Page 46 of Brutal Unionn
The room is dead silent.
“You tried to have me killed?!” I roar, voice ragged with betrayal.
“No.” Nikolai shrugs, like this is all some tedious argument he’s already tired of.
“Liar,” I hiss, the word ripped from somewhere deeper than my lungs.
He steps forward again, jaw tight. “If I wanted you dead, Nadi, you’d be in a goddamn coffin. And you know that.”
I move before I even register the decision—muscle and instinct overriding pain.
Every step I take is a fight against the urge to launch myself at him. It takes everything in me to stay controlled. When I reach him, I hook my foot around his ankle and yank hard. Nik stumbles, crashing to the floor with a grunt, his injured shoulder hitting with a dull thud.
He barely has time to react before I plant my boot near the hilt of the blade still embedded in his shoulder—not pressing, but close enough to remind him it’s still there.
My gun’s out a second later, the safety clicking off as I lower it to his temple, steady, and unshaking.
“What do you want your last words to your children to be, Nik?” I ask, voice low but lethal.
His eyes widen, panic flickering behind the anger. The blood is starting to soak through his shirt, warm and spreading—but I haven’t moved. Haven’t broken a sweat.
“Choose carefully,” I whisper, steel threading through my tone. “You’ll only get one sentence if you’re lying.”
“You really think I would get someone else to kill you?” he grits out, voice strained. “You think I’mthatmuch of a coward? I trained you. Imadeyou.”
His words cut deeper than they should. Rage curls up from my chest, but I don’t explode—I freeze, lock my jaw, let it simmer under the surface.
“You’re not stupid,” he presses, cruel now. “You think I’d waste Bhon Lee onyou? Nadia, you’re reckless. Emotional. You don’t think beyond your rage. Why would I spend that kind of money on a girl who was already going to burn herself out?”
My jaw tightens. I want to move—want to break something—but I hold. I slowly lower the gun, hooking it under his chin, as I bite my lip, until the taste of metal tickles the tip of my tongue. This is all I can do not to kill my own flesh and blood, because despite my murderous tendencies I guess this is my soft spot. Not wanting to look my brother in the eye as I kill him.
“You think because I’m not you—or him—that I’m weak?” I ask, quietly now. “I’ve bled for this family. I’ve killed for it. I’ve killedfor you.”
Nik dares me, pushing his head into the barrel as he glares at me “I trained you to kill for me, but you weren’t raised to lead,” he spits. “Iwas.”
The breath leaves my lungs like a knife to the chest, and before he can react, or I can talk myself out of it I remove the gun from his chin and plant my boot on the hilt of the knife still embedded in his flesh and press down. He screams through clenched teeth, writhing beneath me.
For a moment, all I can do is stare at him—broken, bruised, defiant. And still wrong.
I wipe at my face with the back of my hand that’s holding the gun, forcing myself upright. My legs wobble as I push down the knife even deeper into his flesh.
“That’s true. You trained me to kill, Nik.” I look down at my brother—my protector. The first man I have ever loved and the one man I vowed to die for. “You trained me not to think twice about the target. You trained me to be ruthless. You taught me to hide my emotions. You turned me into a weapon. The best weapon in the game.”
I pause, my voice flat and cold. “But still…you and Alek were the only two people my heart ever bled for. And now, you’ve stolen that from me. I can’t trust you.” My eyes shift past Sho to land on Alek. “And sadly, I’m not sure I can trust you either, because I am sure I cannot trust anyone.”
I turn back to Nik, watching the fear roll through his eyes.. “You’ve shown me that I should’ve killed you the moment I found out you lied about being the leader of the Bratva. I was weak to let you live.” I adjust my jacket. Straighten my spine. Wipe the blood off my lip, before I point my finger in Nik’s face and continue.
“You may not know this, because I gave it to you so freely but loyalty is earned. And both of you are at square zero. Until you prove yourselves to me, you are strangers.” I let that sink in before finishing, watching the steady vibrations of Nik’s Adam's apple. “Whether you like it or not. The Bratva is mine now. I am Queen. Alek, you may serve—as a Queens-man. But you, Nik?” I lean closer to his face, tapping the gun against his cheek, the only sound around us is our heavy breathing. “You are nothing.”
“Nadia-” Nik coughs.
I take one step back, finally releasing the pressure of my foot off of the knife.
“This is your last warning, Nikolai,” I say, cold now. Steel in every word. “Next time you question me like I’m some emotional little girl instead of your fuckingQueen, I will bury you myself.”
I lean in, close enough for him to smell the blood on my breath.
“Brother or not.”
