- 8 8 -

"Angel." It was as if a weight had been lifted off my chest when my eyes met emerald green ones, softening as they gazed at me.

He was here.

He was finally here.

"Roman." I whispered, not believing my eyes as I tried to get up from the floor but failed to do so due to the bruises on my body and hissed in pain.

I watched him walk towards me slowly as his eyes ran over my frame as if assessing me before his eyes drifted off to Ferruccio's now shot and bleeding hand.

"Fucker." Ferruccio cursed his son but he only smirked as he grabbed my arm and helped me stand up and I collided into his chest, holding onto him for dear life as tears sprung to my eyes.

But something was wrong as Ferruccio stood straighter, wrapping a torn cloth around his shot hand and glared at his son.

"Took you long enough, never thought you'd call me again." He muttered and I frowned, looking between the two men.

"Where are the Russians?" He asked Roman who gestured to outside with his head, his arm wrapped firm around my waist and his hand resting on my back, holding me to him.

"What's happening?" I asked in confusion when both men looked at me, Ferruccio's lip curling in a mischievous smirk.

"What's happening you ask?" He paused, looking at Roman meaningfully and grinning maliciously.

"Roman, what's happening?" I looked up at said man whose jaw was clenched as he looked at his father before holding my chin and scanning my face.

"I thought I told you not to touch her." He said, briefly casting his father a glance who shrugged in response.

"Couldn't help it, you've got one hell of a woman, son." He said and I could've sworn I saw a muscle tick in Roman's jaw when Ferruccio said that and called him his 'son'.

"We had a deal." Roman said in a bored tone and I frowned, my blood growing colder with each second as I pushed at his chest slightly and took a step back from him.

Deal?

What the hell is going on here?

"Roman, what the hell is going on?" I raised my voice a bit, obviously scared when he looked at me, a slow and malicious sneer taking over his face.

"What was always supposed to happen, angel." He snarled at me and I stood there taken aback when he grabbed my arm forcefully and dragged me out of the room.

"Let me go! What are you doing?" I shouted, trying to free myself of his grip but he was really strong and tugged me towards him.

"You better shut your trap or I'll put a bullet in your head." He sneered at me while I gaped at him in shock and pushed him away from me.

"What is wrong with you?" I yelled in confusion when he smirked, nearing me but I backed away in fear at the deadly expression on his face.

"Rome, please—" I couldn't even complete what I was going to say when he cut me off.

"Shut the fuck up. I'm sick and tired of you." He spat and I tried to say something, but nothing came out of my mouth as I looked at him utterly and completely shocked.

"You thought I'd actually help you?" He barked out a laugh and looked at me as if I was an idiot, because I sure felt like one right now.

"You forgot something, little angel." He grabbed my arm again, more harshly this time and I whimpered, cowering under his fierce gaze.

"The Italians are loyal to each other, especially their... family." He gritted out and I frowned.

"We're not like you Russian pussies. This—" He gestured to us, "Was all a ruse. All part of our plan."

My heart felt like it had dropped to my ass and my breath fell short as I put a hand on my chest as I looked at him horrified.

"N-No! You're lying!" I shouted and he shrugged.

"Think what you want." He said when Ferruccio came towards us and smirked at the two of us, clearly satisfied at how I was falling apart right now.

I wanted to go home.

"You actually thought my son would abandon me? His own father? And for who? A random, Russian girl?" He laughed, patting Roman's shoulder who stood with a stone cold face while I stared at the duo with wide eyes.

"This was all a game." I finally whispered and looked directly into Roman's eyes.

"You don't love me." I murmured, the tears cascading down my face as I finally broke down and choked on a sob as he pulled me with him.

"I never did. You were an easy target, and the perfect one to get what I really wanted." He said and my heart dropped.

"Our empire." I stated and he smirked.

"Smart girl. No hard feelings, it's just business, angel." He said when I dug my nails into his arm.

"Don't fucking call me that." I snapped at him while he dragged me down the stairs where I saw my brothers.

But before I could run towards them, Roman had me pressed against him, my back against his front as he held a gun to my head.

No no no, this can't be happening all over again.

Anton knew this all, and so did everyone else. This was the same way Igor had held me at gunpoint and looked at Anton in the same malicious way Roman as looking at me while my mind and heart raced endlessly.

It was all fake, all those lovely words, sweet nothings, kisses, hugs, love...

None of it was real.

My heart shattered over and over again as I broke down and Anton looked at the pair of us with nothing but shock, indicating he knew nothing about this.

This was not part of their plan.

"What the fuck, Angelo? I thought we had an agreement." Anton growled, all of them pointing their guns at the two men behind me.

"I decided it wasn't worth it. She wasn't worth it." He gestured to me and I could see my brother paling as I closed my eyes in defeat, heaving out a shuddery breath.

"I wish I could have listened to you, Anton." I said slowly when my brother's eyes latched onto mine, as if pleading me to hold on, that there still might be hope but I shook my head.

"I always desired the things that would destroy me in the end. You were right about him, Ant. You were always right." I felt Roman's tense body behind mine.

The warmth I felt in his arms or near him was now long gone, replaced with something poisonous and deadly, a coldness that made me want to shrink away and hide somewhere in a corner, never to be found again.

"Somethings just aren't meant to be." I whispered and held back a sob as I shook my head but before I could change my mind, I leaned forward and hit my head back with everything in me.

Hearing Roman grunt, I bit his arm and he let go of me when I turned around immediately, punching him square in the face.

"All the men I've I've ever loved tuned out to be traitors. All men are assholes. At least you both were right about one thing." I kicked him back as the gun fell out of his hand.

"No one deserves me." I sneered at him and grabbed his fallen gun, pointing it at Ferruccio and shooting without missing the shot.

I shot him once in the stomach and once in the leg, making him howl in pain as he fell to the floor before I faced Roman's surprised face.

"Like father, like son." I snarled at him and shot him the leg, making him glare at me as he struggled to stay upright and hiss in pain, closing his eyes as Zephyr grabbed my hand and pulled me towards my family.

He pulled me behind him and my father grabbed my arm, passing me on to my uncle Mikhail who took a hold of me and made a run for it while the others stayed inside to deal with the traitors.

"Ivan!" Mikhail shouted and Ivan came running towards us, shooting a man behind us and grabbed me from Mikhail, hugging me tightly.

"I thought you were done for, kotenok." He said, assessing me carefully and I held back a sob, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"Let's get you out of here." He said when I stopped.

"No." I said and he frowned.

"What do you mean, no?" He asked when I looked away, wiping a few stray tears with the back of my hand furiously.

"No more running away." I said and he grinned when I raised the gun in my hands and shot another man who was aiming for us.

"Let's fuck 'em up." He said and we both walked back towards the looming estate, my heart collapsing and threatening to take me down with it but I begged myself to hold on for just a bit longer.

Just a bit more.

"Brother." We heard the bone-chilling voice from behind us and turned around, Ivan instantly standing on front of me protectively.

"Igor. Fancy seeing you here." He said, looking at him cautiously and calculating his next move when Igor grinned.

"Been too long, hasn't it?" He was now looking at me and I gulped, but then came to stand beside Ivan.

"You won't live to see the light of day again." I said and raised my gun at him, shooting once but he moved away just in time and shot at us when Ivan's body collided with mine, taking me to the ground and covering me.

"Fuck, kotenok, I want you to run as fast as you can. You'll find Viktor at—" He started but I cut him off.

"I'm staying, and you can't tell me otherwise." I told him as we rolled out of the way and stood up, facing Igor's men and threw each other a determined look before lunging at the men.

I swung myself on the back of one as Ivan threw me my dagger and I plunged it in his heart, dragging it down before pulling it out, I threw it towards another man who was about to shoot Ivan, hitting him in his abdomen.

I ran towards him and kicked him to the ground, shooting him the head and taking my dagger out of him, I slashed the neck of another, kicking him square in the face and making him fall to the ground with a thud.

"I need more bullets!" I shouted and saw Viktor running towards us who threw me another gun which I caught effortlessly, ignoring the pain in my bruises and not thinking twice before shooting anyone who wasn't one of us.

Viktor took me inside the state from the back and up to the roof, taking down their sniper there and standing on guard for me while I took the sniper's place.

The fight had moved outside and I saw my brothers facing off with some men and I aimed, shooting them all within seconds and breathed a sigh of relief.

I can do this.

Anton looked up and saw me, giving me nod as I took down more men, giving our side more chance to win before I heard a grunt from behind me and saw Viktor laying on the ground and took out my dagger, throwing it immediately at Igor who was now inching towards me.

"Shit." I muttered, pointing my gun to Ivan but when I pulled the trigger, I realised I was out of bullets and cursed.

Perfect fucking timing.

Igor jumped towards me, taking me to the ground and climbing on top of me.

"You thought you could be rid of me of so easily? Well joke's on you." He sneered and pressed my own dagger at my throat.

I could feel blood trickling down my neck as the blade cut into my skin, making me whimper in pain as I writhed under him.

My ears thrummed when I heard two gunshots and Igor collapsed on top of me, blood flowing out of hs mouth.

I groaned in pain, pushing him off from me while he grunted and I saw the blood pooling out of his chest.

Looking up, I saw Roman with his eyes one me when I moved back on instinct, my back pressing against the roof's wall as he walked towards me, stopping at Igor's body and shooting three more times straight to the head and smirked.

"Always wanted to do that to you, son of a bitch." He snarled at the now dead body while I gaped the scene in front of me.

Igor was dead. He was finally dead.

I was free... but was I, really?

The question made me look up at Roman and Ferruccio who stumbled out from behind him and kicked Igor's dead body and spat on it.

"This one was a pain in the ass. And completely psycho for this girl." He looked at me while Roman gazed at me unwaveringly, his glare chilling me to the bone a I shivered violently, wrapping my arms around myself.

"Kill me." I whispered and saw his eyebrows pinch together as I looked at him.

"Gladly." Ferruccio muttered and pulled out his gun, shooting me in the stomach without warning.

I cried out in pain and fell to the ground, my head hitting the concrete as Anton stumbled out with Alex behind him, their faces paling when they saw me and the gun in Ferruccio's hand.

They both had guns pointed to their heads and no weapon on them, Ferruccio's men surrounding us.

It was over.

"For a second there you actually had me worried when you killed all of my men." Ferruccio chuckled, looking at me with a madness on his face that made me cry.

The pain was too much and I was struggling to sit up as I stared directly into Roman's cold and unforgiving eyes.

"Kill me, go on. It's what you've always wanted." I whispered, clutching my stomach as if that'd stop the bleeding as the tears flowed freely.

"End me, please, I beg you. I can't do this anymore." I cried out and he seemed taken aback at my outburst before his jaw clenched.

He clicked off the safety of his gun, pointing it at me when I closed my eyes gently, ignoring my brothers calling for me and screaming my name while I waited for the blow.

It'll all be over soon.

"No." heard Romans voice and a gunshot was heard but when I felt nothing, I forced open my eyes to see Ferruccio on the ground, bleeding out and writhing.

"Son of a bitch!" He screamed and spat blood out of his mouth and Roman shot all of his father's men, helping my brothers take them down as he rushed for me and I whimpered in pain.

"Angel." I saw him again, I saw my Roman again, not the cold one as he cupped my cheek and looked down at my bleeding form, his eyes widening before he started to put pressure on my wound, telling me stay awake.

"It's okay, you never loved me anyway. Don't save me, I don't want to suffer anymore. I can't—" I choked on a sob.

I've endured too much already.

I can't live anymore, I'm so tired.

"It hurts so much." I cried while he held me to him, picking me up in his arms as my vision started to fade.

"Her pulse is fading fast." I heard him rush out as he struggled to walk because I'd shot his leg when Anton took me from him and Alex helped him take me down from the roof and into our car.

"Burn it down!" I heard someone shout and a loud explosion followed, my eyes briefly catching onto a a large flame from over Anton's shoulder and more explosions.

"Get in here, Angelo, I'll deal with you later!" I vaguely heard Anton shout and the next moment a warm body covered my cold one, his warm fingers pushing my hair out of my eyes and caressing my face, kissing my forehead.

"Stay with me, angel." He whispered in a plea and I forced a small yet pained smile, looking at him through half lidded eyes.

My Roman, my beautifully brutal Roman.

"I love you." I whispered, watching his green eyes glisten before everything went dark.

It's funny how sometimes the people you'd take a bullet for are the ones who pull the trigger.