Chapter 27 - Lev

Fuck.

My brain was scrambling as I took in the new scene in front of me. Pavel had Parker in his grip. She'd tried to get to me. Hell, she almost had, but then that damn glass had broken beneath her boot, and Pavel had spun around to see her running past him.

I couldn"t fathom how she had managed to get this far, or escape whatever restraints they had used. Parker"s appearance was a testament to the struggle she must have endured. Her knee was dripping blood down her shin, her shirt had splotches of the stuff at the neck, which I tracked back to the faint pink staining her lips and chin, and her wrist was mangled.

The fury that boiled through my blood was the hottest yet looking at her like this, and I instinctively flew forward.

"Ah, ah, ah."

Pavel yanked Parker to the side, his hand going to his belt as he retrieved a Glock and put the muzzle to her head.

I skidded to a stop, frozen in place, as I watched the apparent love of my life held at fucking gunpoint.

"Don't you fucking touch her," I growled, seething with barely restrained rage.

"Or what, you prick?" Pavel rolled his eyes at me. "I've got your sweetie, and my gun's making a nice home right next to her fucking skull. I have no issue with blowing her brains out, especially not in front of you since it'll just be icing on this particular cake."

He pressed the metal into Parker's scalp, and she hissed.

"Let me go!"

Pavel sneered at her, backhanding her with the pistol, and Parker's head jacked to the side. A massive bruise was already forming on her cheek when she pulled her head back up, and I shot another step forward.

"The fuck I say, Vadim! You get cozy where you're at!" Pavel wiped across his forehead with the same hand, smearing his sweat, and he looked back up at me with a sickening grin. "From my perspective, you simply altered the specific details slightly. I still want you for her. So, you come inside, nice and easy, and I'll just kill you and be done with this. Parker can fuck off after that."

"You can't!" Parker screamed, her eyes flaring wide at me.

She shook her head as we both held each other's stares for several moments. I didn't want to fucking die, leave her alone, but I had no idea what the ETA on my men was. I hadn't even made it inside, and we were here.

They can hear this, though. Get a time from them.

"Let her go, and I'll come inside." I held my hands up in surrender. "Nice and slow, just how you want.

Pietor's voice sounded over the wire, quick enough for me to hear before Pavel drowned it out.

"Two minutes. We'll be there in two."

"Yeah, that's how I fucking want it, you fuck!" Pavel pushed the gun harder into Parker's head, gripping her arm. "And I ain't letting her go until you're dead, so."

Dammit. Two minutes is too long.

I started moving, I couldn't hold the guy off for that long; I knew it. But I could at least give the guys time to get here and get Parker out of harm's way. She was what truly mattered, after all.

When it was clear I was coming, Parker struggled harder against her father's hold.

"No! Lev, don't do this!"

She thrashed, her voice shrill and panicked, and it was the most painful thing I'd ever had to watch unfold before my eyes. My chest ached for it, and the fiery burn in my veins was replaced by an icy dread at leaving her without protection for too long.

Nothing was keeping Pavel from killing her once I was out of the picture, anyway. I knew that. I just needed Pietor and the crew to fucking get here already.

"Lev!"

I took another step.

"No!" Tears spilled from her eyes, and it hit me as good as any shot to the chest.

No one cried for me. No one really cared like that except Pietor, but that asshole was too hard to cry. Hell, even the Vadim household proper would be infuriated at the offense, but they wouldn't cry. We'd all spent the last of our tears during our youth. Once you were in the family proper, there was no place for that shit.

"Get out of here, little one. You run. Leave this behind you."

Parker shook her head. A burn set up shop behind my own lids. For once, I actually managed to shock myself. I felt like I was being pulled apart—drawn and quartered—and it was all for this incredible young woman who'd stumbled into my life.

"Please!" The furious refusal was still plain on her face, and I clenched my jaw as I took another and another slow step, my hands still raised high. A few more of these and I'd be in the warehouse, out of sight from the exterior.

"Listen to me, Parker." I stared at her hard. "Get back to school. Get your degree. Help people."

"You son of bitch! You can't do this!" Her eyes left mine for a moment, going to her father with a fury I'd never seen in those peridot irises. "You. All this fucking nonsense about becoming a mobster. I hope they all eat you alive. I swear to God, if I ever have the chance, I'll kill you myself."

"Oh, there's that fire I've always wanted to see!" He glared down at her, spittle flying from his mouth as he insulted her. "Maybe if you'd been half as wirey as this when you were growing up, you'd have become something useful."

My fingers itched to go for the knife in my sock, my legs begging to run forward and take care of this piece of shit for good. But I clawed it down, held back.

Just then, Parker yanked against her father's hold, and the contact with the muzzle was broken for a moment. Her eyes widened along with mine as we both realized the momentary angle change may serve her well. I was seconds from barking an order when I watched her slam down on Pavel's foot with her boot.

He howled, an obvious crunch behind the noise, and pitched forward. Just as he did, Parker snatched his shoulders. She pulled down, clearly using all her strength to yank him toward her knee as it shot up toward his nose. He reeled from the impact, dropping his gun.

The move was actually a classic one, and when Pavel was bewildered enough, Parker fled to the side, putting plenty of space between them.

That was my chance.

I launched myself forward, the stored tension in my thighs springing me forward hard and fast. I covered the ground to Pavel in seconds, smashing my torso into his as I wrapped my arms around his waist and knocked him down to the ground.

"Ahh!"

We crashed down to the cement with a hard thud, and I immediately went for Pavel's collar. Gripping it tight, I leveled several punches to his nearly broken nose—thank you, Parker—until it finally gave way with a grotesque crack. Blood spilled from his nostrils, and I wasn't about to let up for anything.

Unfortunately, the asshole's fight reflexes were stronger than I'd anticipated, and he knocked me back, bucking his hips to toss me to the side.

Pavel quickly rolled, angling his fist toward my head, and I rolled out of the way, only just missing the blow.

"Bastard!" He roared as his knuckles collided with the cement, and from a kneeling position, I socked another punch to his gut.

Pitching sideways, Pavel used the momentum to roll out of the way of another blow. This was getting tiring. I needed to go for the knife and just be done with it.

I reached for my sock, but the metal shape I was looking for wasn't there.

"Lev!"

Parker shouted from the sidelines, pointing a few feet away from me back toward her father. My switchblade lay on the ground, clearly having fallen from my sock, and Pavel was just a foot or two away from it.

Fuck.

I didn't have eyes on his gun, so it was a race for who had the best speed. I dove for the blade as Pavel did the same. Our hands tangled together as we struggled for control over the weapon. But a loose piece of cement tripped me up, and my knee slid out from under me.

Pavel snatched his hand backward, taking the knife with him and flicking it open. I tried to pull myself up and away before he got over the top of me, but I had to hand it to the fucker. He was fast.

With a knee to my ribs, Pavel stabbed down. My arms flew up to block the strike, but they caught the brunt of the attack in the process, the knife blade slicing across my left forearm. He shoved down, but it was easy to hold ground against a stable force.

What you needed was to be unpredictable.

In one quick movement, I jolted upward and abruptly straightened my posture. Pavel stumbled backward from the force, giving me enough space to gain my footing again. As we faced each other, both of us ready for a fierce contest, I watched his feet closely and observed the way his body was positioned for any signs of his next move. Suddenly, Pavel tried to attack from the right side.

Moving to the left, I dodged the more serious stab wound, but Pavel raked his arm out to the side, and the tip of the knife slashed across the skin between my neck and shoulder. It did some damage, the warmth of my blood smoothing across me as I continued to backpeddle.

I squeezed my left hand over the injury, distracted enough to miss Pavel going for his gun and closing the distance between us. He was a few feet away when he pulled the trigger.

Pain bloomed through my sternum, and I was flung back by the force, landing on my back.

"Lev!"

The horror in Parker's voice made my insides burn. I had to just hang on, wait until Pavel came over here to check, and then take that damn switchblade.

He did. The fucked walked over, leveling the gun for a final bullet to the head, but he was also smart enough to step down on the hand that wasn't gripping my neck. Dammit.

"Buh-bye, Vadim."

No. This isn't right, not like this.

"Ahhh!"

Running at her father like a damn madman, Parker chucked another piece of broken cement at his head, which jacked backward as Pavel was rocked off his feet and onto the floor.

I snapped into action, scrambling across the ground to grab the gun from him. He tried to keep a grip, but a kick from Parker to his ribs made Pavel's grip loosen, and I stood up next to her.

Aiming directly between the eyes, I squeezed the trigger. With a final forced jump from the bullet soaring through his skull, Pavel went still. He was dead.

"Don't waste your time talking to your enemy," I squeezed the gun again; this shot was just for me. "And always aim for the head."

A rush of sound came back to the world as my haste receded. Parker was hyperventilating beside me, and I turned to her, grabbing either shoulder.

"Hey." I put my face directly in front of her. "Are you all right?"

Her wide eyes held mine for a moment, her lips parted. "I…Yes."

Parker smiled nervously, and the relief that washed over me was like stepping into a hot bath. Or maybe that was the wave of adrenaline backing off as I continued to leak.

My knees gave out, and I collapsed to the floor. Parker's arms were quickly around me, her hand going to the injury that was steadily oozing.

"Lev!" She shook her head, but my vision was going blurry. "No, no, no! Lev!"

Everything got really damn cold, and I think I dropped the gun. I couldn't track my movements—or feel my fingers, for that matter. That probably wasn't good.

"Parker." I tried to focus on her; the green of her watery eyes was the only thing I could see in the entire world. "Listen."

"Don't." She pushed hard on the wound, and pain flared. "Save your strength."

She sounded so angry. That's weird. No time for that.

"Parker," I tried to swallow, my mouth suddenly dry, "little one, I love…"

At once, strength left me, and a haze of darkness clouded over my vision.

"Lev?" Her voice was frantic now. "Lev! Someone come fucking help me! Now!"