Page 55 of Reclaimed Crown

Vadim sits with Boris in chairs at the end of the room. He seems more relaxed than he was when we first arrived, but nothing that’s happened tonight has eased my nerves. I keep my eyes moving, watching for any changes, signals… anything.

Adrik pulls out a chair next to me, patting my shoulder as he lowers himself into the seat. “I think I’ll join you, Viktor,” he says as he watches the room with me.

We stay quiet for a moment, but I’m tempted to know if he feels the way I do.

“You don’t like it either?” I ask with my eyes sweeping the room.

Adrik runs his hand down his beard, keeping his eyes fixed on Boris. “After your parents were killed, I vowed to find every man responsible. I tracked several down before the State caught me and threw me in a cell. I spent years locked up, knowing I didn’t catch everyone behind the attack.”

Adrik’s beard slips out of his hand as leans towards me. “Boris Stepanov didn’t gain his power by being an honorable man.”

I’ve been watching Boris and his men but notice Bodhan leaning in the doorway with his head tipped downwards, showing little more than the tattoos on his scalp all night. He’s been stealing glances at Boris and Vadim for some time now. Vadim’s back is to him, but Boris has been glancing back at Bodhan periodically.

It could be accidental, but I’m not taking any chances.

“Watch the girl,” I say to Adrik as I get up and walk towards Vadim and Boris.

I keep Bodhan in the periphery of my view as I get closer and notice Bodhan slipping a hand into his pocket and crossing one leg over the other. Immediately after, Boris turns and sees me coming.

“Join us,” he says to me.

I pull up a chair and sit so I can see Boris, Bodhan, and Vadim in the same line of sight.

“Vadim tells me you’ve been fitting in with the rest of the men,” Boris says. He crosses his legs and brings his hand to his head in a way that doesn’t look like a comfortable position.

It’s a signal.

Bodhan stays planted in the doorway. He slips his hand out of his pocket and reaches behind his jacket. I keep my hand ready at the side, holding my gun, keeping my eyes on Boris so Bodhan doesn’t realize I’m watching him too.

“It’s not an unfamiliar life,” I say to Boris. “I’m sure you know I have a group of my own men in the United States.”

“So I hear,” Boris says. He looks at Vadim and me and smiles. “It’s good to see the both of you reunited. It makes me think of my sons in America. They’re doing well, running their own operations, but a father can’t help but want to be reunited with his sons. I hope for it to happen soon.”

The smile fades from Boris and turns into a haughty glare. “But first,” he says as he stands from his chair, “Your father will be reunited with his sons.”

Vadim’s eyes widen, and he bolts up from his chair. Bodhan’s arm emerges from the back of his jacket holding a gun. He raises it and aims it at Vadim. Before he fires, I pull my gun out and fire a series of shots at him. A spurt of blood erupts from Bodhan’s side, and he falls over.

The room explodes into chaos. The rest of the men pull out guns and begin firing, diving behind tables and furniture for cover. I dive and roll to the side of the table. I glance back to Tatyana, desperate to know she hasn’t been harmed and see Adrik grabbing her around the waist as he dives through the kitchen doors with her. Vadim is behind a thick column with his gun out. He fires and hits one of Boris’ men.

A bullet whistles past my ear and I spin around, exchanging gunfire with one of Boris’ men, who disappears out of the foyer and up the stairs. I rise to a scene full of men trading gunfire and rolling around in broken glass, beating each other bloody. Kalash has two men fighting him, but rises at least a head above them both. He throws one man to the ground, smashing his head onto a table. He pulls out his gun and shoots the other man. The sick bastard was beating them when he could easily have shot them.

Adrik is on top of another man, stabbing him with a knife.

Grigor and Eugeny are rolling on the floor, each in a hand-to-hand fight.

Sergey is lying on the ground with a wound to his thigh. I slide a table in front of him to keep him covered and turn back, unable to find Boris and Vadim amid the chaos.

A series of shots erupt behind me. I turn and see a man with his gun pointed at me, bleeding out of his torso. He falls to the ground, and behind him I see Sergey lowering a gun with smoke trailing out of the barrel. I nod in gratitude at Sergey and turn back, running into the foyer.

Boris is standing over Vadim, who is on the ground bleeding from the side of his abdomen. A glint of metal shines as Boris kneels over Vadim. He aims his knife and plunges it into the center of Vadim's chest.

I empty the last of my clip at Boris but several of his men are covering him, returning a torrent of gunfire as Boris makes his escape.

I run to Vadim and lift his head into my arm. He’s still breathing, but he’s pale and choking on his breath. A dagger with an eye at the end of the hilt looks directly at Vadim and me. My eyes burn as I look at what’s happening. Every fiber in me screams. I can’t lose him. We just started to know each other and I can’t watch another family member dying in my arms as my mother did.

“Don’t fucking die, brother,” I growl at Vadim. I look at the sucking wound in his chest and try to keep his body as still as I can. “You can get through this,” I say, not knowing if it’s possible. “When you get on the other side, we’ll find Boris and kill him together.”

Vadim gives me a weak smile and raises his arm, grabbing hold of the sleeve of my jacket. His lips are moving, but I can’t hear words.

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