Getting around the pool table and staying out of Kostya's line of sight are quickly proving impossible. Mary Anne draws her own gun and fires under the table, her shot clipping Kostya's knee.

He curses, dropping to the floor; Mary Anne scrambles around the table and kicks his gun out of reach. Kostya reaches out and grabs her by the ankle, yanking her down beside him. She shouts in surprise, kicking for his face, but he ducks out of the way. Hauling against her leg to help himself sit up, he punches her hard enough to make her ears ring.

"Why do you have to be so angry, pretty girl?" he murmurs, while Mary Ann blinks dazedly. "All your showing off...We could have had some fun, you and I; we still might, after Anton kills your friend.."

Julian's knife drops smoothly from her sleeve into her hand and she lunges to bury it in Kostya's throat. "We could have," she replies, voice barely louder than the breath and blood hissing out through Kostya's neck. "But who ever said I was showing off for you?"

She jerks the knife one more time, then pulls it free as Kostya falls back. She wipes the knife clean on the dead man's pant leg, then rolls to grab her gun and see what's become of the guy she downed earlier.