A/N: Since alerts are sporadic at best, please make sure you have read the past few chapters before reading this one!

*Warning: Violence and death ahead. Strap in, kiddies.

Chapter 30

~Russian Roulette~

And you can see my heart beating
Now you can see it through my chest
Said I'm terrified, but I'm not leaving
I know that I must pass this test
So just pull the trigger

Rhianna ~ Russian Roulette

~*Bella*~

"No!" I cried out, grabbing onto Tony. I looked up into his handsome face, but he wasn't there. His green eyes were cold and dark.

Tony unwound my arms from around his waist and spoke close to my ear. "I need you to do whatever I say. Don't question me. Don't think. Just do."

"Okay," I whispered. Never in my life had I been so afraid.

Alec's voice came through the speaker. "It's game time! Who is going to go first?" The evil delight in his voice made me cringe.

"Why is he doing this?" I whispered.

Tony gave me a hard look. "It doesn't matter. I will not allow you and our baby to die." He took a large step away from me.

Though my instinct was to reach for him, I fought it and obeyed him. I trusted Tony, so I would do my best not to distract him.

"Which of you will go first?"

Tony gazed at the floor for a moment before lifting his head to look up at the camera. "I decline. Bella, cover your ears."

I brought my hands up without thought, and a moment later, there was a loud bang as Tony shot out the camera. The dome shattered, bits of plastic flying everywhere.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Alec's angry voice was muffled by the corrugated metal, but there was no mistaking the fury in it. Something slammed into the door, and it vibrated.

Tony's lips spread into a cold smile. "If you want to kill one of us, you're going to get fucking bloody doing it."

"Kick your weapon over."

Tony did as he was asked. The door rolled up a few inches and Alec snatched the gun.

"Do you have any other weapons?"

"Of course I do, fucker." Tony slipped a small pistol that was strapped to his leg and a switchblade from inside his jacket and tossed them under the door.

"Okay, pick up the revolver, and both of you back away. I'm coming in, but if you make any moves, I'll shoot you both in the head. No second chances."

"Do as he says." Tony grabbed his grandfather's revolver and backed up, tugging me along with him.

Alec ducked under the door with a large semi-automatic in his hand. He could kill us with a spray of bullets in a matter of seconds. He'd go for Tony first and leave me for last.

Tony pushed me behind him, the revolver resting against his thigh. His hand seemed perfectly steady. I couldn't say the same for mine.

"Okay, let's get started."

Tony held the gun to his head and cocked the hammer. "I love you, princess." Taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he pulled the trigger.

Click

It was my turn. I didn't know what to hope for. Did I want to live without Tony? The only reason I would want to be the one to survive is because of our baby.

"Now, Bella," Alec said.

"I'm taking her turn." Tony held the gun to his head again.

"No!" I cried. I was quickly silenced by a fierce glare from Tony.

"As you wish, Edward. I'd expect nothing less from a real man." Alec's voice held grudging respect.

I scrunched my eyes closed. I couldn't bear to watch Tony die in front of me, which probably made me a coward. Prayers filled my mind—that the bullet would be a dud, that someone would come to our rescue, that Alec would die of a sudden aneurysm.

Click

"Alec, I'm curious. Why my grandfather's revolver?"

"I thought you might not get to ask. My father gave it to him. They were very close, you see. Everett Masen was my godfather."

"I didn't know that. Why are you doing this, Alec? Why us? I don't even know you." Tony's voice was calm and well modulated.

In contrast, my knees felt weak, and blood was rushing in my ears. This was personal.

"Exactly. I should have been part of the Masen family, but your father felt threatened by me. Ed and I were close when we were kids. Christ, we were practically brothers. But I rose faster than he did. I was better with weapons, and Everett had me working the street sooner, collecting payments and convincing people it wasn't wise to double-cross the family. Then . . . I met Alina." Alec's tone turned almost wistful. "We had a whirlwind romance and were married within a year. Ed and I were working together at that point, and it was going well until Alina got pregnant. Ed wasn't married and had no heir on the way. He was jealous. He paid a visit to Alina one day, scared the bejesus out of her. He was drunk, talking about how we were trying to steal his place at Everett's side. I went a little nuts, and we had a falling out, but Everett told us to put our differences aside and keep working together. We managed to for a while, but then someone broke into my house and executed Alina. She bled out on the floor, where I found her. Your father had an alibi—he was with me—but I knew what he did. Everett told me to get over it and move on, saying it must have been a rival family. When I confronted Ed, he fucking smirked at me! That's when I broke away from the Masens. I took high-paying jobs for difficult kills and earned a reputation, becoming the most sought-after assassin in the industry. I was loyal only to myself and the jobs I took."

My heart broke for his wife and child. "My God, I'm so sorry." I moved to stand next to Tony so I could see Alec. He had a faraway look in his eyes. How very sad that he had a wife he loved and a child on the way, and it was all ripped out from under him.

Alec's dark eyes flicked my way, his face twisted with hate, but when he saw my eyes shining with tears, his expression softened. "Thank you, Bella. I believe you mean that."

"I do. What happened to you is terrible."

Tony nodded. "It was, but why us—why now?"

Alec gestured to my belly with the barrel of his gun. "Bella got caught in the Masen web. The Masens are cursed as are the people who love them. There's only one thing that would hurt Ed more than taking his wife and unborn child—taking his heir. I swore to end the Masen line. You happen to be the first to produce an heir."

"But you swore you would let Bella live!"

"And I will keep my word." Alec looked at me. "But you must remain dead, Bella. There will be no Masen heir. Start over somewhere away from this life, but if you ever come forward, the deal is off."

"Agreed." Tony answered before I had a chance to consider the offer. He turned to me and cupped my cheek in his palm. "I love you, princess. I would gladly give my life for you and our child. Promise me you will leave here and never return."

I nodded, unable to speak, the words lodged in my chest like a ball of ice. For a moment, his eyes went soft, and he was just Tony. This caused the dam to burst, and tears streamed down my face.

I looked at Alec. "Please don't do this! Think of what was taken from you. Let us go, and we'll both disappear."

Alec shook his head. "Can't do that. A price must be exacted. Be thankful I'm allowing Edward to make the choice who dies." He gestured with his gun. "Get on with it."

Tony didn't bother trying to plead with Alec. I think he knew it was useless.

My tears fell faster, turning to sobs. The baby kicked, and I pressed a palm to my stomach, sobbing harder. A deep shame swept over me. I should be strong for Tony. After all, he was sacrificing his life for ours. "I-I'm sorry I can't be brave for you."

He put the revolver down and pulled me against him. His heart was beating so hard, I feared it might explode. Pressing a kiss to my temple, he whispered, "You're everything, princess. Don't ever for a moment have any regrets. I will always love you, even from beyond the grave."

He kissed me then, and it felt like goodbye. I held onto his shirt and pressed my forehead to his chest.

"Pick up the gun and finish this." Alec's voice was soft but firm.

I pushed away all the pleas I wanted to make and prayed to a God I never paid attention to. I was the worst Catholic I knew. Why should He answer my prayers now?

Tony pushed me behind him once more and faced Alec, bringing the gun to his head. "Close your eyes, princess."

I did as he asked.

He pulled the trigger.

BANG

There was a thud. Silence. I fell to my knees and wrapped my arms around myself, rocking.

A gurgling whistle came from nearby, and I opened my eyes.

Tony was still on his feet.

Smears of red were splattered across the wall, and I tried to make sense of what I was seeing. I lurched to my feet.

Alec was on the ground. Half of his jaw was missing, and the whistling sound was him trying to breathe. Tony shot him!

Tony looked my way. "It's going to be okay, princess."

Alec crawled across the floor, reaching for his gun.

"No!" I slid my hand along the seam of my jeans, locating the knife Angela insisted I keep hidden on me. Alec had searched me for large, obvious weapons, but he'd missed the small dagger.

I had only one shot at this. I grasped the dagger by the tip and flicked it just the way I'd been practicing. The blade lodged deep in Alec's right eye, and his hand opened involuntarily, allowing the gun to clatter to the floor. The whistling sound stopped, and he collapsed, now motionless.

Tony's eyes were wide but shining with pride. He grabbed me and crushed me to him so tightly it knocked the breath from my lungs. I held onto him just as hard, digging my nails against his back.

"Christ, princess! How did you . . . where did you learn that?"

"Angela's been teaching me. She insisted knife throwing was an important skill."

He kissed the top of my head. "Remind me to thank Angela. Great fucking throw. A second later, and I would have been toast."

I took a few deep breaths before pulling back to stare up at Tony. "Are you crazy, by the way? How did you know the gun would go off that time? If he figured out what you were up to, he would have shot you before you could reload!"

"Lucky for me, Alec used my grandfather's gun. There's a slightly discernible change in sound when a bullet enters the chamber. I learned to shoot with that gun, and I knew when it was time. I only had a split second to make the shot. If he figured it out, he would have killed us both."

I pressed my cheek to his chest and sobbed uncontrollably for a long time. My system was overloaded by all the adrenaline and fear released into my bloodstream during the whole ordeal. Tony held me in his arms, rubbing my back, and kissed away my tears. He didn't try to stop the onslaught of my emotions; he was just there, willing to take it all.

When my sobs slowed, Tony cupped my face. "We need to get out of here. I don't think Alec is working with anyone, but we don't know for sure."

Placing the revolver back in the velvet lined box, Tony grabbed it and pulled me from the room. He located his spare pistol and the knife, deftly putting them back where they belonged. The wet, sucking sound the dagger made when Tony yanked it out of Alec's eye made me gag, but I managed not to throw up. He wiped it clean on Alec's shirt before rolling the door shut so the body was concealed. He checked his phone, but there was no signal in the building.

"Stay right behind me."

We walked through the maze of storage units stealthily. Tony led with his gun, clearing each hall before we entered it. After a few wrong turns, we finally found the exit. The cool, damp night was a balm to my heated skin. I took several deep breaths. Though I'd only been held captive by Alec for hours, it felt like days had gone by.

Tony walked around with his phone until it received a signal. He texted back and forth with someone before making a call.

"Cricket, I need cleaners sent to an abandoned storage facility. I'll send you a pin. The waste to be picked up is in unit fifty-nine. They need to send two guys and something big and thick to pack the garbage in." He listened, nodding his head. "Perfect. Yeah, we're all safe. The Shadow has been eliminated. We need to have a conversation about him at some point. See you soon."

A car careened into the empty parking lot, heading straight for us. Emmett's big head popped out of the driver's side window. "Thank God! I was going crazy!" He pulled up to the curb. "Let's go! Before something else happens."

Tony climbed into the back seat with me and held me close. I wouldn't have asked him to sit with me, but I was relieved when he did. We came so close to losing each other today, and I wanted nothing more than the security of being wrapped in his embrace.

"What the hell happened in there, E?"

Tony gave Emmett a general rundown of the events and how he'd tricked Alec. "We've got a problem though, Em. Dad has been lying to us about more than business dealings, and I'm afraid there might be more skeletons in his closet that might jump out to bite us."

"What are you talking about?"

"Our grandfather was Alec's godfather. This gun"—Tony held up the wooden box—"was a gift to Everett Masen from Alec's father. The reason Alec took Bella is because of what our father had someone do to his wife and child. Alec was part of the Masen family, and because of Father's scheme, he turned into a deadly assassin and almost killed my reason for living."

"Fuck. This is some serious shit. Dad has a lot of explaining to do!"

"No, he doesn't. Not yet. More than ever, I want to keep it a secret that Bella's alive—and carrying the heir to the Masen and Volturi families."

~*oOo*~

A/N: I've had this part of the story planned for a long-ass time! I happened to be listening to Rhianna's song Russian Roulette one day, and this whole scene with Alec forcing Tony and Princess to play the game played out in my head. I've been dying to write it ever since, and I hope it measured up. We still have a way to go in this story, as long and wordy as it is...cough. Would love to hear your thoughts!

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