Page 162 of Capuleto

There was no trace left of that beloved brother I had preserved in my mind. My heart told me he was now the enemy.

"Let her go!" Romeo shouted, walking towards us and aiming his weapon. My eyes searched his, and I prayed not to see contempt in his gaze. I only found determination and thirst for blood. At least, he hadn't shot. Did that mean he still didn't want to hurt me?

Yuri used me as a shield and forced me to stand in front of him.

“Well, well, well… Are you still alive, bastard?”

“You didn't think I was going to make it that easy for you.”

Cheng was on the ground, still alive, but all she could do was press the wound on her neck to avoid bleeding out. She crawled towards a corner out of Yuri's reach.

“Didn’t we agree to face each other alone? Are you hiding behind a woman again?”

“I already told you I'm not an idiot and I'll do whatever it takes to survive.”

“Leave her and face me like a man.”

“No,” he clicked his tongue. “My sister and you will never play happy couples again, better dead than with you,” Yuri snapped, turning me to headbutt me.

I howled in pain. He had hit me hard on the forehead. His weapon pressed against my temple, my head was throbbing, and I was panting, looking for a small gap to take control.

He turned me around again so that my husband could see my expression of pain. Yuri was enjoying it.

I noticed the side of his shirt was stained red. Damn! Yuri had hit him. I hoped it was just a scratch and that it hadn't affected any organs.

“Kill him!” I spat. I felt dizzy from the blow, but still, I tried not to let him notice. My eyes searched for the darkness in his. R seemed to hesitate about whom I was referring to, whether to him or my brother. “Amore,” I used our word to clarify it, “finish Yuri, avenge everything he has done to us and forget about everything else,” I pronounced softly.

“You bitch! What I've done to you?! I wanted to give you a kingdom!” he accused me.

“There is no kingdom without a queen who wants to rule. The best place for you is hell, you are not the Yuri I knew, maybe you never were, and that brother only existed in my imagination. If I had a weapon like you, I would give you the coup de grace myself.”

“Ungrateful dirty woman. With everything I've done for you.”

“You for me?! I've only been a means to your end, I never really counted for you or for dad, now I know. Shoot him, Romeo!” I incited my husband.

“If you shoot, she dies,” my brother warned him without a tremor in his voice.

“And if you don't shoot, we both die,” I counterattacked. “Do it, don't even consider obeying, don't care what might happen.”

“Why?” R questioned, focusing all his attention on me.

“Because I was wrong, because I should have told you the truth as soon as Yuri revealed his plans to me. Because with all the smartness I think I have, I should have seen that I never mattered to him; instead, you only needed two weeks to give me what he denied me all his life.”

“You ungrateful bitch,” Yuri spat, hitting my side and momentarily lowering his weapon to silence me. Romeo took a step towards me, but he stopped him by aiming at me again. “Don't you dare move.”

“R, you have always respected me and given me wings to be myself. And because of that, if I have to choose, I choose you over me, and I think it's the first time I feel this strange need to be generous enough to cross that limit. Take advantage now because I doubt it will happen again.” My heart was racing, perhaps this was the last chance I had to make him understand my feelings towards him, I wasn't going to waste it. At least, I would leave this world knowing I had told him what I wanted. “No one has made me feel more valid, loved, and capable than you, so I owe you. And I swear if I manage to stay in this world, I won't have enough days in the calendar to show you how sorry I am.”

“Shut up already, Kalinka, you sound like a cheap soap opera actress,” he spat.

“Listen to me,” I murmured, ignoring my brother so that Romeo would focus his attention on me. “Use all that hatred you feel for everything I’ve done to make sure my bastard brother ceases to exist, you owe it to yourself.” I was really convinced of what I was saying to him. “Shoot, amore, he deserves it.”

"You disgust me, Kalinka! You have become weak, cowardly, and sentimental! You didn't deserve the space I wanted to give you. Father always said, women are only good for fucking, raising children, and having a Visa. Pretending otherwise is a waste of time."

"And what the hell do you know? You're scum, Yuri, a miserable piece of shit with delusions of grandeur."

"Shut up, stupid bitch! I won't let you keep talking, your moment of glory ended a long time ago."

My brother wanted to drag me towards the door, using the same tactic as in the hospital. I couldn't let him go through it. Romeo was aiming at him, moving cautiously, but still not shooting, and that wasn't good.