Page 103 of The Last Hope

“I knew, Nikolai,” she repeated, closing her eyes.

“You knew,” I echoed. “You knew. And you let him do it. You let him hand over an eight-year-old child to a fucking psychopath !”

“Nikolai, watch where you’re pointing that fucking gun,” Grigori growled, trying to push Elif aside, but she didn’t move.

“I trusted you. She trusted you, Elif ! How could you betray Selina ?!”

“She didn’t betray me, Nikolai.” Selina’s soft voice cut through the tension behind me. Automatically, my gun dropped as I turned slowly, afraid to look at her face.

Afraid of what I would see there. Afraid of how to tell her— That I had failed to protect her son.

“Nikolai, look at me,” she said again, stepping closer. But I stepped back—so suddenly that I stumbled.

Grigori caught me before I fell.

“Nikolai ! You shouldn’t be standing ! You weren’t supposed to wake up for another two hours,” Selina said, pressing her fingers against my throat to check my pulse.

And her words began to sink into my thick skull.

“You knew,” I said, my eyes locking onto hers. And I knew—I knew I was right.

She had known.

“I didn’t know about the deal,” she murmured. And then— “I was the one who came up with the idea.”

And every betrayal I had suffered until now—

Every single one—

Became insignificant.

Nothing compared to this.

Chapter twenty-seven

Selina

My heart tightened as I watched the car disappear from the living room window.Forgive me, Nikolai.

I heard approaching footsteps and quickly wiped away the tears that had escaped.

“Selina, we can still stop all of this. I’ll call Nikolai…”

“No, we’re not stopping. We have to save Roman, Elif. Antonio will kill him,” I said, turning to look at her—only to freeze when I saw her own tears.

“Elif…”

“I don’t know how to thank you, Selina. I don’t know what to say. I’m so sorry, Selina. So, so sorry.”

I shook my head and pulled her into an embrace as my tears returned. “No, Elif, I’m the one who brought Antonio to your doorstep. This is my fault,” I whispered, but she shook her head.

She pulled back and took my face in her hands, “nothing, nothing that has happened or could happen will ever be your fault, Selina. It will always be the fault of that psychopath, that son of a bitch. And he will pay, Selina. Believe me, he will.”

I nodded, sniffling. Yes, Antonio would pay. He would pay for everything he had done to us, to my son, and to me.

“For now, let’s focus on getting your baby back, okay ?”

My baby would be with that monster, all alone. But I knew he’d be okay. He was strong, and he knew I was coming. I had promised him.

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