Regal Queen by Ivy Mason

Twenty-One

The moment Bourbonappeared in the doorway, with Dimitri holding a gun to his head, my heart lurched in my throat.

We'd expected this.

Planned for this, hoped it would happen.

To draw Dimitri out into the open, where Dante was hiding with a sniper rifle trained on him… if one of us didn’t get to him first.

And still, with the gun to Bourbon’s head, my heart stopped beating.

That Dimitri wouldn't kill Bourbon if I wasn't there with him.

With one click of Dimitri's finger, Bourbon could be dead.

Seeing it now, I had no shadow of a doubt how much I loved him.

He was my heart and soul. Everything I ever wanted.

Someone who showed me with actions, not just words, how much he loved me.

Bourbon was putting his absolute faith in me. He'd lived up to his word to trust me.

And by following my plan, he put his own life in absolute danger.

I now knew that he meant what he said.

He did love me.

Meeting his gaze across the tarmac, I had no shadow of a doubt about it now.

And I loved him in return.

I loved this man.

Every beat of my heart proclaimed it to me.

"Rose," Dimitri yelled. "I know you're here. Come out, or I blow his brain."

Taking a deep breath, I stepped out and into the open. My stomach was clenching, my heart racing, my whole body strung tight.

I stepped forward slowly, trying not to freak out as I came towards them, holding my gun out in front of me. "I'm here, Dimitri."

He swiveled, his eyes racing until they landed on me, then a cruel smile twisted his lips. "Of course, your his weakness. And he’s yours, as you helpfully confirmed to me just now.”

“This is between you and me, Dimitri." I shook my head. “Let him go.”

He laughed, dragging the gun pointed at Bourbon’s head down to his neck harshly. "I don't think so." He jerked his head at me. “Put your gun down.”

I lifted it with my finger off the trigger, holding it so that the could see it clearly. "Okay. You win."

I bent, lowering it to the ground, keeping my eyes on him the whole time.

“Kick it away.”

I did as he said, fear making my heart clench.

"Now," he growled at Bourbon, "tell your men to stand down."

"Come out," Bourbon commanded them, “throw away your weapons and put your hands out so Dimitri can see you."

Bourbon's men hesitantly stepped out of their hiding places and made a show of getting rid of their guns.

When they were done and Dimitri had herdeed them into a group, away from their weapons, he jerked his head at me again. "Now. Very slowly, you will come with me."

"Where are we going?"

"Count your steps,” Dimitri said, ignoring my question. "Count them out loud, every step you take to me. Then you, the Kings and I will get back on the plane. And you will take me to your sister."

I began to follow his orders, doing my best to focus exactly on him and what he'd instructed me to do, and not at anything else going on in the background. I knew that from where Dimitri was standing, that Bourbon was in the direct line of Dante’s shot. There was only one in a million chance he could hit Dimitri and not hurt Bourbon, a chance I wasn’t willing to take.

It took me twenty steps to get to him, and all the while he had the gun at Bourbon's neck, holding him tight.

Bourbon watched me with an intense focus, never flinching or looking afraid, giving me courage.

I had to give it to him. I was about to pee my pants. I had no idea how he could be so calm.

I was going to have to have him train me on his mental tactics, if we got out of here alive.

When I was close enough, I shifted my focus back to Dimitri. "Tell me. why me? Why Aster?"

This was the truth I really needed to know.

Once we killed him, was anyone else going after Aster?

Why was he so desperate to have us, kill us?

There had to be a reason.

"That's none of your business. Just keep coming to me, or your man is dead."

I shook my head, taking two more steps towards him. 'You're not going to kill Bourbon. He has too much information you could use to take down Nero."

“Who says I want to take down Nero? He will only make me more money."

"Unless you take over his empire, then you won't have to split the profits with him."

"I don't want the work," he sneered. "Working with the Kings is just like having cheap labor."

"Then why haven't you given him the ozone yet? You're keeping it from him for a reason."

I was standing face to face with him now, my heart pounding, my blood racing. Now was when everything could go wrong.

Both Bourbon and I were so close to him, it would be so easy for Dimitri to kill us both and then use Coulter for information.

"Tell me, Dimitri. Tell me why you want Aster so badly."

He scoffed, then shifted the gun so it was pointing at me. Bourbon jerked in response and the gun was back at his neck.

"Get on the plane, Rose."

I shook my head. "Tell me first and I’ll go willingly. Why do you care so much about Aster?”

"Net. You get on the plane, then I'll consider telling you before I cut your heart from your chest."

We stared each other down in a true Russian standstill. There would be no negotiation between us.

I decided I'd had enough. I tapped my hip with my fingers, giving the signal.

Dimitri's eyebrows furrowed, his eyes on my fingers. "Wha--"

But he was too late.

At my signal, Bourbon immediately became deadweight. It knocked Dimitri off balance. Knight appeared, having snuck up behind him. He put a gun to Dimitri's head, cocking it.

Dimitri jerked in surprise. Bourbon took advantage of it, twisting himself to knock Dimitri's gun from his hand.

Then Knight slammed his gun against Dimitri's head, knocking him to the ground.

Everyone scrambled at once.

The rest of our men raced towards the plane to free Coulter and the rest of the men.

I stepped back to give Knight and Bourbon space to incapacitate Dimitri, who was swinging at both of them with all his might.

After a few minutes of fighting, they forced him onto the ground and I scrambled to straddle him.

Bourbon and Knight both held him down while I took Knight’s gun from him. The one we'd practiced with several times. The one I knew as intimately now as my own hand.

I held it firmly towards Dimitri's face, my hands steady. "Tell me why you want Aster.”

Dimitri stopped struggling, and his eyes lit up like a kid seeing snow for the very first time.

"You must really care about this girl. Otherwise you would have killed me already."

I leaned down, shoving the gun into his forehead, my focus purely on him. "Tell me. Or I'll make sure Knight tortures you the way you tortured him. He will peel your skin from your body, and that's only the beginning.” I gave him a manic grin of my own. “But, if you tell me now, I'll kill you quickly."

His face darkened. "I want to live. I will tell you, and you let me live."

I shook my head. "That's not on the table. You will die today."

“Then you will never know, princess." His lips twisted upwards in a cruel smile, "but know this, I am only the beginning. There are more men, more dangerous than me. I would never have fucked her, but other men, they won't be so kind."

I growled, all the pent up rage and anger coming out. I screamed, spittle flying from my mouth. "Tell me the fucking truth. Who is coming after her."

"Only if you let me live."

"Fine," I spat out, knowing that Knight would love to have at him. "I'll let you live.”

“Swear it.”

I grit my teeth. “I swear. Now tell me why you want Aster so much."

There was a glimmer of warmth in Dimitri's eyes. A brief flicker that was gone in an instant, but I knew I'd seen it.

"She is my daughter." His eyes met mine, and my heart pounded furiously as he revealed the truth. "I fell in love with your mother, and Aster is our child."

"You lie." I screamed, angry that even now, he was playing games.

He laughed cruelly. "Believe what you will, but why do you think she looks so differently than you do? No," he shook his head. "She is my daughter."

"If that's the truth, what do you want with her after all these years?"

He lifted a shoulder. “Times are changing. Women are becoming stronger. I have no sons. I wanted to bring her home, to me. To my empire. She will rule beside me.”

At this, I saw the truth in his eyes. For once, the cold blackness that existed in Dimitri was gone, replaced with a glimmer of hope.

He was speaking the truth. I could see it now, the likeness between them.

Shock coiled through me, and my memories slammed into me.

Ivan, his rough voice and careful fingers as he bandaged my feet. Him gripping the side of the window, hanging on as he bled out so that I could escape.

The rows and rows of people whom Dimitri tortured. They were practically frozen, and he gave them no comforts, and only enough food to keep them alive in their miserable lives. They existed as skeletons with wide eyes and crushed souls.

The saws, the knives slicing, the men and women begging for their lives.

All these people this sadistic bastard had hurt, and he was going to bring Aster into that world?

The girl with the crazy hair and the bright smile. When she laughed, it rolled through you like the sun was beaming down on you.

She was happiness and light, and the very thought that Dimitri wanted to taint that made me boil with rage.

I saw red, and Dimitri's face was the only thing in my line of sight.

I narrowed my eyes in on him. "Who wants her dead?"

He grinned. "I lied, and you fell for the bait."

“Well, guess what?” My finger snapped and the gun went off. A bullet spit from the barrel, straight into Dimitri's head. He fell back, a smile frozen on his dead face for the briefest of seconds before it went slack. "I lied too."