Page 18 of The Enemy of My Enemy: Pt. 2

“What?”I asked as he stepped towards me, right in the line of fire.

“I’d rather be dead than live without you,” he said, his chest finally coming up against the barrel of the gun.“I’d also rather be dead than continue to live with you believing that I would ever hurt you.”

What in the actual fuck?

“So, if you really believe that, then all I’m asking is that you don’t miss,” he went on.

“They were all Russians,” I repeated.

“I know, baby,” he said, his voice sounding like we were in the bedroom.“But none of them had been Korolevs, and if you want to know more, I’d be happy to tell you all about it.”

“Armen was,” I pointed out, almost disappointed that he hadn’t gone for the gun yet.

“Yes, he was,” he conceded.“But he wasn’t acting on my authority.”

I cocked my head at him.“Maybe he was acting on the authority of your newest friend.”

Viktor shot me a look, but I was hardly intimidated by it.“You want to know the absolute truth about that?”

Now, while a stronger woman would tell him to go eat a bag of dicks because she didn’t care, I cared; I cared for two reasons.I cared because his little stunt had distracted me enough to get shot and stabbed.Had I not been jealous over him fucking other women, then I would have noticed how Armen had been driving me in the opposite direction of the house, and so, yeah, I wanted to know the reason that had led up to me being careless for the first time in my life.

I also wanted to know the truth because the feelings were there, whether I wanted them to exist or not.While he’d said that the three weeks apart had given him time to think, it’d done the same for me.It’d given me time to go over what had happened, and how it still didn’t make sense that Viktor would do such a sloppy job of killing me.

Nonetheless, in all the thinking that I’d done, only two choices had been left at the end of it all; I could choose whether to believe him or not.I could believe him, trusting that he’d avenge me, or I could not believe him and kill him where he stood, risking everything that my family had built, voiding the entire reason that we’d gotten married in the first place.Of course, I hadn’t expected him to present a third option when walking in this room, but here we were.

“Yes,” I answered.

“I was still pissed that you were lying to me about where you’d been that night, and I wanted to hurt you for it,” he said, his explanation sounding plausible.“I wanted to make you pay for lying to me and making me feel out of control, so I tagged on something easy; another woman.”

“Well, it worked,” I replied honestly.

“No, it didn’t,” he argued.“When I turned to address you, the look in your eyes almost dropped me to my knees.For the first timeoutside the bedroom, you didn’t look cold, distant, or in control.The feeling of betrayal lit your eyes on fire, and regret hit me harder than you will ever know, Aurora.”

It was my worst nightmare that I wanted to believe him.In fact, this was the very reason why I had stayed a virgin until him.I had spent my entire life putting my family first, and I’d been wise enough to recognize that love could jeopardize that level of commitment.While I’d never betray my family, loving someone outside your blood still changed the game.

“As soon as Armen walked you out, I made it clear who I was and where my loyalties lay, and I made sure to do it in front of the contractor,” he went on.“Though nothing can undo how I had disrespected you, the only thing that I can tell you is that it will never happen again.There’s also no way in hell that I’d ever touch another woman when you’re an option.”

“Such pretty words,” I quipped.“Too bad I don’t believe you.”

“Yes, you do,” he countered.“You just don’t want to believe me.”

“And what makes you say that?”

“Because you haven’t shot me yet,” he answered, calling my bluff.

My back straightened at that.“Maybe I just like watching you try to squirm your way out of this.”

“Which would make sense if I was the type of man who squirmed, baby,” he shot back.

Ignoring that, I said, “Only a fool would believe you, Korolev.”

Viktor finally grabbed the barrel of the gun, but it wasn’t to push it away or take it from me.Instead, he raised it higher, placing it directly against his forehead, saying, “Then pull the trigger, Aurora.If that’s how you feel, if that’s what you truly believe, then pull the trigger and put us both out of our misery.”

Pride had me wanting to blow his brains out all over his office, but doubt was holding me back.Doubt and self-realization that I had come here to do more than shoot the man; I had come here for an explanation that I so desperately wanted to believe.After all, to his point, the proof was in how I hadn’t shot him yet, even if I really wanted to.

“Pull the trigger, baby,” he repeated.“I’ve already instructed the guards to let you walk out of here once you do.”

That took me aback a bit.“Are you serious?”