back,” I say, stepping away from the door and grabbing her cheek with my hand before leaning down and kissing her.

She doesn't hesitate to kiss me back. As she clings to me, I can feel the longing and desperation in every sweep of her tongue in my mouth. The mere idea of never being able to kiss her again is enough to strengthen my resolve, and I pull away feeling like a new man. When I'm done with Dimitri, I'll have a clean slate. I'll have an actual future with someone who I care about, and that's more than enough for me to go through with this.

I say goodbye to both of them and get back in my car, ready to bring an end to all of this.

Dimitri's mansion rests in a tranquil wooded area just outside the city. I've been here more times than I can count, so I know the grounds like the back of my hand. I also know that Dimitri is paranoid and always has guards on patrol. After theorder he gave to have Amelia killed, there's no doubt in my mind he's upped that security.

I park the car several streets away, making sure there's no chance anyone working tonight will spot me. After grabbing a handgun with a silencer and a few magazines, I make my way to the perimeter of his property.

Carefully, I navigate through the woods, keeping the security lights from his mansion in my vision the entire time. When I'm in a clear spot, I see several guards huddled together on the patio, chatting about something. It only takes a few minutes for them to separate, and I imagine they were going over stations for the evening. There must have just been a shift change.

I sneak around the house, using many of the skills Dimitri taught me himself. Even though I rarely use stealth when I kill someone for him, it's always important to know.

The first guard that I encounter stands by the front door of his house, pissing in a bush while on duty. I take full advantage of that and aim for the back of his head. A soft whooshing sound from the bullet being pushed through the silencer rings in my ears, then the man collapses to his knees.

I tiptoe over, grab a set of keys from his pocket, and let myself inside. The entryway is empty, but I can hear movement in the kitchen. I creep my way over and find another guard sitting at the table eating a plate of spaghetti. He opens his mouth when he sees me, but before he even has a chance to reach for his gun, a bullet is lodged between his eyes.

I make quick work of the rest of the guards in the house. I found three more wandering the halls, moving between the different rooms and monitoring the perimeter. Dimitri has a control room in his house where someone is usually stationed to monitor the security cameras, but lucky for me, it's unmanned tonight.

When I'm confident no one else is in the house to try to stop me, I make my way to Dimitri's bedroom, ready to end this once and for all.

He’s sound asleep on the bed, snoring softly with his arms stretched out at his side. I take a seat on the side of the bed and point my gun at his chin, letting it touch his skin to wake him.

Dimitri's eyes open, and they widen when he sees me sitting there with a gun pointed at him. “I guess you didn't expect I would fight back, did you?”

“Alexei, what are you doing?”

“You sent people to kill her. After you swore to me that you wouldn't,” I say, keeping my voice low and my eyes glued to him.

“Please, Alexei, there's no need to resort to violence over this. Just back away, and we can talk about this,” Dimitri pleads, putting a hand on the nozzle of my gun to try to push it away. I hold steady and press it deeper into his neck.

“You've already broken your word with me once. Why should I believe a thing you say?” I cock the gun and shake my head at him, clearly disappointed in his stupidity. “I trusted you, and that was my mistake. I won't be doing that again.”

Dimitri tries to sit up, but I force him back down. He scoffs at me and narrows his eyes with a disgusted look. “After everything I have done for you! You would do all of this for a piece of pussy? Was it worth it?”

I smile at him and nod, thinking more about Amelia. If I had to, I would burn down the entire world without a second thought for her. “Yes, it was.”

I pull the trigger, and the light behind his eyes vanishes as blood is absorbed into his pillows, and one final exhale creeps out of his mouth.

11

Marcus hands me a steaming mug of tea, and I take it with a soft smile, holding it between my hands to feel the heat of it scalding my skin. I couldn't drink it if I wanted to, but feeling it reminds me that this isn’t a dream. This is real. Alexei left me here to go kill his boss—who very recently sent two men to kill me.

What the hell has my life turned into?

“If you keep tapping your foot like that, you're going to drill a hole in the floor,” Marcus says, laughing casually under his breath. I didn't even know I was tapping my foot, so I stop when he points it out.

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