Throne of Power (Throne Duet #1) by Rina Kent

By the time we reach the church, it’s empty, except for the Italians who are protecting their injured man.

Adrian isn’t where we left him.

Excessive gunshots are coming from outside. Considering the randomness of the shots, I can’t exactly pinpoint their source.

“Let’s separate.” Kirill lifts his glasses up his nose. “I’ll take the back. Kyle, the front. Rai, stay here.”

He and Aleksander leave before either of us can agree.

“I’ll take the front,” I tell Kyle. “You stay here.”

“Funny.”

“I’m not joking. You have better aim than me and would be able to take down any target from the inside.”

“No.”

“Then I’m coming with you.” I don’t wait for him to agree because I know he won’t. Keeping my back to the wall and away from the windows, I creep to the entrance.

Kyle, though? He breezes through the door in the midst of the raining bullets.

I have no clue if he’s that brave or has no value for his life—or both. My heart nearly jumps out as the gunshots continue and he throws himself right in the middle.

He finds some of Igor’s men, motions something at them, and jumps over the fence toward the parking lot. Where the hell is he going?

I shake my head as I click the bullets into the chamber of my gun and slowly slip out. A few stray gunshots echo around me, and I fire two of my own. Four to go.

Kyle is the one who taught me to count my bullets, especially when I have no ammunition left. He said there’s nothing more stupid than dying by your own mistake. It’s ironic how his words stayed with me, particularily during dire situations.

I sneak behind our men toward where Kyle headed, making sure Vlad doesn’t see me. If he does, he’ll forcefully grab me and send me back beside Sergei.

The gunshots continue going at a sporadic speed. I hide behind the walls, holding my breath every time I move from one surface to the next.

Cars, mostly German, fill the parking lot, but there’s no sign of Kyle. I use the vehicles as camouflage while I try to track down where he went.

He always does this thing where he fucking disappears into thin air until it’s almost impossible to find him. And then, when someone does find him, he’s already finished several people and comes back all covered in blood as if it’s a normal occurrence.

We might all be killers, but the difference between Kyle and me is that I only kill when I absolutely have to, mostly in self-defense or to protect my family. He’s the type of unfeeling psycho who does it as a pastime. Not only that, he also doesn’t take backup. A lone wolf through and through.

I lift my head over a BMW to study my surroundings, but I come face to face with the opening of a gun.

Fuck.

“Throw your gun behind you,” the man who holds the weapon says in an indecipherable accent, but I don’t have to guess at his origins. His Asian eyes and thick hair give him up as either Chinese or Japanese.

“I’m Rai Sokolov, Sergei Sokolov’s grandniece.”

“Gun on the ground or it will be your brains.”

Shit.

I slowly let go of my gun, making sure to throw it far enough and on its back so it doesn’t go off.

He motions at me with his weapon. “Put your hands behind your head and come out.”

I follow his instructions so I’m standing in the open in front of him. “Don’t you know who I am? You’re making a grave mistake.”

“Maybe you made it, Miss Sokolov.” The suave voice coming from my right takes me by surprise, especially since I recognize it well.

The man with the gun bows his head in respect—to his boss.

Kai Takeda.

He stands a few feet away from me, taller than his guard, but leaner and with the aura of an undercover assassin. He lost his jacket somewhere, since I recall him wearing it at the beginning of the ceremony, and is now only wearing a black shirt and pants. His eyes are Asian like his guard’s, but darker and more mysterious. His hair is thick, ink-colored, styled back, and falling to his nape. His face is also stronger than most of his countrymen, and he has a quiet beauty to him that fits his role.

Kai is the brains of the Yakuza here, and a very dangerous person at that. However, the fact remains, he’s one of our allies and a ruthless investor in V Corp.

I drop my hands to either side of me. “What are you doing, Kai?”

He pauses for a beat before he speaks quietly in a flawless American accent. “I should ask you that.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I must admit, I hadn’t thought you capable of carrying out a hit at your own wedding, but it’s a mistake I will not repeat again.”

“A hit?”

He motions at his side, and that’s when I make out the blood oozing out of his shirt. Since the cloth is black, I didn’t notice it before. “Either your sniper missed, or perhaps…you asked him to do it on purpose? What is your message, Miss Sokolov? Do you think you can threaten me?”

His guard’s posture tightens more at his boss’s words, and his grip on the gun turns deadly. I have no doubt he’ll shoot any second now.

The thought of dying like this cripples me, but I hold on to logic, because Kai only respects that.

“We have no sniper.”

“Yes, you do.”