Her head jerked to the side. For a moment, everything went dark before my eyes.
I staggered, but the man behind me immediately gripped my elbow roughly and shoved me forward again. Closer to her.
"Control. Focus, Mirey."
"You think you're the smartest bitch here?" Amy hissed, pressing the muzzle of the gun into my chest.
"Even if you calculated everything so perfectly, you still made one mistake. One that will never let you rest," I wiped the blood from my split lip with the back of my hand.
Amy only laughed.
Again.
Far too loudly for a sane person.
"You mean that pathetic FBI woman?" She tilted her head to the side. "So you still haven't understood? That's Theron's problem now, not mine. I only needed his tie."
"What for? Do you think he'll stay with you after this?" I looked straight into her face with mockery.
And that was a mistake.
She hit me again.
This time with her palm.
Sharp. Cruel.
But I did not even stagger.
I only slowly turned my head back and looked at her.
That clearly angered her even more.
"You provincial idiot," Amy nearly spat. "Before sticking your nose into things you don't understand, you could've at least studied their damned customs."
She tightened her grip on the gun nervously.
"That tie will allow me, through the clan, to strip Theron of his status. And once it ends up in my hands — it'll be over for him."
And then everything finally fell into place. Back then, he had already told me that he could not take it off and put it back on like some immature boy. It was a risk.
A risk to his status. To his power. To his position as head of the clan.
And that was exactly why, that evening, Theron had looked so pleased when I took the tie off him in front of everyone.
Theron had always kept me far away from his clan and his family…
Amy seemed to pull herself together.
Just like me, she put a mask of calmness back onto her face.
She slowly walked over to the table and sat on it again, crossing one leg over the other.
"How about you hand me the tie nicely, and I'll let you go," she said, examining her palm after the slap as though her nails concerned her more than the gun in her hand.
"I don't think that's possible," I answered calmly.
"You really are irritating, you know that?"
She waved her hand lazily.
And the next second, the man behind me drove his fist into my stomach.
Pain.
So damn familiar. Almost habitual.
It only forced me to bend in half — nothing more.
I even noticed the brief shock on the guard's face.
He hit me again.
This time harder.
The pain tore through my insides, my legs gave way, and I dropped to my knees.
But I still did not make a sound.
Old habits die hard.
"Dave told me in detail just how well you can endure physical pain. Quite impressive, really. Your stepfather truly did a marvelous job," Amy laughed again. "Shame about that fat bastard. He still could've been useful."
She gestured to the man standing behind her.
He calmly walked out the door.
Into the darkness somewhere.
"Let me guess. You were the one who helped Vel with the video? Or rather, he simply became part of your plan for a good reward?"
I laughed quietly as I slowly rose to my feet.
"Everyone can be bought. Everyone just has their own price."
She tapped her nails impatiently against the table.
And it was exactly then that I noticed movement in the darkness.
The man returned.
And Derek was walking beside him.
Shit.
Shit.
Shit.
Not again.
Not because of me again.
But my face had already settled into its familiar calmness. No surprise. No panic.
Nothing.
"Theron even allowed you to get yourself a lover? God, how low he was willing to stoop for you," the disgust on Amy's face spoke for itself.
And at that moment, I finally understood completely: she had never loved Theron.
Only the power that came with him.
Derek looked at me with his usual calm gaze, as though none of this concerned him at all.
As though he had once again been dragged not to a possible death, but to some boring meeting.
"How are you?" I asked, ignoring Amy.
"I'm fin—"
He never finished.
The guard suddenly kicked him behind the knees, and Derek collapsed onto the concrete with his hands tied behind his back.
"You're both idiots. Do you even understand what situation you're in? And after that you still say everything's fine?" Amy stepped closer and kicked him hard in the stomach.
And that was when something inside me jerked.
Violently.
Far too violently.
The anger I had buried as deeply as possible for years slowly began to rise to the surface.
"I'll repeat myself one last time: I want the tie," her gaze turned rabid again. "Or should I torture your lover first and then kill him right in front of you?"
I closed my eyes.
Just for a second.
Trying to crush down everything that was beginning to tear its way out at the sight of Derek on the floor before this psychopath.
Emotions would not help now.
Then what will help, Mirey?
What?
"You know…" I slowly opened my eyes and became that version of myself again, the one I had lived with for the past years. Cold. Compliant. Empty. "You actually are very smart."
Confusion flickered across Amy's face.
"You really could've been beside Theron if you had truly loved him."
Now she was simply frowning, trying to understand where I was leading this.
"You calculated everything perfectly. Dave. Liana. The workers. The agents. The companies. The clan. For one person, that's colossal work. If Theron understood how intelligent you are, he really would've become interested in you. He's crazy about intelligent women."
"What kind of nonsense are you talking?" she cut in sharply.
"But you still made one mistake."
I looked at Derek.
And unexpectedly saw a smile on his face.
Soft.
Almost warm.
It was tearing me apart from the inside.
"He's not my lover."
I smiled back at him.
"Don't try to play games like that with me. I won't believe it," Amy kicked Derek in the stomach again with the tip of her shoe.
But I still could not take my eyes off him.
And that was what killed me most of all.
I was the reason he was here now.
And yet the relief on his face only became more noticeable.
As though he had been waiting for exactly this.
As though he had finally stopped running.
"We're not lovers," I repeated more quietly now, feeling everything inside me slowly crack apart at the seams. "We're a suicide club."
I truly had been ready for many things.
For pain.
For death.
For torture.
But not for this.
Not for seeing him this calm. I had always thought Derek was stronger than me. But now, looking at him sitting on the floor in front of a murderer, I suddenly realized: no. He had simply been waiting for the end for a very long time.
"What did you say?.." Amy nearly shrieked.
"Yes," Derek's low voice sounded right at her feet. "I'm a person who really wants to die. So do me a favor."
Just like back then.
On the very first day. His voice expressed nothing. No fear. No anger. No pain. Dry. Empty. As though he were talking about the weather.
"You're lying," her eyes practically lit up with madness.
The gunshot.
Derek's scream hit my ears before I even understood what had happened.
I wanted to shut my eyes. Not to see.
But I remained standing there, watching the blood begin to spread across his stomach.
No.
No, this can't be happening.
Amy was screaming something in my direction, but the longer she looked at my face, the more insane she seemed to become.
Because I was not even reacting.
I couldn't.
She suddenly aimed the gun at me instead, but the distance between us was still too great.
And at that moment, another shot rang out.
I felt the man behind me collapse heavily onto the concrete.
A dull thud.
The people around us instantly burst into motion — to the right, to the left, from every side.
I did not even have time to turn around before someone's large body shielded me.
A heavy, familiar scent of cologne.
Theron.
He quickly looked me over without even turning toward Amy.
"Are you alright?"
He was angry.
No.
He was furious.
"Derek…" was all I managed to force out.
Nothing else.
I had no strength left.
Theron finally turned and saw the blood on the floor.
Saw Derek.
"Fuck… Have you completely lost your damn mind?" he snapped sharply at Amy.
"Theron, I did everything for you! I chased after you! I loved you! And you chose this little country bitch… and one with a lover, too! How could you even give her the tie?!"
Now she was trying to look like the victim.
Almost like the heroine of her own sick story.
I tried to step out from behind Theron's back, but he immediately held me back with one arm, continuing to shield me with his body.
Control.
Even now.
"Derek," I repeated again.
Flatly.
He still had a chance.
He had to.
"I just want her to fucking die!" Amy screamed hysterically, and the madness fully returned to her voice.
Theron instantly raised the gun.
"Don't shoot."
I abruptly covered his hand with mine.
And he truly lowered the weapon.
Immediately.
Obediently.
"Don't you dare shoot," I whispered almost into his ear. "Just trust me."
Theron gave his men a short command.
Amy watched it with something close to hatred.
"You've become nothing but an obedient little dog in her hands… God, how disgusting," her condition was worsening rapidly. "I even killed FBI agents, and you still keep running after this whore!"
That was exactly what I needed to hear. She sharply pointed the gun in my direction.
And Theron immediately shielded me with his body.
The gunshot.
His body jerked right there in my arms.
No.
No no no no.
Not him.
"NOW!" I screamed so loudly that my voice cracked while Theron still held me in his embrace.
And another shot rang out.
The world lurched. As though the concrete beneath my feet had suddenly vanished.