Page 60 of Bratva Baby

My father’s men come to attention at the mention of resistance. Guns stay leveled, ready to fire if we dare defy them. I clench my fists, struggling to steady my breathing. “I’m not giving you anything,” I bite out.

“Then watch them both die,” he replies. His voice holds no hint of compassion. He’s abandoned every shred of fatherly feeling—if he ever possessed it at all.

Cecily trembles in his grip, trying to speak, but he clamps a hand over her mouth. She looks at me with pleading eyes, urging me to do something, anything, to save her. My father is a wall of rage, beyond reason.

Slowly, I lift my gaze to Grigor. “I’m so sorry,” I whisper. It feels meaningless in the face of this horror, but it’s the only truth I have left. My regret for all the ways I’ve misled him, all the times I placed him in jeopardy by funneling information to my father. My heart aches with the knowledge that he could pay the price for my father’s obsession. Tears burn my cheeks, and I see the shape of his battered face and the swell of his cheek, the gash above his eyebrow. He’s taken every blow meant for me. My father’s men stripped me of my weapon, leaving me helpless. But I can’t just stand here and watch him be executed. I can’t lose Cecily either. I love them both too much.

My father cuts in, “Enough. If you won’t choose, then I’ll handle it myself.” With a snap of his fingers, two men move toward Grigor, guns raised, while two more hold Cecily. Another stands guard over me with his weapon pointed at my chest.

Grigor looks over his shoulder at the men bearing down on him before he looks back at me with a silent farewell in his eyes. A chill slams into my core.

“No!” I exclaim. The guard near me presses the barrel of his rifle closer, forcing me to halt.Think, Seraphina. Don’t freeze up.

“You think you can persuade me with tears?” my father mocks. “It’s too late. You ruined everything: my alliances, my honor, the future I built for this family.”

“You built nothing but lies,” I spit. “You used me as your pawn, and now you dare blame me?”

He doesn’t bother with a reply, just motions to one of his men. The man steps up to Grigor and raises the butt of his gun. My chest constricts. If he lands another blow on Grigor’s head, it might kill him.

My father is too caught up in his vendetta, too lost in his fury to see reason, but maybe I can disrupt his plan, create an opening for Grigor—and maybe for Cecily. If I can distract him, if I can get my hands on a weapon…

I glance at Grigor, and I try to convey everything I haven’t had the courage to say through my eyes.I love you. I’m sorry. And he gives the barest nod, as if urging me on. My heart hammers as adrenaline courses through every vein. I recall that moment in the car, how he told me everything would be fine, how I just needed to trust him. Right now, I have to trust myself.

“You keep saying I ruined things,” I begin, “that I destroyed your ambitions. But you’re the one who refused any compromise. You think the Barkovs never respected you? You never gave them a chance. You set out to undermine them from the start.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “Watch your mouth. You’ll regret defying me again.”

“Or what? You’ll shoot me? Is that what you want, to kill your own daughter?”

“If that’s what it takes.”

I stifle a sob. I must keep him talking, keep him focused on me. A few men shift behind him. They glance at one another, possibly uneasy about him threatening to kill his own child. Maybe that’s a crack I can exploit.

“You’re too blinded by anger to see a better path,” I tell him, stepping carefully forward. The guard near me tenses, but I keep my hands visible, not threatening. “Mother would be horrified by what you’re doing.”

“Don’t you dare mention her,” he snarls. “She would understand. She stood by me when no one else did.”

“And now you stand here alone, with no one left but men bound to you by your money, not out of loyalty.” I stare at him, letting tears slip freely. “You’re about to murder one daughter while using the other as a hostage. Is that what Mother would’ve wanted?”

His eyes flicker, wounded for a breath, but then fury returns. “You don’t know a thing about her, about what she wanted. You were always too young and too naive.”

Grigor tries to speak, but a guard grips his shoulder and jabs a pistol into his ribs. He coughs, subdued for the moment. My father, though, seems rattled by my confrontation. That might be the only advantage I have. I inhale deeply as I gauge how close I can get to him without setting anyone into motion. My father stands a few steps away, holding Cecily by the arm. She’s shaking, with her eyes darting between me and Grigor.

Then I see the gun at my father’s waist, tucked into a holster. He hasn’t drawn it yet. Probably doesn’t see the need since so many of his men are armed. If I can get close enough…

“Don’t do this, Father. You’ve gone too far. Please, let Cecily go. Let us all go.”

“You never learn,” he replies. “I told you, I won’t let the Barkovs keep trampling over me. Now that I have you and that parasite in your womb, I finally have leverage.”

“Leverage for what?” I choke out. “To start a war, you can’t win?”

He scoffs. “I have enough alliances still willing to stand by me if I can remove the Barkovs from power. Think about how valuable it is to hold the second-in-command of the Barkov Bratva hostage. Or better yet, kill him and send a message to Aleksei and the rest.”

Cecily trembles in his grip. “Father, please… You’ll only make them come after you.”

My father snorts. “Let them try.”

I close another step. “If you kill Grigor, you’ll be putting a target on your back forever. Is that really what you want?”

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