Page 40 of Captive Union
I pause before grabbing my own knife from my pocket and placing it against his throat. I always come prepared for a fight.
We pause, understanding that if either of us moves, it could be the end of our lives.
“Tell me where she is,” Maxim growls.
“She’s my wife now. You don’t need to be concerned.”
“She’s my sister. You’re hurting her.”
“You’re the only one I’m hurting. And Alexei, I hope. But Kira? She’s safe with me. I wanted you to know the pain you caused me, but I’m also not going to lie. Kira will be forever unharmed. If that means you won’t feel as much pain, so be it. But I have no desire to hurt her.”
“I will never give up until I have Kira back safe and sound. I don’t believe your lies.”
I sneer, pressing my knife closer to Maxim’s throat. “I’m not lying.”
A nick of blood pools around my knife where I cut his skin. Neither of us is backing down. Neither of us will win this fight. We’ll just kill each other in the process.
Suddenly, a pair of hands jerk me off Maxim and tosses me to the ground. Nik stands over Maxim, helping him up. Scott checks on me, and I give him a reassuring grin.
Once Maxim’s standing, he gives me a look cold enough to freeze the arctic.
“You two are going to kill each other,” Nik says. “And ifhe’sdead,” he nods at me, “we’ll never find Kira. And if you’re dead,” he says to Maxim, “then when we find Kira, she’ll be upset to find out her brother is dead. This fight is pointless. It was just a stupid show of strength.”
Maxim steps forward, and Nik places a hand on his chest to stop him. “We can make a deal. I’ll hand myself over if you give up Kira. You can torture me, kill me. Just let my sister go.”
“It’s a tempting offer. But don’t you understand? I’m already torturing you. What I want from you now is to back off. Stop looking for Kira. She’smine.”
“You want me to stop because I’m close to finding her, aren’t I?”
“You’re nowhere close,” I growl. “Kira is my wife. You’re never getting her back. So leave us in peace and move on with your life, or I will come back and fight you. And the next time, Iwillkill you.”
“What makes you think I won’t kill you?”
I open my arms wide. “You haven’t so far. Every attempt at killing me has failed.”
“Because you’re a snake,” Maxim spits out.
“Either way, this snake has your sister. I stole her to hurt you, but now …” I want to say that I care deeply for her and just want to be with her, but no way will I give Maxim that kind of ammo. “Just leave us alone.” I turn away and get back in my car, Scott scrambling to follow.
Maxim watches me leave, a sneer on his face.
I really thought I could beat him and end this once and for all but killing him won’t make Kira like me more. I’ll have to figure out another way to get Maxim off my back. At first, it was fun, knowing he was driving himself in circles looking for us. Now, I just want to focus on my marriage and end this fight, but Maxim won’t give up until one of us is dead.
I’m in a pickle. Kill Maxim, and Kira hates me. Maxim finds Kira, and I’m left all alone again—or Maxim kills me in the process. Before, I would have gladly died, but now, I have someone to live for, and I’m not ready to let that go. To let her go.
It seems I can’t win.
Great. Just fucking great.
CHAPTER13
Kira
Erik is gone for hours. I try not to worry, but in his line of work, anything can happen. He told me he had some business to handle, and I didn’t question it, but now, I’m starting to wonder if things didn’t go according to plan.
I’ve also been standing in front of the door, telling myself to leave. Now’s my chance. Yet there’s a tugging sensation in my heart telling me to remain rooted to the floor.
But going on the sixth hour since he’s been gone, I decide I need to stop living my life for others and live my life for myself. So I open the door and walk out.
