Page 157 of Vicious Games

The remaining soldier raises his weapon, but I lunge before he can fire, shoving him back with everything I have.

The SUV screeches to a halt, Lucky jumping out, gun already raised.

“Let her go, Kirill!” he shouts, eyes flicking from me to the man holding his sister.

Kirill.

So that’s his name.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Kirill replies, still calm, still cradling Stella against his chest.

“I’m not fucking around, Kirill. Let Frankie and my sister go!”

“And what are you going to do? Shoot me?” Kirill chuckles.

As if he just hurled a dare at him, Lucky shoots Lev in the leg, the man howling and collapsing to the ground.

Lucky uses the distraction to rush forward and pull me behind him.

“I’m okay,” I whisper, clutching his shoulders. “I’m okay.”

He’s shaking with rage, his jaw clenched as he aims his gun at Kirill.

“Let my sister go.”

“I already told you—I can’t.”

“I’ll blow your goddamn brains out.”

Kirill doesn’t flinch. Doesn’t so much as break a sweat under the threat. Instead, his gaze moves to Stella, then back to me, his cold apathetic expression changing somewhat, something softening his sharp edges.

“Frances,” he says, my name slicing through the tense moment. “If you want to know where you really come from—who your birth parents are—you’ll tell your boyfriend to lower his gun.”

My breath catches.

“What?” I whisper.

“You heard me. You want answers? I’ve got them. Come with me, and I’ll tell you everything.”

“You’re lying!” Lucky barks, stepping forward.

Again, Kirill doesn’t even blink. “I never lie to family.”

Family.

The word spilled from his hard lips hits me like a punch to the gut.

“It’s up to you, Frances,” he continues calmly. “Come with me, and by the end of the day, you’ll know everything you’ve ever wondered about yourself.”

I look at Lucky. Then at Kirill.

There’s something about him. Something familiar. A magnetic pull I can’t explain.

“Don’t,” Lucky says, grabbing my wrist.

I meet his eyes. And then I step back.

“I have to know. I’m sorry.”

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