Page 135 of Capuleto

I tried to keep moving, almost reaching the second floor. I sighed, trying to catch my breath. Each step was getting harder. Both the descent and my own existence.

If I had learned anything, it was that life wasn't meant to be viewed as a work of art on display in a museum, but to feel each one of its edges; some sharp and others surprising.

I realized that I was too focused on the past. I got wrapped up in a vengeance that clouded my present, knocking out my future possibilities.

For the first time, I felt fear that my actions had eliminated any chance of recovering the only person who had shown me absolute loyalty.

To Romeo, I was his priority; he even faced his family for me. My eyes burned. The first tears fell heavily down my cheeks. I had failed the only one who saw and accepted me as I was, who didn't want to change me, who was able to love what others hated, each one of my flaws, the monster that many considered me to be.

I had managed to place myself on the other side of the line from Romeo, just like everyone else. There wasn't a trace of the love he had once professed for me, only hatred towards the woman who had betrayed him. Who could blame him?

I had been a fool, allowing my brother to manipulate me at will. I, who prided myself on being a woman of steel, had become clay in his hands.

Koroleva, the first female vor v zakone in Russian history, had gone from queen to pawn on the board.

"Get down, for fuck's sake!" Yuri roared threateningly. I hadn't moved forward, I was suspended in nothingness, my body stiff with reproach.

I looked up. Our pupils clashed. I may have lost the game, but I wasn't going to withdraw no matter how fucked up the conflict was. This was war, and the last one standing won. I never gave up; that option was excluded from my life.

I clung to the feeling that not everything was lost yet, that as long as my lungs kept inflating me with oxygen and my heart kept pumping blood, I would keep going, fueled by the most powerful force in the universe, the love I felt for Romeo.

I wasn't going to give up, not yet. Yuri was right about that. I wasn't raised to be a loser. I would fight until all my strength left me, and if I finally lost, no one could say I had chickened out like a coward.

I reached for the next section when I realized that my willpower wasn't enough.

My arms refused to hold me. A dizziness overcame me that I couldn't control. My fingers ignored the command my brain was shouting; it was useless to beg my body to hold on a little longer.

I opened my eyes in fright when I felt myself falling into the void.

55

In cahoots

Andrey

The bullet that was fired from the gun shattered the ICU window, the projectile was deflected by one of the shards, and instead of piercing his carotid artery as I had calculated, it only wounded him in the shoulder.

I didn't want to waste time crossing the ICU to exit the way I had entered. I went straight to the broken glass frame, gathered momentum, and jumped through it.

My clogs sank into the pile of shards; luckily, I didn't lose any in the jump.

Yuri's thug pulled out his gun and fired as he rushed through the door leading to the emergency stairs.

The bullet chipped part of the plaster from the hallway wall, causing no other damage. Alarmed voices were shouting for help. There was no doubt someone would call the police. Considering how close the station was, they wouldn't take long to arrive. I had to deal with this guy before they did.

I ran, reaching the same spot as him. Fresh blood droplets marked the path to follow. It's much easier to track an injured person on tiles than through foliage.

A second shot aimed at me. This time, it was close; the problem was that the stairs didn't provide a complete view. He was clearly intending to reach the underground parking lot because he didn't stop descending. One more floor, and we would reach level -1.

I had to take him down, get rid of the clothes I was wearing, and head to the cafeteria before it was too late.

The entrance hinges squeaked. Yuri's man slipped into the parking lot, and I pulled the door down. A bullet embedded itself in the metal sheet, sinking into the exact spot where my head should have been.

"Amateur…" I thought to myself.

I hadn't pretended to enter; I just wanted to see the trajectory of the shot I knew he would fire to gauge his position. That's how I knew where that rat wanted to escape to.

The second time I pushed the door, I did so while firing.