I fell asleep in Spencer’s arms, but woke to the cold press of steel against my temple in the middle of the night. My eyes snapped open, and I gasped at the sight of Ivanov looming over me. It was his pistol pressed against my temple. “Spencer?” I called his name with all the panic I felt.

He shifted beside me, and then jerked upright. There was the snick of a gun cocking on the other side, and he froze. I was afraid to look away from Ivanov to figure out what was going on, but it seemed obvious someone else was there with us, and they had a gun trained on my lover.

“We had a deal,” said Spencer in a calm voice, as though he wasn’t currently held at gunpoint. From the direction of his voice, I could tell he was looking at Ivanov rather than the person with the gun.

“You forced a deal, along with your treacherous friend. I’m not stupid enough to stay here and wait for the bratva to find me. I’m leaving town, but have come to collect on the debt she owes me.” He pressed the handgun deeper into my skin to emphasize his point.

I winced at the pain, trying to remain still. “I don’t owe you anything. It was my father’s debt, and Spencer was kind enough to settle it. Just take your money and leave.”

He laughed, and it was a chilling sound. “I’m most certainly taking my money and leaving, but not without sweet little Sasha. She’ll have to do as payment, but it’s important that your lover know the consequences of trying to manipulate me.”

“Leave her alone,” shouted Spencer.

“Secure him, Arseny,” said Ivanov harshly.

The bed shifted, and I turned to look, though the gun pressed against my skin scraped me as I did so. I gasped when I saw Spencer trying to get out of bed just before the big blond goon thumped him solidly on the side of the head with the butt of his gun.

“Spencer? Are you okay?”

He let out a groan as he slumped back against the headboard. He wasn’t completely unconscious, but was obviously incapacitated for the moment. That left me virtually on my own with Ivanov and his goon.

The sound of crying from the hallway reached me, and I stiffened when the other goon I recognized came into the bedroom, dragging Sasha with him. My little sister was straining to get away, but he held her with little effort. “What do I do with this one, boss?” He sounded like a native New Yorker, with no accent, though he looked as Russian as the others. It was the first time I’d heard him speak.

“Secure her in the limousine, Grigori. I’ll be out shortly.” He spoke calmly, not even looking at his goon or my sister.

“You aren’t taking her.” I said the words firmly, but my mouth was dry when he pressed the gun against my forehead. “You’ve already been paid.”

“Paid and betrayed,” he said in a cold tone. “Now you must pay. I’d like to draw this out and take more than quick vengeance, but it must be fast. I won’t kill your lover though. I’ll let him live with the knowledge of his failure and your death.” He cocked the gun, pressing it even deeper into my forehead. “Now you die, kotyonok.”

I swore the barrel of the gun felt hotter pressing against my skin, though that had to be my imagination. He hadn’t fired yet. I was simply aware of what was coming. Aware and terrified, seeing no way out.

There was a scuffle beside me, and the gun veered slightly to the left as Ivanov looked over to investigate. I turned my head and saw Spencer grappling with the big blond Russian.

Somehow, he managed to knock the gun from Arseny’s hand, and it landed on the bed near me. I didn’t think. I simply acted, or reacted as the case might be, when I reached for the gun and lifted it, pointing it at Ivanov.

His eyes widened, but then he laughed. “You won’t do it. You’re just a weak—” The sound of the gun firing drowned out whatever else he might’ve said, and he looked startled for a moment before slumping over at the foot of the bed and sliding to the floor.

I hadn’t missed, aiming for his heart. How could I with it so close to the gun? I certainly hadn’t truly aimed, and I was stunned as a sharp sound stole my hearing for a moment, and my hands felt numb around the gun. My shoulders ached, and eventually I realized I had dropped the weapon on the bed.

It wasn’t until I saw a beefy hand reach for it that I realized I’d let go of the gun. With a whimper, I tried to grab it, but it was in Arseny’s hand before I could get to it.

Though he was still moving slowly and looked woozy, Spencer moved in front of me, blocking me from Arseny’s bullet—though I was certain it was probably a large enough caliber to fire through both of us. We were seconds from death, and I took no satisfaction in having ended Ivanov beforehand. What had it accomplished if we were dead too?

I was shocked, and I was certain Spencer was too by his indrawn breath, when Arseny simply flipped the gun and put it back in his holster. He nodded at me. “My thanks.”

My mouth dropped open. “What?”

He gestured to his boss. “Thank you for dealing with the filth. The Stelzvoy bratva is willing to pay a large reward for his corpse, which will make it easier to sever ties with his current less-than-desirable associates. We had already planned to do so and start our own organization.”

“He’s your boss.” I said the words in shock, but they sounded dumb as I uttered them.

He flashed me a smile full of white teeth. “He was the boss, but he was also sloppy, careless, and dishonorable. He never lived up to his word, and when we discovered he was wanted by the Stelzvoy for betraying them, that was the final straw. We’d planned to deal with him tonight before he could leave on his boat, and you saved us the trouble. In return, we’ll ensure the mess is cleaned up, and you’ll never hear about this again.”

“What about my sister?”

Arseny reached into his pocket, and I stiffened as I expected him to draw the gun for some reason. Instead, he held a phone that he dialed without looking at the keyboard. Using the speakerphone function, he spoke to someone on the other end. “Return the girl, Grigori.”

“Sure, boss,” said the other voice I recognized as the one who’d taken my sister.

I sighed with relief, leaning against Spencer, who had yet to relax. I supposed I wouldn’t entirely either until they were gone, and I was assured that Carrie and Sasha were both safe too.

“Were you just going to let him shoot Anya and take Sasha?” He sounded angry as he asked the question.

Arseny snorted. “Do you really think you’d still be conscious if I wanted you unconscious, Mr. Wallingford? In what world do you imagine you could’ve gotten my gun from me just by wrestling for it when you’re in that weakened state? And do you suppose it would’ve perfectly landed right where Miss Russo could grab it if I didn’t want her to have it?” He chuckled to himself as he moved around the bed and stepped over the pile of what had once been Ivanov without even looking down. “You’re a very funny man, Mr. Wallingford.”

Hearing Carrie and Sasha in the hall, I scrambled out of bed and raced to check on them. I was unable to avoid completely looking at Ivanov, but kept the glance brief. My stomach churned, and it settled heavily on for me for a moment that I’d killed someone.

I placed a hand against a post of the fourposter bed to keep from swaying before shaking my head. I did what I had to do. At least this way, there was absolutely no chance Ivanov would come after us again. I had no regrets for killing him, though the act of taking a life was still nauseating.

Forcing myself to shrug it off, at least for the moment to deal with later, I hurried into the hallway and hugged my sisters. Carrie was shaken up, but I expected Sasha to be worse, since she’d almost been taken. She was surprisingly calm and hugged me in a soothing fashion when it should’ve been the other way around. “I’m okay. That Grigori guy told me he’d let me go as soon as he got the all-clear from Arseny.”

I let out a shaky laugh, partially amused, but mostly terrified, at the subterfuge that had taken place that night. “I guess it’s all clear now.”

“What happened?” asked Carrie hesitantly.

I didn’t know if she’d heard the gunshot. There had been something that I tentatively identified as a silencer on the barrel, which explained why there had only been a brief moment of sound and pain, and I could hear almost as well as normal now. I just shrugged. “He won’t bother us again.”

“Did his people really help us?” asked Sasha.

I nodded. “Yeah, Arseny took care of it.” I didn’t bother to explain exactly how he did that. If my sisters never found out I’d been the one to kill Ivanov, I was perfectly content with that.

There was a groan from the doorway, and I looked back in time to see Spencer shuffling forward unsteadily. He was leaning heavily against the doorway, and I stepped away from my sisters to rush back to his side.

Offering support, we moved from the master suite to the nearest guestroom down the hall, where I sat with him on the side of the bed. My sisters were nearby, and I saw a couple of men going down the hallway toward the main bedroom, but made no attempt to stop them or waive them down for an explanation. They were clearly dealing with Ivanov’s body and making all traces of the incident disappear.