Page 53 of The Payment

“Let’s see if you can fight someone of your own size, you useless piece of trash,” Jarek jeered as they crashed together in a brutal exchange of blows.

Tatiana had never seen Jarek fight before and was struck numb by the raw fury he emitted.Each strike was meant to inflict maximum damage.

Skull managed to land a lucky hit, splitting Jarek’s lip, but the victory was short-lived.Jarek caught his next punch, then twisted, and Tatiana heard the distinct crack of breaking bones.

“Blyat’!”Skull howled in pain as the fragile bones in his wrist splintered under the pressure.

“That’s for touching my wife,” Jarek growled, following up with a devastating combination that left Skull sprawled on the concrete.

As Nevil and Lucky secured the perimeter, Declan appeared beside the truck.

“Did the fucker hurt you, Tats?”he asked, using the name he always called her while quickly cutting through her restraints.

“Well, I got a fist against the head, which knocked me out,” she said morosely as she rubbed her raw wrists.Her eyes were fixed on Jarek as he stood over Skull’s prone form.

“You fucking hit her?A woman four times smaller than you?”Even over the distance, she could see Jarek’s body grow even tenser.

“Fuck you, Farrel.She betrayed her own.She’s lucky it’s all I did at the time.”Skull spat blood, trying to maintain his bravado even now.“Finish it, or are you waiting for Dead-Eye?”

Jarek’s response was chillingly calm.“Death would be too easy.”He glanced at Tatiana.His eyes softened briefly before hardening again when he noticed the bruise on her cheek.Turning back to Skull, he said in a dark voice, “You hurt her, so I will reciprocate.Believe me, you’re going to wish I had killed you here.”With another look of disgust, he turned his back on him.

The adrenaline that had kept her going suddenly evaporated.Tatiana’s legs buckled as Jarek’s arms encircled her, pulling her tight against his chest.The façade of strength she had maintained crumbled, and the horror of what she had witnessed crashed over her like a tidal wave.

“Levin,” she murmured against Jarek’s shirt, her voice breaking.“He killed Levin.Shot him without blinking an eye.”The words emerged as a sob, and she clutched Jarek’s jacket.“There was so much blood.I tried to stop it, but it just kept coming.He died in my arms, Jarek.He died protecting me.”

The memory of Levin’s last smile, the way he had pushed her behind him to protect her, threatened to tear her apart.Her hands were clean now, but she could still feel his blood gushing through her fingers.

Jarek gently tipped her chin up, forcing her to meet his gaze.What she saw there made her breath catch.Gone was the calculated coldness she had grown accustomed to, replaced by a deep, wounded understanding.His eyes held warmth and an emotion she had never seen before, one that sparked a flicker of hope in her darkness.

“Be strong, love.”His voice was soft and gentle, as it had been before he changed.“This pain you’re feeling?Don’t push it down and allow it to freeze your heart.”His thumb brushed away a tear from her cheek.“I’ve walked that road.Experienced it turn grief into an ugly and consuming hate.Let yourself feel it, mourn him, but don’t let it change who you are.That’s how Gregor wins.”

At that moment, every piece of the puzzle fell into place.She saw him, really saw him, perhaps for the first time.The wall he had built around himself and the coldness he wore like armor suddenly all made sense.This was what losing his family had done to him.He had chosen a path of vengeance because the alternative was too painful to bear.

She straightened in his arms as her voice found strength in knowing she had his support.Unlike him all those years ago, she wasn’t alone.

“Gregor Polov has another death to answer for now.It’s time to end this, Jarek, and I won’t stand in your way.”

“What do you want to do with this piece of shit, Boss,” Lucky asked as he kicked Skull in the sternum.

“Let’s take him on a ski trip after dark.”Jarek’s eyes glimmered ominously.“With the sharks.”

Jarek

Fifty miles off thecoast of Boston, a deep stretch of ocean known locally as the Feeding Ground...

The boat cut through the darkness with the midnight waters calm beneath a moonless sky.Skull lay bound and gagged in the stern.His muffled curses were growing more desperate as they reached the designated coordinates.

Lucky removed his gag as he worked methodically, his blade glinting as he carved precise cuts into Skull’s flesh.Not deep enough to kill, but enough to draw blood.The large man’s screams were lost to the sound of waves as they hoisted him overboard with a rope tying his hands together, securing him to the boat’s stern.

The engine growled to life, and Declan began driving in slow, deliberate circles.The water churned in their wake as the scent of blood dispersed through the current.Tatiana stood at the rail.Her knuckles were white against the metal as the first silvery fin broke the surface.

Jarek’s jaw locked at the expression on her face.He cursed himself for bringing her with him.She didn’t need to stand witness to such viciousness.

More sharks appeared, drawn by the blood trail.The first strike was tentative, a test bite that tore through Skull’s thigh.His scream pierced the night.Then the feeding frenzy began.

Jarek watched without expression as the sharks tore into their prey, piece by piece.Nature’s executioners were more brutal than anything he could have orchestrated.The rope strained with Skull’s desperate thrashing until finally, with a sharp snap, it gave way.The dark waters swirled and then stilled.Skull was gone.

He felt Tatiana’s hand trembling in his and turned to see her face drained of color with her eyes fixed on the settling waters.He recognized that look.The moment someone truly understood the darkness of their world.Disgust warred with disbelief in her expression, and beneath it all, a fear that cut him deep.

---