Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

D’Angelo

Knowing that Caprice would be taken care of for the moment was a weight off my mind, but I would have been happier with some evidence proving she was the one behind the attack on Oliver. Still, my hands were at least freed up enough to focus solely on the issue with the Russians.

Gavriil and Eva were still looking into the incident that started everything fifteen years ago. They were extremely efficient, not just as bodyguards, but also acquiring anything I demanded, so I expected them to have results shortly. The prospect of finally having some answers left me in an optimistic mood as I approached the door to my temporary penthouse.

Maybe, now that Oliver had some time to come to terms with everything, we’d be able to talk properly.

My hand was on the knob, and I’d just cracked the door open when Gavriil grabbed my shoulder and stopped me.

“Hold on, Boss.” He was looking at his phone, scowling over whatever he saw.

Before I could ask what the problem was, there came the unmistakable sound of a gun firing from inside the penthouse. Throwing off Gavriil’s hand, I burst through the door, drawing my own gun to kill the intruder I expected to meet.

Instead, what I found was Oliver huddled against the wall, a bullet hole in the plaster just inches above his shoulder, and Eva standing over him holding a gun that was still smoking.

I saw red.

My feet barely made a sound on the carpeted floor, but there was no mistaking my violent intent as I charged at her.

“The hell are you doing?” I shouted as I knocked the gun away. It went tumbling over the floor and was lost under the couch.

“Boss,” Eva said, holding up both hands as if she were surrendering, but I knew her too well. Even without a weapon, she was still lethal.

Before she could say or do anything else, I swung at her, putting all my strength into the punch aimed right at her face. She had no choice but to step back or risk a broken jaw.

“Don’t even try to deny what I just saw. You lied to me when you agreed to protect him. If I’d returned even a minute later, he’d be dead, killed by the very person I trusted to keep him safe.” I grabbed my gun from the holster at my waist, aiming it at my former bodyguard, my finger poised to pull the trigger.

“Boss, wait.” Gavriil grabbed my arm, trying to make me lower the gun.

Instinct took over and I swung at him with the butt of my gun. He dodged, putting distance between us, but this gave Eva an opportunity to snatch the gun from my hand.

In the ensuing tussle, my gun was lost as well, and we were left fighting barehanded.

Under ideal circumstances, I could probably hold my own against one of them. The two of them together against me, however, was an almost guaranteed loss.

So, it was a surprise when I managed to land a solid punch to Eva’s gut, forcing her to double over. The body armor she wore under her clothes protected her ribs, and bruised my knuckles, so she wasn’t injured, but she was winded.

Taking the opportunity, I grabbed Gavriil’s wrist and twisted him around into a judo throw over my shoulder. He crashed into a table, snapping one of the legs with the crack of splintering wood.

Eva had just managed to right herself when I swept her legs out from under her. The carpet cushioned her fall but couldn’t protect her when I climbed on top of her and pinned her to the floor. Unsheathing my knife from its hidden strap on my wrist, I pressed the blade to her throat just enough to break the first layer of skin without drawing blood.

Every muscle in my neck strained with furry, and I could barely unlock my jaw enough to speak as I looked down at her. “Twenty years. Twenty years you’ve been at my side, and you choose now to betray me?”

The click of a gun cocking halted my hand. Eva and I had both lost our guns, but in the chaos, I’d forgotten that Gavriil was still armed. He knelt on the other side of the room among the splinters of the broken table with his gun held in one steady hand. The barrel pointed right at me, but his finger wasn’t on the trigger yet.

“Boss, wait. It’s not what you think.”

Eva very slowly tapped me on the arm, careful not to move her head to avoid accidentally slitting her own throat on my knife. “We’ve been looking into things, like you said.”

Without looking away from me, one of her hands slid along the floor until she pointed at Oliver, who was still huddled in a ball against the wall.

“He isn’t who he says he is.”