Chapter 98

Nico

We are parked. Sweat is beading at the nape of my neck. My instinct is to get out of the vehicle and run towards Lucky. I want it to be me that saves her. The first face she sees should be mine.

Tony is, however, right. I should refrain from exposing myself to the line of fire and be here for her when they bring her to me. Safely. Time passes slowly even though we have only been stationary for fifteen minutes. Every second I seem to glance at my Rolex on my left wrist.

“Everyone is in place,” Tony tells me.

“How is that even possible without them being detected? From the map it appears this is the only road in.”

“The map isn’t current that we are looking at. Here,” Tony passes me his mobile. “This is the satellite image from further out, from our drone. Here,” he says pointing to what appears to be an unused dirt track. “Is another route in. There is an old, abandoned town the other side of where we are. Two miles out of the buildings. Our team have come in from that side.”

I nod. This is good news. At least they are in undetected. The element of surprise is on our side. “Good. Okay so what are we waiting for then?”

“Patience, Nico. Patience. We need to make sure that Lucky is back inside. You do not want her out in the cross fire.”

“Dammit, this is taking too long.” I feel like punching in the window. It wouldn’t even shatter since it is bullet proof. That isn’t the point, however. Anger makes me irritable and seething from the inside out. Every pore, every cell is cursed with the damnation of Yelena. How dare she have done this to me? Not once, but twice when she had the nerve to take a shot at Lucky and myself back in New York.

There isn’t a thing I can do about it right now. Instead, I continue to watch Lucky on the screen. Yelena is talking to her, and Lucky is staring back her with a hostile look on her face. I hope to God that my woman does not do anything rash or stupid. She will know she can hold her own against a woman like Yelena, but not outsmart four guys who are surrounding her.

I can feel the sweat down between my shoulder blades. “Doesn’t this car have fucking air-conditioning?” I snap unnecessarily at my driver. Instantly, I feel like a shit. It’s not called for. Being rude to my staff is not something I am known for.

“Of course, Boss.” He presses the button and sets the ignition on to power it up quicker.

“Thank you,” I manage to say. Fuck, it isn’t easy being civil when your heart and mind are racing and your woman who you would die for, is in imminent danger.

“If we give Yelena what she wants, she will kill Lucky anyway,” I say as if it isn’t already obvious to Tony. My driver keeps his eyes in front of him not uttering a word. Nor does he show acknowledgement of the conversation I am having with my older brother.

“There is movement, Nico. Do not think like that. We are going to get her out. I promise.” If only I could be a hundred percent certain of this fact. None of us can be. Yelena is obviously unstable. It doesn’t bode well.

“What movement?”

“Two of our team are on the other side of the building where Lucky is being held. We need her inside, dammit.” He rarely loses his cool, but even he is letting his calm exterior slip.

Inhaling deeply, I resign myself to the fact that Lucky will be out for a while longer yet. “Tell them to hold off, we can’t have anything happen whilst Lucky is outside.”

He nods and messages on his mobile whilst I keep an eye on what is happening with Lucky. Thank God there are no patrols on the back of the building. Obviously, Yelena thought I could attend her party, but isn’t smart enough to have surrounding patrol. I wonder about that. Unless she has something else up her sleeve.

“What if she has explosive devices strategically located, Tony? I mean, I gotta ask why hasn’t she got the back of the building manned? Or the exit points? Seems a bit strange to me.”

Tony furrows his brows and wipes sweat away from his forehead with his right hand. “Beats me. I’ll get one of the team to see if they can find anything. To be honest, Brother I do not think she is expecting that we have managed to source her location. It’s not exactly advertised and it has been unused land for over a decade.”

“Maybe,” I say. I’m the kind of man, however, to likes to have every base covered and something about this set up doesn’t smell right to me.

There has got to be something that we are missing. Otherwise, Yelena is making it all too easy for us.

“Something isn’t right, Tony. I’m telling you, Man.” We look at each other.

“This feels like she is leading the lamb to slaughter and waiting for me to arrive!”