Page 185 of Gilded Cage (Kovalyov Bratva 1)

I see it glinting by the door that leads to the balcony and I jump towards it.

“Stop!”

The fury in the soldier’s voice forces me to a standstill.

When I look up, he has his gun out and pointed at me.

“I’m not playing this fucking game anymore,” he hisses. “You take another step and I’ll shoot.”

“Will your boss be happy about that?” I ask.

I honestly don’t know if Artem’s uncle will care either way, but these men broke in here today with the intention of taking me captive.

If the end goal was to kill me, I was fairly certain I’d be dead by now.

“He’ll deal with it,” my attacker spits. “What’s one more dead whore?”

I cringe at his words, disgusted and terrified in equal measure. Then I hear the cock of a second gun.

My eyes dart to the entrance of the room. Relief floods through me when I see Artem standing there, his eyes honed on the masked man opposite me.

“Move the fuck away from her right now,” Artem commands.

Blood spatters the front of his shirt and there’s a spray of it that’s landed across his face in a Picasso-like flourish.

“Is that you, Mischa?” Artem asks, his tone conversational.

“It’s not personal, Artem.”

“Like fuck it isn’t,” my husband hisses. “You chose the wrong side.”

The soldier breathes shallowly. “Your uncle is a powerful man.”

“No, my uncle is a traitorous motherfucker,” Artem fires back. “My father was the powerful man.”

“And look where that got him,” Mischa retorts. “Dead.”

I expect Artem to explode at that, but he remains stationary, totally calm.

“I am my father’s son, Mischa. Remember that when the life is draining from your body.”

“Today is not the day I die.”

Artem laughs, dark and cold. “There was a reason I told you to stay away from casinos, old friend,” he says. “You were never good at gambling. Now put the gun down.”

“You first.”

Artem narrows his eyes and I recognize that his patience is drawing to its edge. Mischa seems to sense that, too, because he darts towards me suddenly and before I can react, he has his arm around my neck and he’s using me as a human shield.

I stare at Artem, whose expression has turned to thunder. His lips curl up over his teeth like a wild beast.

“Iwasgoing to give you a quick death,” Artem says.

Mischa laughs scornfully. “Now maybe I’ll give your woman a quick death instead.”

We both realize at the same time that that was the wrong fucking thing to say.

I jab my elbow into Mischa’s thick torso. The unexpected pain causes him to drop his gun.

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