Page 109 of Maksim

“Why would we do that?” the woman with the gun corrects.

Henrietta looks like she wants to roll her eyes, but she’s hesitant. She looks back at me. “We weren’t expecting to have you, Maksim. I was hoping you would have found them here, mutilated beyond recognition, and blamed it on the boy you seemed to hate so much. I went through all the trouble to secure a solid alibi and everything.”

“You put a hit on Elira’s family, you bitch. I was already looking for you.”

Her eyebrows raise. She looks between me and Elira.

She had no idea how much Elira means to me.

I may have just fucked up. Not that things could get much worse.

“Are you in love with your whore?” The woman behind me laughs.

Henrietta smiles. “That’s … sweet.” Her eyes move to Anya. “Is it because you know what it’s like to be a whore, Maksim? Were you Anya’s mother’s whore? She looks an awful lot like you. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you are blood related, just not brother and sister.”

My hands tremble with rage before I clench them into fists. I don’t know who I’m angrier for, Anya or Elizabeth. “Shut up.”

“Tell your sister the truth,” Henrietta snaps. “Tell her who she is to you.”

“She knows who she is to me.”

“Liar,” the woman behind me sneers. She presses the barrel up against the back of my head and bends to hiss in my ear. “Tell her what her parents did to you.”

I’m quiet for a moment while I stare at an anguished, scared Anya. This is nothing but a cruel game to these women. Nothing but a show. This doesn’t even have to do with Elira. Isn’t even a punishment for me.

They’re demanding I unlock secrets I’ve kept Anya’s entire life to protect her, all so she can suffer before they put a bullet in her head to get on to the main event.

I’m going to kill them for this. I don’t know how I’ll do it yet, but I’ll do it.

In the meantime… I have to keep them talking.

“You really want to know?”

Anya cringes like I’ve raised a fist to her, and after letting out a muffled cry, she nods.

“Your parents gave me you. That’s what they did to me. That’s all that matters. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

The woman growls, unhappy with my response. “You wouldn’t change it for anything?”

I don’t hesitate. “No.”

“Let’s test that,” Henrietta says, her face brightening. She nods at Anya. “Choose who dies first. Your sister or your love.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Sister it is.” The gun leaves my head, and I turn to watch it point at Anya.

“Stop.” I reach for it, but the woman yanks it back.

“Choose.”

I face forward, my heart hammering in my chest. My brain doesn’t even consider this a choice. Instead, it works to find a weapon, a solution, something to stop this.

I have to stop this.

“Who’s it going to be, Maksim?” Henrietta asks, the knife firm against Elira’s throat.

Neither.