would bring my identical twin into the midst of all these dangerous people who wouldn’t hesitate to hurt her in order to get to me.
The attendees’ faces soon become blurry as I focus ahead, my expression calm, serene even.
We pass by Kirill, who smirks, probably thinking I’m suffering right now. I ignore him, because even though that might be the case, Dedushka taught me to never show my pain to the outside world.
“If they think you’re strong, no one will dare to attack you.”
His words are my mantra and the reason why I’m able to do this. After all, no one can win if the war hasn’t started.
Damien sits beside Kirill since they’re the only two who are still single in the elite group, aside from Vlad. Damien stares at me without expression, now silent, after he openly expressed that he doesn’t think this marriage is a good idea. His jacket is wrinkled over his untucked shirt, as if he’s just rolled out of bed to be here.
Igor, Mikhail, and Adrian sit with them, too. The first two are accompanied by their wives while their sons sit behind them, but Adrian’s is absent. Vlad is backstage since he’s responsible for the security of the event.
Anastasia settles beside Adrian, on the far right, smiling joyfully at me. I told her I wanted this, and because she believes everything I say, she actually thinks this is a happy event.
That makes one of us.
At least I have Ana here, since Reina was out.
The music comes to a halt as I stand at the altar in front of the priest. He’s dressed in traditional Russian religious clothes with a hat that has a golden cross on top.
Murmurs break out in the crowd when it’s clear that the groom isn’t here yet. We’re supposed to come out at the same time because I said I didn’t like the whole bit of him waiting for me.
My lips tremble and a wave of different emotions hit me all at once: rage, hatred, betrayal, and—most of all—sadness.
He can’t possibly wound my pride for the second time in a row.
This can’t be happening.
And yet, as I stare at the crowd, the reality creeps in on me slowly and without notice.
Ruslan meets my eyes and shakes his head. He was the one who told me he saw Kyle around earlier.
Then where the hell is he now?
As Kirill snickers and Damien smiles, the realization of what’s currently happening slaps me straight in the face.
Kyle abandoned me. Again.
Only this time, he’s done it at the altar and in front of the world.
9
Kyle
I lie on my stomach and stare through the lens of my rifle.
As much as Vladimir was Nazi about the security, he couldn’t tighten it enough to eliminate the invisible soldiers on the roofs—especially the faraway locations.
Besides, the church is so low that all the surrounding buildings could and would be used as a sniper nest.
This is Brooklyn, after all; the tall architecture is a sure way to carry out missions.
I narrow my lens’s focus to the altar, where a beautiful woman stands beside Sergei. I zoom in until she’s in full view.
White looks good on her, majestic, almost like she’s some screwed-up type of angel who came down to torture humans.
Rai’s expression is far from angelic, though. Even though she’s still hiding behind countless layers of makeup, she can’t camouflage the twisting of her lips or the reddening of her delicate neck that’s begging for my fingers around it.
She’s become an expert at bottling her rage, but not enough to fool me. After all, I was with her every step of the way when she was trying to get rid of her hotheaded personality—or to at least keep it under wraps. The truth of the matter is, there’s no way in hell she could’ve become docile and obedient, at least not in this lifetime.
Rai was born to conquer and crush anyone who defies her or poses a threat to her family. She never once stopped or hesitated, her gender be damned.
That woman is more tenacious than most of the men I’ve met.
And because of that, she’s dangerous to my mission.
It would be so easy to pull the trigger and erase her from my path. What is she anyway, aside from an insignificant pawn who will cause more trouble than it’s worth?
My finger won’t move. It can’t.
I don’t know when this state began, whether it was after I saw her again or if it were there seven years ago. All I