Page 54 of The Payment

His jaw tightened as he pulled her closer.“This is not who we are, love, but he hurt you, and for that, I have no mercy.”

“I understand your reasoning, but using me as an excuse for your cruelty?Tell me, Jarek, how much different are you than my grandfather?”

With flashing eyes, he curled his fingers around her throat, forcing her to meet his gaze.

“You’re more than just my wife, Tatiana.You belong to me.You are mine in every aspect.No one touches or hurts what belongs to me.”

Refusing to be intimidated or treated like an object, she tilted her chin higher without his aid.

“Did you treat your first wife like this?”

His jaw locked as his fingers tightened in warning, and he growled in an ominous tone, “She is in my past.It was a different time with two different people.I am a changed man.Understand one thing, my dear wife.I willnevercompare you to Lisbet.”

“Why?Because, unlike me, she was pure and free of baggage?”

His face twisted with a derisive smile.

“No, because you are on a completely different level than her.There is no comparison, Tatiana.Don’t get me wrong.Lisbet was the first love of my life, but no woman compares to you.In that, I am a very lucky man.”Releasing his hold on her throat, he sighed as her expression remained obstinate.“It’s almost over, love.The end is in sight.”

Her eyes became misty as she searched his face.

“What then?”Her voice was barely a whisper.“Is this kind of life ever going to end, or is this who and what you will be until the end of time?”

The question hung between them, heavy with implications.Jarek stared out at the dark horizon, and not for the first time, the burden of his choices, his vengeance, and his entire existence pressed down on him, and the uncertainty of their future gnawed at his heart.

He had no answer for her.The path of revenge had been clear, driven by grief and rage.But beyond that?The future was as dark and undefined as the waters below.

Chapter Twenty

Jarek

Two days later, FultonIndustrial Boulevard, Atlanta...

Jarek, Declan, and Nevil crouched behind wooden crates on the mezzanine level of the abandoned warehouse.Twenty years of planning, waiting, and maneuvering had led to this moment.The warehouse air hung thick with dust and decay, broken only by thin shafts of light filtering through the grimy windows above.

Two black Cadillac Escalades glided into the vast open space below.The purring of their engines sounded ominous in the silence.Martinez stepped out, his gold chains catching what little light penetrated the gloom.His cream-colored suit stood in stark contrast to his guards’ dark attire as they fanned out around him, weapons barely concealed under their jackets.

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