Chapter 14 - CheckmateViktor glared at Cassian, blood dripping from a shallow cut on his cheek.
"You think killing me ends this, Thorne?" Viktor hissed.
"The Bratva will send a hundred men tomorrow."
"Let them come," Cassian replied coldly.
He pulled the trigger, putting a single bullet through Viktor Volkov's skull.
The Russian kingpin collapsed onto the ruined Persian rug.
The war was effectively over.
Cassian lowered his weapon, his chest heaving as the adrenaline slowly began to fade.
He turned to look at Elena, who was calmly ejecting the spent shells from her shotgun.
She looked entirely unbothered by the carnage surrounding them.
"You didn't stay in the garage," she noted, looking up at him.
"I don't take orders well," he replied, a faint smirk returning to his face.
He walked toward her, closing the distance until they were only inches apart.
He reached out, gently wiping a smudge of gunpowder soot from her cheek with his thumb.
Elena stiffened slightly, unaccustomed to such a gentle touch after a lifetime of violence.
"Thank you, Elena," Cassian said softly, his dark eyes filled with genuine gratitude.
"You saved my empire."
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"I was just doing my job, Mr. Thorne," she replied, her heart beating slightly faster.
"I think your job description just changed," he murmured.
