“You’re dead.”
And in that moment, I know exactly who Yegor should fear most in this world. Yegor freezes for a heartbeat—but it’s only that. One second later, his arm jerks, and before I can even blink, he’s got the gun pointed at my head.
I don’t think. I just react.
My eyes slam shut, and a scream tears from my throat.
A gunshot cracks through the air. I brace for pain—sharp, searing, final.
But…nothing.
No pain. No burning. No darkness. Just silence.
I open my eyes, blinking hard, heart hammering in my chest. Yegor is on the ground several feet away, his body twitching once…then going still. Blood pools beneath his head from the clean, gaping hole just above his right eye.
Adrian stands behind him, gun still raised, smoke curling from the barrel. His jaw is tight, and there’s no satisfaction in his expression—just cold, ruthless silence.
Yegor doesn’t even get a final word.
All that hate, all that planning, all that vengeance—
And he dies like a rat.
Anticlimactic.
I watch his chest rise once…then never again.
And I feel nothing. No pity. No horror. Just a cold, eerie relief wrapping itself around my trembling body.
He’s gone. Adrian killed him. For me.
Adrian rushes toward me the second Yegor stops breathing.
He drops to his knees in front of me, eyes wide and frantic, his hands already at the tape over my mouth. “You’re safe now,” he breathes, his voice shaking as he peels it off gently. “I’m here,kotyonok. I’ve got you.”
He moves fast, his fingers trembling as he undoes the ropes around my wrists and ankles. My body is screaming, every joint aching, my skin raw. But I don’t care. None of it matters. Because Adrian is here.
And the moment my hands are free, I throw myself into his arms. I don’t even think—I just collapse into him, sobbing uncontrollably, clutching the front of his shirt like it’s the only thing holding me to this world.
He wraps his arms around me like a shield, pulling me tight, one hand cradling the back of my head, the other holding me so securely I feel like nothing could ever reach me again.
“I’ve got you,” he keeps whispering, his voice low and hoarse against my hair. “You’re okay now. I’m here. No one’s ever going to touch you again.”
I cry harder, shaking, the tears blinding me. I’ve never felt this kind of relief in my life. Not just safety—but him.
Adrian. Alive. Real. Holding me.
His grip on me is strong, but gentle, his touch reverent. He cradles me like I’m made of glass, holding me to his chest as he slowly rocks us back and forth, trying to calm the violent tremble in my limbs.
“You’re safe now,” he whispers again and again, like a prayer, like a vow. “None of it can touch you. Not anymore. I’ve got you,kotyonok. I swear on my life.”
I bury my face in his neck, inhaling the familiar scent of him—leather, gunpowder, something dark and steady and him. My fingers clutch at his shirt, and I can feel his heart pounding under my cheek. He’s shaken too. But still, he holds me like I’m his whole world.
“I thought I lost you,” he murmurs, voice cracking as he presses a soft kiss to my temple, then another to my cheek, then my forehead. “I thought—I didn’t make it in time.”
“You did,” I whisper, barely able to get the words out. “You came.”
He pulls back just enough to look at me, his eyes searching mine. “Always,” he says, and then he kisses me.