Aurora
“You know what, we’re going out to lunch. No questions asked. My treat.”
“I don’t feel like it.”
Cara tutted. “Come on. I’ll talk to your guard. He can drive us. It’ll be fun.”
So that was how I ended up in the back seat of a car, dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt, sitting next to a really beautiful woman, being driven across town to a quaint little cafe.
“I will say I need to make a pit stop first. It won’t be long.” She gave directions to my guard, and I sat back, hands on my stomach. “Are you feeling okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“Good. Good. We’re getting so close to Christmas. It’s always a busy time, the festive holidays. Men cannot stand being at home with their women and they come to see me and my girls.”
Cara continued to chat incessantly. I stopped listening, staring out the window at the passing scenery.
The car came to a stop, and I didn’t notice or recognize any of the buildings. Slavik had taken me all over the city to his different venues and enterprises. He was a very rich man and an astute businessman.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Come on.” Cara climbed out of the car.
My guard followed suit as we walked toward the old rundown factory. It wasn’t large, perhaps a two-story building, but on a small scale. The sign on the side had decayed and the paint had chipped away from years of neglect.
Cara opened the door and we entered. The scent of dust filled the air. I spotted a couple of rats up ahead, and I screamed.
The unmistakable sound of a gunshot filled the air, and I spun around to see Cara holding a gun. My guard was dead. The wound to the head had sprayed all over the walls. My stomach instantly recoiled, and I bent forward, vomiting.
“So fucking disgusting.”
I finished throwing up, and Cara grabbed me by my long hair and dragged me through the factory.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
Pain rushed through my head at the grip she had on my skull. None of this made any sense.
Why had she killed my guard?
Had Slavik sent her to kill me?
She threw me across the room, and I hit the side of a table, using my hands to take more of the impact so I didn’t catch my stomach.
“I can’t believe it was so difficult to get to you,” Cara said. “I mean, why you?” She tutted.
Glancing at Cara, I saw she’d led us into a large open space. Several tables looked modern, and I saw paperwork sprawled out. Boards were hung, and I caught pictures of myself, Slavik, and Ivan. Along with notes of locations, times, and then I saw the images of the man who had attacked me the night of the banquet.
Cara smiled. “Yes, look your fill. You really should. After all, your husband is going to find this and everyone is going to know how I stopped you. Of course it will mean an end to the treaty with the Italians, which is fine. They’re easy to stop, and we’ll soon be taking over their turf.” She clicked her fingers.
“What is all of this?” I asked.
“This … this is twenty-plus years of being kept on the bottom. Twenty years of being overlooked. Twenty years of allowing dicks to rule. Not anymore it’s not.”
“You did this?” I asked.
“No, darling, you did. You and your traitorous family. All along, it was a ploy and a game to infiltrate Ivan’s Bratva. To weaken them from within. You, my sweet, arranged for all of the killings. All of the attacks, and you paid for them until you got the one you wanted, Ivan Volkov. Son of a bitch never saw it coming.” Cara tutted. “He should have known not to deal with me, but what can I say? They’re fucking brain dead when it comes to a woman in charge.”
I stood up and looked at all the planning. There was so much detail. After all this time, Cara hadn’t been loyal to them. She’d bided her time until the right moment where she could take them out.
“You were always going to kill Ivan?” I asked.
“Seeing as you’re going to be dead soon, I suppose I can tell you that I never planned to kill Ivan. Not in the beginning. He was a sweet guy, deadly, vicious, and all that, but I liked him. I don’t do love. We had a business arrangement, and I have to say, for the most part, he kept to his side of the bargain.”
“What changed? You got the life you wanted.”
“What changed?” Cara rushed toward me. Her hand suddenly wrapped around my neck. She was so strong, and I held on to her wrist, trying to stop her from choking me to death. “You changed fucking everything. My rightful place was by Ivan’s side. If not his, then Slavik’s. That’s my place, but you, you came along and ruined everything. Then Ivan, he thinks he can marry his men off one by one and nothing would come of it. I saved them on those fucking streets, and now, they’re going to be mine. I’m going to show Slavik what a nasty cunt you are. He’ll want me, and then I’ll be by his side ruling this place as it was meant to be. The new order is not for now. I don’t believe in peace. I want war.”
The Cara I thought I knew was an act. She changed right before my eyes. The violence simmered within her.
“Slavik will never believe you.”
“No?” she asked. “You think he’d believe you after how long he’s known me? You don’t stand a chance, Aurora. I am sorry for all of this. You are a means to an end.”
I stared at Cara, shocked as she raised the gun at me.
She tensed, and I closed my eyes. No bullet came.
“Fuck!”
I had no time to move as the sound of the door being broken in filled the air. Within a matter of seconds, Slavik and his men were there.