Page 163 of Immaculate Deception (Romanoff Bratva)

The house is eerily quiet when I step inside. All of the lights are off on the first floor, so I start moving towards the stairs, but I’m only up a few steps when I hear voices behind me.

I turn around and see light coming from under a set of double doors at the end of the hallway.

I creep towards the doors and realize one of them is partially opened. I can’t see anything through the crack, but I can hear voices.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

It’s Dima. I recognize his voice instantly. Relief washes through me in a warm wave. He’s still alive. He’s still breathing. I’m not too late. I start to charge forward—until…

“Connect… connect the dots…” another voice splutters.

I freeze. Jorik’s voice is just as recognizable. It’s a voice I hoped to never hear again.

“Fuck you,” Dima snarls.

“Wait. Wait.” Jorik sounds out of breath. Dima must have been serious about him dying. It sounds like he’s nearly gone. “It’s about Arya. I think you’ll want to know.”

My heart stops.

Jorik is about to tell Dima everything.

57

Dima

“Waste him,” Gennady groans, rolling onto his back.

I can see the bullet wound in my best friend’s side. It’s bad. He needs to get to a hospital now if he is to have any chance of surviving.

“You don’t know Arya like I do,” Jorik gasps. His breathing is becoming ragged. I can hear blood gurgling in his chest. He won’t be long for this world. “No, no, no.”

“I know all I need to know.”

“Is that right?” he laughs, but it sounds watery. “I wouldn’t be so confident.”

He’s wrong. I do know Arya. Not for long. Not the details of her biography.

But Iknowher.

She’s an easy person to know. Her emotions are written right on her face. From the moment we’ve met, I’ve seen into her soul.

And I’ve let her see into mine.

I turn away from Jorik and kneel next to Gennady. Blood is gushing from his side, so I slip off my jacket and press it against the wound to staunch the bleeding.

“I’ll be okay,” he says, nodding his head, his brow creased with false confidence. “I’ve had worse.”

I’m not sure that’s entirely true. But I hope to God it is. Gennady can’t go down like this. Not after everything we’ve been through.

I won’t let The Butcher be the end of his story.

“Let’s get out of here and leave this asshole to die alone,” I say, hefting Gennady up, one arm wrapped around his back.

He throws an arm around my neck, but as he does, I think I hear something in the hallway outside the library. I turn my head towards the sound, waiting.

No one comes in, though. I convince myself I must be imagining it.

“She’s lying to you,” Jorik croaks in a high-pitched voice. I’m surprised he can find the energy to still put on such a show in his last moments. “She’s not who she says she is. You think you’re with Dr. Arya George, don’t you? You fucking idiot. You blind fool.”

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