Page 166 of The Last Hope

I could hardly breathe. “No…” I whispered, backing away, as if the distance could protect me from his ultimatum. “No !” I shouted louder, shaking my head wildly.

“As you wish, Selina,” he said, shifting his aim toward Alexei.

“Stop !” I cried out, just as Nikolai did.

“You need to make a choice,” Antonio sighed, feigning boredom. “So, who do we kill?”

Tears blurred my vision, my sobs turned into strangled gasps. “P-please…”

“No ! I forbid you from begging that son of a bitch!” Nikolai roared. His eyes, blazing, locked onto mine. Then they drifted toward our children before closing briefly.

“Boys, close your eyes,” he commanded and our sons obeyed without a word.

Then he turned back to me. His face was unreadable—but I already knew what he would say.

“Do it,Solnychko.”

And everything inside me shattered. I shook my head, “I can’t. No,” I breathed, barely able to speak.

“Yes, you can ! I know you can because I know you better than this bastard ever will ! Because I love you like I’ve never lovedanyone before ! Because you are an Ivanov, and in this family, we do what needs to be done. And our children always come first !

A broken sob tore through me. “Nikolai…” I whimpered, trembling.

“Do it, Selina !” Antonio shouted, his patience fraying.

“Raise your gun,Solnychko,” Nikolai murmured

I looked at him, desperate, then at my sons—Mikhail bleeding out, Alexei pressing on his wound, Andrei’s face bloodied yet still clutching his brother’s hand, Rafael sitting close. All of them trembling. All of them afraid. All of them with their eyes shut tight.

My arm rose slowly, trembling as I aimed at my husband.

My husband.

My breath came in sharp, shallow gasps.

“A little more to the right,Solnychko.”

I sobbed but obeyed.

“I’m sorry you have to do this,moy lyubov’. But it’s going to be all right. Everything will be all right,” he said, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Nikolai, I… I love you. I love you so much.”

“I know, Selina. And that’s why you have to do this…”

“Selina !” Antonio barked.

But I did not look at him. I kept my eyes on my husband, my lips trembling and Nikolai nodded. And with ice-cold fingers, I pulled the trigger.

The bullet struck him in the chest.

His body jolted backward before collapsing onto the ground, motionless.

“Nikolai !” I screamed, dropping the gun as he lay still. I tried to run to him, but one of Antonio’s men seized me.

“Cara mia! Bravo !” Antonio laughed, clapping his hands, his gun still aimed at my sons. His eyes glinted with sick delight.

I could not breathe. I could not think. I could not move, “Nikolai,” I sobbed, falling to my knees.

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