“Boris!” Laney yelled, jumping to her feet.
As Boris began to recover himself, Dimitri gripped Laney’s other shoulder and shoved her unceremoniously back into her chair. Her butt hit the padded seat hard and her elbow knocked against the table. He held her tightly and watched his brother dispassionately while Boris shook the fog from his bearded head and planted his fists on the dining room floor in an attempt to rise. He brought one foot up and leaned his arm across his knee while his other knee remained on the floor. The amount of voltage it took just to put him on the floor had been massive. The four men surrounded him, ready to take him down if he made another sudden move. It killed Laney that she couldn’t stand at his side, take them out with him.
“You are determined,” Dimitri drawled. “I will give you that, brother.”
Boris lifted his eyes to his twin, a man he didn’t understand and had never been close to. Eyes locked together, Dimitri lifted his hand, cigarette still held loosely between his fingers and brushed them lazily down Laney’s cheek. Gripping her chin, he ran his thumb over her lips, deliberately parting them. She badly wanted to bite him, but she didn’t want to make things worse for Boris.
Boris grew rigid while his brother caressed her. She tried to silently plead with him not to do anything stupid. Maybe they could get out of this if he kept his temper. Boris was good at his job. Or jobs. He was a damn effective enforcer for Vladimir Sitnikov and he hadn’t gotten that way by making stupid, hothead mistakes. And there was a reason he had such a beautiful estate and so many businesses in Russia. Before his brother started messing with things anyway. If they could just get out of this situation using level-headed logic.
Dimitri dropped his hand to her neck and squeezed hard enough to choke Laney. It took every ounce of self control for Laney not to react. She didn't want to give Boris a reason to get himself zapped again.
“I chose her, you know,” Dimitri said coolly, releasing her neck and bringing the cigarette up to his lips.
Momentarily forgetting her plan to silently communicate with Boris, Laney twisted her head and looked up at crazy brother with a frown. “What do you mean, ‘chose me’?” she demanded.
He smiled down at her, released a stream of smoke into her face and ran his fingers down her cheek again. She resisted the urge to cough and snap her sharp teeth at his hand. She really despised this man. Despite the twin-ness, she actually didn't think he looked like Boris at all. She was going to start thinking of him as Mothra to Boris’ Godzilla. And she decided Godzilla was by far the best of the two evils.
“When I decided to finally get rid of my brother, I went to the Yakuza and asked them for their best assassin. They gave me a choice,” his dark eyes didn’t leave her face and his fingers continued to touch her cheek, chin and throat as though he couldn’t help himself. His touch left her cold. She wanted to push him away, but she needed to know what he was talking about.
“They said you were one of the best,” he spoke low as though only to her, but she knew Boris heard every word. Shame and pride warred within her. She was very good at her job. But she didn’t want to be good at killing Boris. “They said that you could slip into a man’s bedroom like a ghost, kill him, and slip out as though you had never been there. The virgin assassin, making her first kill at twelve.”
Laney lifted her eyes and met Boris’. He was silent, but she saw the pain there. His brother knew more about her than he did. Dimitri knew these private things about her before he even met her. Boris’ gaze demanded truth from her. She nodded her head once, giving him that at least. His eyes blazed and he refused to look at her. Uncaring of Dimitri, she shoved away from the table and stood. She tried to go around to Boris, but Dimitri took her arm in a hard grip. Boris growled, his eyes riveted to the pair.
“I travelled to Japan to see her and chose her after one look,” Dimitri continued, his eyes travelling down her body. “I wanted her instantly, with such force that it took great control not to purchase her assassin’s contract, remove her to Russia and keep her for myself.”
Laney gasped and tried to pull her arm from his grip. His fingers tightened to the point of pain, overlapping on her arm. She knew there would be bruises later. She reached for one of the blades at her waist, but his hand snaked out and gripped her wrist, twisting it behind her back. He dragged her to the table and tilted her back until she was laying on top of it. She heard Boris snarl behind them and twisted her head, but couldn’t see him with Dimitri practically laying on top of her.
“I knew she would capture your interest as she did mine, so I contracted her to watch you and later to assassinate you if you tried to come back to Russia.” Dimitri’s eyes went from Boris to Laney. “I was very disappointed to learn that you had every chance aboard that ship to complete your job and yet didn’t, my dear. I had planned on punishing you when I finally got my hands on you, but I find I want you too fucking badly.”
He twisted Laney’s arm up further under her body, forcing a cry of pain from her. She brought her leg up to knee him in the side, but he knocked it brutally aside with his elbow. She cried out as he bruised the bone while Boris bellowed his rage at being forced to watch her pain. Eyes locked on Boris, Dimitri leaned over and captured Laney’s mouth in a brutal kiss. She reacted instantly, biting him with her sharp teeth. He retaliated by gripping her her neck in a massive hand, cutting off her air supply and forcing her take his kiss until she was choking and gagging underneath him.
Finally, he released her and dragged her off the table. Laney was forced to stand shakily at his side. She saw that Boris had been shackled to the floor with his hands behind his back and prodded a few more times while his brother had manhandled her.
“I am going to let let you make amends, Laney Paul, for your failed contract,” Dimitri announced, yanking one of Laney’s daggers from its sheath and holding the tip to her chest just over her heart. She felt it press against the chain of her bra and silently thanked Boris for his thoughtful gift. “Let the virgin assassin finish the job and I will let you live.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. Though she didn’t feel the same depth of feeling from him that she did from Boris (she doubted he was capable of that kind of love), she felt the obsession. He wouldn’t kill her. He wanted her alive. He wanted to fuck her and keep her.
“Fuck you,” she spat.
“Laney!” Boris snarled, clearly not happy that she was baiting the psycho. She rolled her eyes toward him. She didn't need his help at the moment if she was going to find a way to get both their asses out of the Red Wedding alive.
Dimitri grinned down at her and shrugged as though okay with her calling his bluff. “Fine, little bird. I won’t kill you, but I know you have something precious that you wish to keep alive.”
He watched the flare of understanding light in her eyes and he watched as it morphed into hate. His grin turned feral. “I look forward to taming you, my dove. I don’t even care that moy brat had you first. And I don’t care about baby bird, but I know you do. If you don’t finish the contract, I will make a call to the Master and take away your Jin.”
As if to underscore his point, Dimitri took his phone from his pocket and raised a brow, giving her the option. Tears of helpless anger filled Laney’s eyes. She looked toward Boris who stared back at her with a mixture of confusion and pity. He nodded at her as if to tell her she needed to do what was best.
“I will follow you to hell, kotenok,” he reminded her.
She bit her lip to keep the tears at bay and held her hand out. Dimitri placed the blade in her palm. She turned and walked purposefully toward Boris. Now that she knew what she had to do, there was no point in putting it off. Two men held the shackles and two stood to his side. Though his hands were bound firmly behind his back, they didn’t seem to trust him. She didn’t blame them. She’d seen his incredible strength in action. Boris could move like nothing she’d ever seen before. It made her incredibly proud to have called him lover, even for a brief time.
She stopped in front of him and dropped to her knees. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes and reached back to unsheathe her second blade. She reached around him as though to hug him. Her arms barely reaching to his back. She tilted her chin up against his chest and looked into his dark eyes, trying to tell him without words how much he had come to mean to her. She tried to tell him of a lifetime spent in isolation as the only girl in a brutal world of men, constantly beaten, always bloodied, never protected. Until him.
A tear escaped her eye and made a thin trail down her cheek.
“Jin is not your fiancé, is he?” Boris rumbled, his eyes caressing her features as though memorizing her before she guided him into death.
She shook her head, never breaking eye contact.
“You love me, Laney kotenok?” he asked softly.
“Yes!” she whispered, more tears escaping. She let them fall unchecked. They soaked into the high neckline of her blue dress. God how she hated dresses. She felt Dimitri step up behind her. Boris ignored him.
“Then do this for your Jin,” Boris said to her, his eyes telling her of his love and trust. She had never in her life experienced such emotion as she felt for, and from, this man. She knew if she ended his life she would never feel such things again.
Laney nodded and whispered, “For Jin.”
Then with a heart wrenching sob she slammed the daggers into Boris’ back with all her strength. He gritted his teeth in pain and arched backwards, away from her bent form. She would have collapsed to the floor, but Dimitri bent over and swept her off the floor, cradling her in his massive arms.
He stared coldly down at his brother for a moment before spitting on him and saying arrogantly, “She is a cruel bitch to have condemned you to the slow and agonizing death of being knifed in the kidney. I thought she loved you, but it seems you really pissed her off by bringing her here against her will. I think she is fit to be my queen, don’t you think? Die slowly, moy brat, and know that I will rule your properties as I should have always done.”