Page 190 of Porcelain Lies

It doesn’t take long to find out. Stella’s voice rings out sharply from the top of the old staircase. I can’t make out what she’s saying, but it’s definitely her. Relief floods me, though it’s quickly replaced by a surge of rage. She’s alive. But she’s not okay.

“Fucking stay still,” a voice drawls — smooth, arrogant, unmistakably Maranzano’s.

Ublyudok!

I exchange a glance with Sasha, and he nods, understanding my silent command. We’ll go in hard and fast, no room for negotiation.

The door at the top of the stairs is hanging wide open, and as we pause on the landing, the scene before me comes into sharp focus. There he is, the preening motherfucker. Gianni is standing facing the doorway, using Stella as a human shield, a gun to her head.

“I wouldn’t try anything if I were you,” his voice rings out.

Pizda!

I’ll cut his fucking balls off!

I slowly move inside, meeting Stella’s eyes across the room, wide and terrified. It knifes through me, seeing her like this — exposed, vulnerable, the cold barrel of Gianni’s gun pressed against her temple. Her belly swollen with my child.Ourchild.

Yobani Urod!

Red edges my vision, but I can’t start shooting. Not while Gianni is using Stella’s body to protect his. I want to tear the Italian apart with my bare hands, watch him bleed out slowly for daring to threaten what’s mine. But I keep my expression cold, calculating. This is not the time to barge in, guns blazing. One wrong move and I lose everything.

“Drop the gun, Maranzano. You’re outmatched.” My voice is ice, the calm before destruction.

Gianni’s laugh echoes in the cramped room. His fingers dig deeper into Stella’s arm, making her wince. Something primal rises in me at the sight.

“I don’t think so, Tarasov.” He shifts, using Stella’s body as a perfect shield. “You’re finally where I want you — trapped between your precious cargo and your famous fucking reputation.”

I don’t blink, don’t move a muscle. My Glock remains steady, aimed at the sliver of his head visible behind Stella’s hair. It would be a risky shot — too risky with Stella and our child in the line of fire.

“Let her go, and we can settle this like men.” I keep my voice even, reasonable. “This is between us.”

“Oh, I disagree.” His smile is reptilian. “Your little bitch here has been a problem for both of us. Did she tell you how she begged me for money to save his little brother? How she’d do anything? Maybe I should keep her after all.”

Stella’s eyes flash with hatred as she struggles against his grip.

I feel Sasha tense beside me, waiting for my signal. The room is a powder keg — one spark away from explosion — with Stella in the crossfire.

“Three seconds,” I say, each word deliberate. “Then I put a bullet through your skull.”

“Try it,” Gianni hisses, pressing the barrel harder against Stella’s temple. “See who drops first. Me, or your pregnant girlfriend.”

Fuck.

The standoff stretches, taut as a wire. One twitch of his finger, and Stella’s gone. My child’s gone. Everything I didn’t know I wanted until now— gone.

I’ve barely registered Sofia’s presence in the room until she suddenly shrieks from the corner, “Just fucking kill them, Gianni! They won’t risk shooting at you with the bitch in the way!”

The outburst yanks Gianni’s attention away for just a fragment of a second— his eyes darting toward Sofia, his grip on Stella loosening imperceptibly.

It’s all I need.

Instinct kicks in before sense or reason could. Time slows down as my vision is reduced to one single point in space. My finger squeezes the trigger once, precisely. The shot tears through the air, and Gianni’s gun explodes from his hand in a spray of blood and metal.

“Aaaaaah!” He howls, clutching his shattered fingers to his chest.

“Move!” I bark at Sasha.

He’s already in motion before the word leaves my mouth, surging forward like a hungry predator. I’m right next to him, crossing the room in three long strides. Stella stumbles away from Gianni as he reels backward, giving me a clean line of attack.

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