Chapter 4

• TERZO
• We arrived in Istanbul the same day as Dani. I knew Ilya gave her the money I told Ilya to give to her with the address where she could lie low. I wanted to get to know her so that she could trust me and convince her to agree with my plan.
• “Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Gio asked again, making my eyes roll.
• “For the last fucking time, yes. This is my nest.” I looked up at the apartment building where she would be staying for a few days. I may not know her, but she could be paranoid and plan to leave as soon as she didn’t feel safe anymore.
• I turned to Marco and Gio as we reached the sixth floor. “Stay right here. I don’t want to frighten her.”
• “Okay, lover boy.” Marco patted my shoulder.
• “Just yell if you need help.” Gio grinned. “She was staying at the most dangerous bratva in Russia. She might learn some survival skills.”
• “He can handle women just fine, Gio. Let’s go. We’ll be down in the car,” Marco said, going back to the elevator.
• I walked towards the next two doors ahead as soon as Marco and Gio got in the elevator. Then I rang the bell.
• I heard footsteps, and a shadow under the door appeared. She was probably waiting for someone behind the door to talk.
• “Dani, open the door. I know you’re in there. I wanna talk. I’m Terzo.”
• A few moments later, the door was ajar and secured with the chain lock, but I could see half of her face. Her eyes widened a little, a color of honey mixed with gray. The image I had didn’t do justice to the woman standing before me. She changed to brunette.
• There were some changes in her face, like she had her face done, but to say the least, she looked nothing like the Giordani. She was gorgeous, but small and fragile.
• “What do you want?” Her voice was soft but steady, but her body was stiff as he looked up at me.
• “Can I come in?” I could just have kicked the door down, but she was already terrified of me.
• “No. I’m not going back to my father.” She tried hard to keep her voice steady, but failed.
• “I’m not taking you to your father, Danielle. I have a plan, but you have to agree with me. I know you don’t trust me, but we can meet somewhere more public.” I laid down straight to my point.
• The door opened slowly, and she kept it open as she stepped aside warily. “Come in.”
• I didn’t bother looking around the apartment. I knew this place. I’d been here a few times, and I still paid the rent.
• “Who are you? Do you work for my father?” She stayed beside the door. I admired her attempt at composure and not falling easily for my words. She could have called the police that there was an intruder in her apartment, she was also smart that I could get inside before the authorities arrived.
• I hadn’t faced her, I had already heard the clicking sound. I didn’t see it coming. Fuck. She found the gun, I did.
• “No.” I raised my hands and turned around. She was pointing a gun– my own gun at my face. And it was loaded. “Put the gun down. Do you even know how to use that thing?”
• “If you’re not working for my father, then who are you?” Her grip wasn’t steady, and that was what worried me. She could accidentally pull the trigger and shoot me. “What do you want from me?”
• “I’m preventing a catastrophe.”
• “What’s that supposed to mean?” When her hand shook, she gripped the gun with both hands. Dani just turned into a captured prey.
• “Can you put that gun down so we can talk like adults, please?” I said calmly, tempted to snatch the gun from her. It would be easy, but sometimes diplomacy worked for someone like Dani, who hadn’t taken a life before.
• “No. Leave me alone.” When she changed her stance and shoved the gun in the air, she intrigued me. It looked like I just misjudged her. This wasn’t the first time she held a gun. “Tell my father I want nothing from him. I’m not marrying another killer. I have a life on my own and I will decide when I can marry and to whom I’m getting married. He hasn't been present all my life, then all of a sudden, he gets the right to dictate to me to marry a stranger. Where was he for the last twenty-three years of my life?”
• “I’m afraid I can’t do that, but if you give me a chance to explain, I promise you, you won’t be getting married to an asshole. You’ll be free from your father’s leash.”
• “Fuck. Shit,” Marco and Gio said in unison. Their eyes were wide as they stared at Dani and were about to pull their guns.
• I didn’t even notice they came back.
• “Don’t.” I raised my hand to warn them. Dani must have gone panicking. Her fear called to her. Her eyes were huge in her heart-shaped face.
• The last thing I heard was the single gunshot, and the excruciating pain pierced through my shoulder.