Chapter 11 - SURVIVAL AND VALOR
"Mikhail, no!" I sobbed, clutching his coat. "Don't go!"
"I have to end this," he said softly, his voice steady despite the chaos.
"Trust me."
He slipped around the edge of the counter like a shadow.
Outside, the gunfire raged on.
Tear gas flooded the diner, making my eyes burn and my throat sting.
I pulled my shirt up over my nose, crawling on my hands and knees toward the back kitchen door.
Suddenly, the side entrance burst open!
A man in a tactical vest wearing a ski mask kicked his way through the door, holding a shotgun!
He caught sight of me crawling on the floor.
"Got you, sweetheart!" he yelled, raising his weapon!
Panic surged through my veins.
Adrenaline took over.
I reached up, grabbed a heavy cast-iron skillet sitting on the stove ledge, and swung it with all my strength!
CLANG!
The heavy iron caught him directly across the side of his helmet!
He stumbled backward, dazed, dropping his shotgun onto the slick floor.
Before he could recover, Viktor appeared from the hallway.
With lightning speed, Viktor tackled the intruder to the ground, disarming and neutralizing him instantly.
Viktor looked up at me, a look of genuine surprise on his face.
"Nice swing, Miss Elena!" Viktor shouted over the noise.
"Where is Mikhail?!" I yelled back, coughing from the smoke.
"He's pushing them back into the alley!"
Outside, the sound of screeching tires echoed.
Shouts rang out in English and Russian.
Then... three loud, final gunshots echoed through the night.
And suddenly... complete silence fell over the street.
The heavy smoke drifted slowly through the broken windows.
I stood up, trembling violently, holding the heavy pan tightly against my chest.
"Mikhail..." I whispered, running toward the front of the diner.
The glass front was completely destroyed.
Tables were flipped.
Walls were riddled with bullet holes.
Standing in the center of the street, illuminated by the flashing lights of his security vehicles, was Mikhail.
He was holding his weapon downward.
At his feet lay several disarmed attackers.
Surrounding the perimeter were a dozen of Mikhail's men, fully armed and holding the area completely secure.
Mikhail turned around.
When he saw me standing in the ruined doorway, his dark eyes filled with relief.
He holstered his gun and strode toward me quickly.
He pulled me into his arms, crushing me against his chest.
I buried my face in his neck, sobbing uncontrollably as his arms wrapped tightly around me.
"It's over, Elena," he whispered softly into my hair.
"It's over."
"They ruined the diner..." I wept, looking at the destruction behind me.
Mikhail held my face, wiping my tears with his thumbs.
"They tried to take what is mine," Mikhail said, his voice laced with absolute steel.
"Liam O'Connor made his final mistake tonight."
"I promise you, Elena..."
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"He will pay for every broken piece of glass in this building."
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