Page 81 of Claimed By the Pakhan

I then retract both knives and barrel forward, ready to kill two birds with one stone.

The lack of movement behind me is a concern. I glance over my shoulder. Fia is free, one of her arms no longer bound down by the zip ties. She can use the free hand to wrangle her other arm free, but instead she is choosing to remain seated,anddefeated.

“Fia,” I grit. “Fucking get out of here. Run.”

“Not without you.”

An immense dread fills me, like I’ve been injected with anesthesia, bound to fail any second now.

“Congratulations,” chuckles Alexander, “for making her fall back in love with you. Now you can lose the shackles. She’ll tie them around her own wrists, keeping herself always strapped to you, without you even needing to lift a finger. Love can be hauntingly devastating, but it also comes with great power. Fia will die serving you,” says Alexander, angling his head to the side. “How does that make you feel as a Bratva leader whose dream was always to get people on their knees, worshipping you?”

“It feels like a dream come true,” I sneer, sinking my blade deep into Alexander’s chest. He slides down the wall, the trail of blood following him all the way to the floor.

“You were so close to winning, and yet so far. Any last words?”

“I already have won,” says Alexander in broken English. “Your empire will burn without enemies keeping you in check, giving your cock a reason to stay in your pants.”

Something switches on Luka’s face as he watches Alexander pass, his eyes widening, brows rising as realization settles. One down, one to go.

I fixate both knives in my hand, one at each side, and wait for Luka to pounce.

A ringing silence stretches in the moments after Alexander’s death. Two dead bodies are keeping us company in this very cramped shipping container, the floor soaked red, blood marked across the wall.

Dark clouds pass overhead, casting moving shadows outside. I have no concept of time or the outside world. Everything narrows down to this moment, time itself pausing as I face the two most significant people in my life.

I keep a watchful eye on Luka while urging Fia to run, raising my brow, clenching my jaw, giving her signals that she keeps refusing to fucking take.

She shakes her head reluctantly when I finally look at her, proving their point. I have trapped her in a life she never wanted. It is therefore my responsibility to free the shackles she has around her own wrist. She thinks she no longer wants that, but her and the twins have a much better chance at surviving away from me.

Suddenly, Luka has her at knifepoint, the blade fixated under her chin, rendering her entire body frozen.

Fia’s face is petrified, her eyes wide, her teeth chattering from the fear.

“Let her go,” I say sternly to Luka.

“Hand everything over to me, the Bratva, the assets, and you can live out your suburban fantasy in the city. The white picket fence, the wife, the kids, the swing set, the family dinners around the table every evening, it can all be yours.” Luka pinches his eyes, one side of his mouth sloping into a smile. “Or you can do your future self a favor and let me kill her. Friends look out for each other. They help the other see the truth when one is fighting a losing battle with their delusions.” Luka tips his chin, challenging me. “You can lose yourself in trying to become a better person, grieving a life that was never yours to begin with, or you can accept who you were always meant to be.”

“And what do you propose exactly?” I say, keeping both knives at my side. “We become business partners and rule the Volkovs together?”

“Friends share.”

“No, they betray.”

“And you think the suburban lifestyle is any different? Marriages, christenings, celebrations; they all end in you wearing black, saying prayers in a church as you bury the people you love one by one. Life builds you up one milestone at a time. You finally have two feet to stand on, and then the floor disappears, sending you falling. Don’t you fucking get it? Being involved, having a family, will never make you secure. You smile just to cry, build yourself up just to fall, and the cycle repeats until death puts a stop to it. Look me in the eye right now, Emil, and tell me you want that.”

I grind my jaw, seeing that blade edge closer to Fia’s throat.

Being exempt from society, from the trials and tribulations of life was all I wanted.

Loving Fia makes me a man, not a monster, but seeing Luka hold my love up at knifepoint, threatening her life, merges the monsterandthe man.

I go in for the fucking kill, aiming a knife at Luka’s head. I line up my shot, straightening my vision, throwing the blade like a dart.

It cuts across the container, time slowing right down as it sails through the air. Every amplified heartbeat rocks my body, a lump forming in my throat as I pray this knife hits the right person.

Never underestimating oneself is the first rule of thumb for success, but the stakes are very fucking high.

The knife misses Fia’s head by an inch, cutting straight into Luka’s forehead.