Page 72 of Used By the Merciless Bratva
“Numbers on the screen? That proves nothing. My lawyers will—”
“Your lawyers won’t save you,” Danil cut him off, his tone a blade. “Because you didn’t just steal money. You stole a man’s honor.”
He clicked again. An audio file played—my father’s voice. “You’ve been laundering out assets, Feliks. You’re a traitor. I’ll go to the council. I’ll expose you—”
The recording cut, static swallowing his words. The silence that followed was suffocating. My chest tightened. My hands shook.
Danil’s voice filled the space, quiet but lethal. “He tried to expose you. And you had him killed. You framed him. You’re behind the taint on his name. Behind his daughter’s pain.”
Feliks’s mask cracked. For the first time, his arrogance faltered.
Danil drew his gun, raising it level with Feliks’s head. The room held its breath.
My heart stuttered.
This is it. My revenge. It’s here.
But Danil lowered the weapon.
“No,” he said, voice low and dangerous. “You don’t deserve the mercy of a quick death. My hands are already stained with blood in your name. Justice isn’t mine to give.”
He turned and met my eyes. And placed the gun in my hand. My breath caught. The weight was shocking, the metal cold, heavy, and final.
“This is your justice, Katria,” Danil said, his voice carrying across the hall but meant only for me. “He destroyed your father. Stole your life. Tried to kill you. The choice is yours.”
Feliks’s gaze locked on me. Defiant, mocking. “You won’t do it. You’re still the weak girl who was manipulated into doubting her husband. You don’t have it in you.”
I raised the gun. My hand trembled—not with fear, but with rage. His words, his lies, my father’s voice—all of it poured into the burning focus in my chest.
“You don’t know me,” I said, my voice steady.
His eyes widened. Fear finally overtook him. I pulled the trigger. The gun roared, ripping through the room like thunder. Feliks’s body sank down, his sneer gone forever. Silence, at last, heavy and reverent.
I stood frozen, the gun trembling in my hand. Relief washed through me, hollow and endless. It was finally over.
Danil was there, gently prying the weapon from my grip. He pulled me into his arms, shielding me. His chest was solid and grounding. A single tear rolled down my cheek. It was over. The war was finished. For the first time, I knew with absolute certainty:It’s over.
Chapter 26 – Danil
The rain hadn’t stopped since the gunfire. It slid across the ruined streets in the thin rivers, washing over broken glass, blood, and the faint smell of smoke.
I moved through the silence, Katria clinging to my chest. Her body trembled, but her tears had finally run dry. Feliks’s body was gone, taken away by strangers who didn’t know his story, but the weight of his absence pressed heavily in the air.
Katria buried her face against my shoulder, whispering in a trembling voice. “He’s really gone, isn’t he? No more traitors, no more Feliks, no more fear. My heart can finally rest, and my dad’s soul can rest in peace. He’s gone.”
I clenched my jaw tighter as I held her, trying to keep my grief from spilling out. “Yes. He is.”
Her hands gripped the back of my shirt, wrinkling the fabric. “I just…I wish he’d exposed Feliks sooner. He would still be here if…if….”
I stopped walking, adjusting her in my arms so I could see her face. Raindrops clung to her lashes, and her eyes burned red from crying. “Listen to me,” I said firmly but softly enough to pull her back from the edge. “If he were here, he’d tell you not to waste what he gave you. Don’t dishonor his memory with regret.”
Katria pressed her forehead to mine. “Then promise me you won’t leave me like that. That you’ll stay by my side and be with me.”
My throat tightened, but I forced the words out steadily. “I promise you, Katria. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay by your side and be with you. Nobody is going to harm you anymore. I won’t leave you, okay?”
For a moment, the rain was the only sound between us. I kissed her hair and carried her forward, every step heavy but certain as she whispered, “Okay.”
By the time we reached the safehouse, dawn was bleeding through the horizon. The world looked gray, like it hadn’t yet decided whether to keep turning.
