Til Death Do Us Part (Kornilov Bratva Duet #2) - Nicole Fox Page 0,88
more than just my life on the line. I have Theo and Molly and our unborn baby to think about. I’ll singlehandedly slaughter every person on the motel’s property if it means keeping them safe. I have no regrets.
I spin around just as the back door of the motel bursts open and Fedor comes sprinting out of it. He doesn’t even look around to see if the coast is clear. He keeps his arms close to his sides, head down, and sprints for the tree line in the distance that borders the drainage ditch.
If he makes it through the trees, he could very well escape, and I can’t let that happen.
I aim for him and fire, shooting once, twice.
Grass and dirt explode just behind him, and Fedor jumps and then picks up his pace. I adjust my aim a bit higher, and I see the blood spurt from his thigh. A direct hit.
He stumbles, rolling over his shoulder in the grass before getting his good leg under him again. If I wasn’t the one chasing him, I’d be impressed with the show of agility. As it is, I’m annoyed he won’t just stay down.
Fedor glares at me, and I barely recognize him. His pupils have eaten up the usual electric green of his eyes, and he looks like a man possessed. He lifts his gun just as I lift mine, and we shoot at the same time like it is an old-timey duel.
I feel the shot hit me in the vest just above my heart, and I drop to my knees with the force of it. Fedor, too, drops to the ground, but whereas I’m unscathed, I see a red stain spreading across his gray T-shirt just over his stomach. He presses his hand to the spot and then looks at me, his eyes wide enough that even from a distance, I can see the whites around his irises.
He fires at me again, and I hear the shot shatter a window on the back of the motel. I fall down in the grass, but when he pulls the trigger again, it is just a useless click.
He’s empty.
I crawl forward on my knees and elbows, eventually making it back to my feet, and run for him. My arm is burning, but it isn’t life-threatening. Not like Fedor’s wound. My brother tries to run for the trees again, but he only makes it a few steps before he stumbles over his own feet and rolls in the grass. This time, rather than deftly maneuvering to his feet, he staggers on his hands and knees. He looks like a wounded animal, and it is pathetic.
“Enough,” I call after him, my boots squishing into the soft earth. “Face me and let’s end this.”
“Easy for you to say; you have a weapon,” he says, rolling onto his back. “It isn’t exactly a fair fight.”
“Was it a fair fight when you kidnapped Molly? Did you give her time to arm herself and give her a fighting chance?”
He doesn’t answer and scoots away from me on the ground. His face is paler than I’ve ever seen it and the blood is spreading across his shirt so quickly that it’s hard to tell what color the fabric was originally.
I can still hear shots coming from the front of the building, but they are happening less often than before. Whatever is happening up there, it is about to wrap up. I hope Seamus and his men come out victorious.
If not, at least I’ll have this victory before Fedor’s men kill me.
“That’s what I thought,” I say, standing over him. “That’s kind of your thing, isn’t it, Fedor? Overpowering those who are weaker than you? Beating people who can’t fight back?”
Fedor’s mouth turns up in a smirk, but the expression doesn’t reach his eyes. His eyes are those of a cornered animal, searching desperately for escape. He keeps checking the building to see if any of his men are coming to save him. “Is this about me kidnapping Molly or when I impregnated her?”
“Raped her,” I correct. “You drugged her and raped her, and I should have known the moment she told me what you did that you were unredeemable, but I thought maybe I could help you.”
“Help me?” He snorts. “Is that what you call keeping my son from me? Is that what you call lying to me and sleeping with the mother of my child? Were you helping me? Well, excuse me for being confused.”