Page 3 of The High Priestess

Santiago shrugs, a grin tugging at his mouth. “I’m a believer in letting fate decide what happens.”

Oh. I actually like the sound of that.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Dominik agrees with a nod. “Get it over with.”

Santiago shuffles the cards and grins at Pavlov. “Do you feel lucky?”

Pavlov only glares at the men, not even sparing me a second of his attention.

Santiago pulls one of the cards from the stack then chuckles. “Oooh, good one.” I catch a glimpse of the black and gold tarot card and read the words ‘The Devil’ engraved at the bottom. “I get to decide. I choose…” Santiago pulls a knife from the holster on his hip, “for you to slit his throat. I feel it’s only right that he dies by his own signature move.”

“I’m going to take a walk through the factory to make sure we didn’t miss anyone,” Enzo mutters.

“I’ll have your back,” Leo tells him.

As they leave, Dominik grabs the knife from Santiago and shoves his gun back into the holster.

My fingers tighten around my weapon as I keep the barrel trained on Pavlov to show Dominik I have his back while praying I won’t have to kill anyone today.

Pavlov lifts his chin and looks Dominik dead in the eyes. “I’ll see you in hell, Varga.”

Dominik’s hand moves fast, and when he slits Pavlov’s throat open, my eyes widen and my body jerks from the gruesome sight.

Pavlov coughs and drops of his blood spray over Dominik’s neck and bulletproof vest.

Oh God.

My stomach rolls at the sight, and I can’t stop my hands from trembling.

Suck it up!

Pavlov sinks down to the floor and it has Dominik grinning. “That’s right, kneel.”

I take in everything about the gruesome situation, thinking I’ll have to become tough and brutal like these men to survive as the head of the Greek mafia.

I have to be merciless.

I lower my arm that’s holding the gun and lift my chin. Walking closer to the man who shot at my father, I will a ruthless expression to my face before I spit at the dying man.

Pavlov lets out a sickening gargle that has my stomach rolling with queasy waves, and I quickly spin around and hurry out of the office.

Seeing my father climbing to his feet, I walk toward him. Just as I’m about to let him have a piece of my mind aboutthe reckless stunt he pulled earlier, Enzo shouts, “Run! Fucking hell! Everyone out!”

Without sparing a second to think, I only react and grab hold of Dad’s arm, hauling him toward the front entrance.

The next second, an explosion makes the ground shudder beneath our feet and a shock wave slams into us, pushing us through the open factory doors.

Holy shit!

My ears ring from the blast, and I feel disorientated as I glance around me. It takes a moment to realize the factory is engulfed in flames. To my left, Enzo and Leo are regaining consciousness, but there’s no sign of Dominik and Santiago.

Jesus.

Not thinking twice, I run through the torn-up entrance and dart to the left. My eyes instantly sting, and tears start to spill from them. The heat is intense, and the air is filled with smoke.

As I start to cough, my gaze falls on Santiago. I hurry closer, and grabbing hold of his bulletproof vest, I begin to yank him toward the entrance.

Once I have Santiago close enough to the entrance for him to get fresh air, I let go of him and make my way back to the office. The air is dark with smoke, and I pull my shirt up over my mouth and nose. It doesn’t help much. My sight is blurry from tears, but I manage to find Dominik, where he’s slumped against a wall that’s been partially blown away.

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