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You’re Mia’s Sokolov’s daughter and Nikolai Sokolov’s granddaughter. You can do this.
“You were never a father to Ari and me, but you were always someone she could lean on. Don’t fail her, too.”
The voice on the other end is the last one I expected to hear. “Hello, Asher.”
Surely ari didnt survive right
I bite down the pain and stare at him. This is between me and him, and if he thinks I’ll give up easily, he must not know how much of Mom’s survival instinct lives within me.
She’s alive. Reina is alive. I can almost feel her breathing now.
Since I lost Mom nine years ago, I’ve been half-empty waiting for the day I can return the favor of Reina saving me, hoping against hope she survived and is alive somewhere. That chance is today. Now, I’m desperate to save her, desperate to see that light in her eyes again.
There are many reasons why I should hold on to life, but now that my sister’s life is at stake, I’d rather die than turn my back on her again.
I might not be able to finish him, but I have belief Reina would. I hope she makes him regret the day he was born. I know she’ll get justice for Mom, Dad, and me.
“Even if I did, I would never tell you.” Then I do the only thing I can under the circumstances. I spit blood on his clean-shaven face, the droplets splattering on his skin. “You’ll die like a fucking pig.”
I wish I’d kissed him harder and told him I love him. I wish I’d let go of my shackles and confessed my feelings earlier. Maybe everything would be different. Maybe I wouldn’t be lying here, choking on my own blood and leaving the world with so many regrets. But it’s too late. It’s true, you know. The end comes once you realize it’s too late.
of my sight this morning. It’s as if I’m living on borrowed time and borrowed air until I find her.
His name is Kyle,
Oh kyle, hey dude
“I tortured a man nearly to death for her. If you think I would have second thoughts about shooting any motherfucker who hurts her, you don’t know who you’re dealing with.”
I expect Kyle to sneak up or to stay here until the danger passes, but he retrieves a suppressor, hooks it to the tip of his gun, and goes out. Just like that, he’s out. His eyes remain the same, bored and motionless as he clicks a few times. Curses and a commotion erupt in Russian from where he’s aiming, but the sound of his muffled gunshots are louder. Then all sounds disappear as he motions at me to follow him. In front of the door lie three men with three clean shots to their foreheads.
Hot
Instead of a ledger, she pulls out something glinting and grabs him by the hand, going straight to his eyes with a knife.
OKAY GIRL!!!
I don’t think twice. I don’t even count as Kyle told me to. I aim my gun, cock it, and then shoot straight into the fucker’s chest. Kyle glares at me as Ivan falls limp in his hold. I ignore him and focus back on Reina.
A few people may know the fact that I’m not, but we promised I’d be Reina Ellis and she’d be Rai Sokolov. Until she takes back her life, I’ll protect it. I’ll do whatever it takes to keep it afloat.
“Is he dead?” I ask Reina. She must realize exactly who I’m talking about since she nods tightly. “I stabbed him in the fucking eye.” “Good.” My voice turns emotional. “Mom and Dad can rest in peace now.”
“I think she ran away because she didn’t want that life for us, Rei.” “Well, she didn’t succeed. It’s already too late.” She strokes the back of my hand. “I have to go back to my world.” “Your world?” I choke and wince when my mouth aches. “It is.” She shrugs.
“B-but we’re talking about the mafia, Rei. The fucking mafia—they’re deadly.” “I’m deadly, too. Grandpa didn’t raise me to bow to those fucking pigs.”
Her shoulders straighten and her eyes lose their spark, turning cold and lethal. It’s almost like an entirely different Reina. She’s not my sweet sister or the girl who trembled with me in the dark as we hid from Ivan’s men. She now seems more like those men, if not more emotionless.
“You’re already Reina. You just stop thinking about it as a role.” My lips part. “How did you…oh my God, you felt that way, too?” She nods sharply. “I always thought it was just a role and I would need to give it back, but the last time we met, I realized how much you loved being Reina, and I’ve been meaning to tell you we should stop playing roles.”
would? I always had the belief Reina would demand to have him once she returned, that everything in my life belonged to her, not me.
Yes, I could make him grovel for what he did, I could delay this and hold on and make him fall to his knees. But when Ivan was beating me up, I had an epiphany: life is too short to delay things. You never know what will happen tomorrow, so the present is all you get to make a difference. Besides, he can grovel while he’s glued to my side.
I retrieve the ring Reina gave me. “Now, give me a decent proposal, because I don’t remember the last one.”
