Chapter 45—Aiden

I race forward down the wide stone floor corridor with Massimo at my side and the men in tow. Dominic is in our ears, guiding us to where we need to go.

When we first arrived, we launched a surprise attack on the guards at the gate. They never saw us coming and never had a hope in fuck of saving themselves.

When the gates opened for us, we rushed in like an army from hell, a mixture of men from the Bratva, the Italian mafia, and Ramirez’ cartel. Deadly and vicious.

Mercy a myth to us.

We split into four groups to attack the place and eliminate anyone in our path while Eric clears the way. Those men will just be focused on taking down the guards while our group will rescue.

We’re going down to where Eric is first in the underground facility because it’s easier to go up to the rest of the house from there. That’s where Aleksei and Olivia are.

Before we left the house, we had a good look around the place.

We saw Eric first, down in the lab-like facility in the basement that looked like something from a superhero film. I saw Aleksei next, sitting with Jeshero in a living room watching TV.

My blood boiled as I watched the man tending to my son like he had permission to do so. It made me think of how he’d grown up, and Jeshero got to see every precious moment a parent should witness in their child’s life.

When they first walk, when they first talk, when they first start to show who they are. That man had it all. Bad enough, he was part of a plot that killed his daughter, but he took away everything else from me too.

I fucking want it back, and they will all pay for what they did to me in the past and for what they’re doing now.

For Ilya’s death and taking Olivia.

I found her last because she was on the third floor. She was sitting in a room by herself. Sitting on the floor again, badly beaten. Beyond the bruises, I saw that lost look in her eyes, and I knew she’d given up.

The state of her face was enough to seal Jude’s fate. The black and blue bruises accompanied by the swelling on her face stoked the furnace of vengeance inside me. My legs carry me forward with the thirst for blood racing through my veins.

“Guys, it looks like Jude knows you’re here,” Dominic’s voice booms in my earpiece. Then as if on cue, alarms start going off around the building. “He just killed Jeshero. He put Olivia in a room, and now he has Aleksei.”

“Fuck,” I sneer. “That fucking bastard, what’s he doing now?”

I fucking wanted to kill Jeshero myself, but that’s not even an issue now. Jude has my son and is no doubt going to use him against me in some way.

“They’re heading down the corridor on the third floor. Keep going down the path and turn left, there’s a door there. That’s where you’ll find Eric. It’s still quicker to get to them from there.”

We follow his instructions, but when we rush up a set of steps, a group of guards meet us. Before we can pull the triggers on our guns, bullets fly from the sides of the walls on either side, taking them all down.

Eric wasn’t joking when he said he would clear the path. He has and continues to do so.

We rush past the dead bodies and stop in the annex that’s supposed to lead down to the labs. The door Dominic spoke about is ahead.

Once we open it, I see Eric Markov.

His hair is past his shoulders, and he has a full beard that makes him look older, but it’s him. He’s sitting at a desk wearing a black t-shirt and slacks.

Beside him are a row of computers and a big machine that looks like what hospitals use for an MRI scan.

“My God,” he rasps, looking at us.

“Eric Markov,” Massimo says with a nod. “Good to meet you, friend.”

“Likewise to all of you and thanks,” Eric looks from him to me.

“We can all say thanks later,” I cut in. “Jude knows we’re here.”

“Then you need to move fast. I will stay here and continue clearing the path,” he suggests.

“I think we need to get you out,” Massimo replies.

“No, they have my sister. I have to save her, and this is the best way I know unless it’s to go with you. Either way, I’m not leaving without her.”

And neither am I.

“Then you stay here,” I tell him.

“I can tap into Dominic’s frequency so you can hear me too if I talk to you.”

“Alright, let's go.”

I move first, going through the set of double doors across from us. They lead out to a fire escape, and that is what will take us straight to where we need to be.

We run up the steps to the third floor and go through the doors that lead out to the main section, where a group of motherfuckers rushes us with guns.

“Guys, there are more of them coming,” Dominic warns, and more men come.

We all shoot and fight, but there are too many. Soon we’re in a cacophony of fists and bullets flying.

“Aiden, Jude is going down to the engine room,” Dominic blurts. “Get over there. It’s to the left, by the last double doors. I don’t know what he’s up to. He has a gun.”

“Go,” Massimo bellows. “I’ll cover you.”

On his word, I run, going the way Dominic said. It’s at the fucking end of the corridor. I run down the length, pushing with all my might. Jude has a gun out, and he has my son. There’s only one fucking thing he means to do.

When I reach the double doors, I kick them in and run into what looks like a factory-style engine room. Like the rest of the place, it looks like something that was just added on for convenience. The room looks like a warehouse with multilayer and tall, powerful metal machines that do fuck knows what.

Two guards head for me when they see me, and I shoot them, along with the other three that run up the stairs to my right.

Gunfire explodes below, and when I reach the balcony, I see Eric must have done the same thing he did with the walls because there are dead guards on the floor, but no one pulled the trigger.

“Where is Jude, Dominic?” I ask.

“Keep going up the stairs. I think he’s heading to the roof. Don’t let him get there.”

“He won’t get there,” another voice cuts in. It’s Eric.

A moment later, the distinct sound of doors locking with automatic bolts fill the room. The shutters come down on the floor below, and just above me, I see Jude with Aleksei.

“Fucking bastard, let my son go,” I shout, aiming the gun for his head.

Jude laughs, and the evil bastard places the gun at my boy’s head.

“I don’t think so, Aiden Romanov,” he snarls. “I was going to throw him from the rooftop, of course, that would only be if you didn’t agree to my terms. I can still make the deal here.”

“What deal?”

“A trade. Eric Markov, for your son and Olivia. Call him off, and I’ll give you both of them.”

He won’t. Villains never do. They will always be villains, and no one can bargain with them.

He knows he holds everything that’s precious to me in his hands, so I’m vulnerable to agree. The fucker must also think I’m stupid because I know he’d never give up Olivia.

He wouldn’t go through all of this and just hand her over in exchange for her brother.

“I don’t make deals with people I don’t trust. Nor, those who schemed to take everything from me.”

“Fucking bastard,” he hisses. “You’re going to stand there and talk about people taking things from you. Let me enlighten you, motherfucker. Your father took away our livelihood and with that, the woman I loved.”

“You have a strange way of treating those you supposedly love.”

“Fucking shut up. Gabriella was supposed to be mine. Jeshero promised her to me long before she met you. We had a business alliance that would benefit us both. But when your father ended business with us, everything fell apart for all of us.” He pauses for a moment, moving closer to the balcony rail and tightening his grip on Aleksei. I continue to aim, looking straight at Jude to see if I can get an opening to take a shot, but there’s none.

“I lost out on a million dollar contract with the Syndicate. They pulled the deal just on your father’s word because he didn’t like the way we did business. Jeshero wasn’t allowed to hold his end of the deal because your father knew you loved Gabriella,” he adds with disgust.

“I’m sure my father had his reasons for cutting you loose like the dog you are.”

“I don’t care if you think I’m a fucking dog. I ended up with better opportunities when I started working for the Order, and I grew from strength to strength. Your father was a dictating asshole who kept people under his thumb. That’s why Jeshero helped us. He knew he couldn’t get further in the Bratva because those roles would always be filled by the Romanov men. So when your father told him, his trusted friend, what you did, believing he was protecting you, Jeshero used the knowledge of your mistakes to our advantage. He knew I was part of the Order, and when I did well, he’d do well. He was always better off with me.”

I was right. What I thought happened is exactly what happened. Now all the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together to form the picture.

“You talk like you won. Gabriella died that night, not me.”

He laughs, and it infuriates me. “My heart is full for her, but I still got to be a leader in the Order. You no longer mattered to me because Gabriella was dead, and you destroyed yourself in your grief. I kept Jeshero and provided him protection because he was an asset to the Order and an asset to me.”

“Until you killed him,” I point out. Even from here, I can see how shocked he looks at my knowledge of that.

“Looks like you know all.”

“I know enough.”

“I killed him because of his love for your son. It stood in my way, and I won’t risk Eric Markov for a foolish old man who is no longer useful to me. Just like your father, he opened doors for me.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you just give me back my son?” I bellow.

“It would have been too suspect to hand over the boy. Jeshero also wanted to keep the boy because he was the last piece of his daughter.”

“The daughter he killed.”

“The woman you killed.” He corrects me, and the sting of guilt bites me. “This is still on you, Aiden Romanov. Your greed got you here. You were going to be punished the moment Igor found out you were responsible for losing him so much money. I merely saw an opportunity and took it. The same way I did when I met the Markov's. Eric Markov has been a major asset to the Order for the last five years, and even before that, when I recruited him. I was rewarded handsomely. I own him, and I’m not about to allow anybody to mess with my plans.”

“He won’t give you your son back,” Eric mutters in my ear.

“I know,” I answer, under my breath. “I need something to get him away from Aleksei.”

“I have an idea, be ready to move when it happens.”

I fucking hope it works. The conversation has run out, and I’ve got nothing else up my sleeves.

“I need your answer, Aiden,” Jude calls out, but I keep quiet and chance a glance at my son.

His eyes, like Gabriella’s, plead with me to save him, and he feels like my redemption if I can get to him.

Once again, I’m near but so far away, and now more than ever, I have to focus because this is my chance to be his father.

It’s my one shot. Whatever happens after this will be defined by what I do now.

So I have to be ready for whatever Eric does to help me.

“Now,” Eric blurts, and suddenly a loud explosion rocks the room. It comes from beneath us, and fire lifts past me in one big whoosh.

I don’t pay attention to it. Through the flames, I see my opening when the sound makes Jude jump, and I fire a shot that gets him in his chest.

He drops the gun and releases Aleksei.

“Aleksei, run!” I call out, and he does. He runs right down the path they’d been pursuing before.

Jude tries to go after him, but he drops to the ground.

I rush to the corridor I’m on and take the metal stairs three at a time to get to the level he’s on.

When Jude sees me coming, he tries to back away, but I got him good.

Just this morning, I told Olivia to aim for the head. That’s how we’re all trained for survival.

Aim for the head. I aimed for his chest, right near his heart, where Maksim got shot.

That is what you do when you want your victim to die slower or when you have more punishment to dole out like what I have in mind.

“That was for Maksim,” I begin, and he looks stunned at the sight of the blood gushing from his chest.

I walk up to him and shoot his thigh the way I did his guard the other week. I just want him to stop moving so he can pay attention to me. Jude howls with pain, and the sound bounces off the walls. I crouch down and stare him in the eyes.

“That was for this pissing contest. Obviously, my dick is bigger than yours.”

At the mention of dick, I shoot his next and the sound pouring from him is like a wounded animal in the jungle that’s just been caught in a trap.

“That was for Gabriella and Olivia. A real man does not have to rape a woman. If she begs you to stop, you fucking stop, and you don’t take or fucking keep pictures of little girls on your computer, you fucking pervert.” I shoot him again, and his body goes limp. “You will never do that to anybody’s child ever again, and you won’t get the chance to touch my girl either, ever.”

“Yours?” His voice is barely audible as his head flops onto the ground.

“Mine.”

I fire another shot in his heart, and I’m glad he’s still alive to feel the pain. “That is for taking my son.”

One last bullet leaves my gun, and it lodges in his head. “That is for Ilya. The last man I could call father.”

Jude is dead now, he probably died moments after the bullet to his heart, but I keep going until I empty my gun.

One shot after another pours into Jude’s head until all that’s left is a pulverized mess.

It was like everything I’ve been through for the last nine years was put into my revenge.

I’m still worked up, and I could have kept going, but the sound of a child whimpering makes me lift my head.

It’s then I realize it’s my child. The son I searched for, for so long and spent every waking hour thinking about.

He ran to the door, but it’s closed, and he’s hunched in the corner crying.

I leave Jude and go over to him.

Crouching down again, I reach for him, and it means everything when he comes to me and wraps his little arms around my neck.

In my mind, I remember holding him that night, hours before I lost him.

Now I have him again.

“It’s okay, son. You’re safe with me. I’m your father, and I will always, always take care of you.”

We pull apart, and I stare at him.

“You understand me?”

“I do.”

Another explosion echoes from beneath us, and fire billows up once more, bigger and hotter. So fucking hot my hair singes.

“Guys, the place is gonna blow,” Eric says in a hurried, panic-stricken voice. “The first explosion took out the safety on the gas chamber, and the fire is spreading. I’m unlocking the door beside you. Get out of there now.”

I grab Aleksei’s hand as the door clicks open, and we rush outside onto a metal fire escape.

When it starts shaking, I pick him up and run with him. It was a good thing I did that because just then, a massive explosion knocks us off the stairs and sends us flying through the air.

All I can do is hold Aleksei as he screams and cover him from the flames that chase us.

I hold him tight, so when we land, I take the horrendous impact, and he’s on top of me.

My fucking body feels shattered, but I check him to make sure he’s okay.

“Are you hurt?”

“Just my arm, but I’m okay.”

I look up at the flames pouring through the blown-out wall. Jesus, had he fallen from so high, he’d be dead.

As I watch the flames spreading over the building, I think of Olivia and grab Aleksei.

“Let’s go.”

I have to get him to safety, then either check with the others she got out or go back in for her. We’re at the very back of the building, so we run around the corner that should lead us to the front where I first entered.

We move, racing against the ever-growing fire.

I can hear Dominic or Eric trying to talk to me through the receiver, but my earpiece must have been damaged in the fall.

When we get to the side of the building, I see Massimo and Eric. There are some of the men there too. No sign of Olivia, though.

“Where’s Olivia?” I shout.

“She’s still in the building,” Eric replies.

Massimo opens his mouth to speak, but another explosion steals his next words. The impact is so intense it knocks us off our feet.

I look back in horror as sections of the building start collapsing, and fire consumes it. I know fire like that. It’s scorching and infernal. Designed to kill.

Kill whoever gets trapped inside.

Olivia’s in there. This can’t be happening to me again.

“Jesus Christ,” Massimo says.

“Take my son, Massimo,” I say. “I’m going back in.”

“Aiden, you can’t.”

“Don’t you dare say that to me.”

“I’m coming with you,” Eric cuts in.

“No. Just me. I’m not risking both of us. She wouldn’t want you to. Not after she’s been through so much to save you.”

That shuts him up. The only person I look at is Aleksei.

“I will be back. I promise.” And that promise means I have to come back.

He nods and lets go of my hand.

I leave them and rush to the front entrance this time.

“Dominic, can you hear me?” I try because any assistance would be extremely helpful right now. I have no idea where Olivia is.

Dominic answers, but his voice doesn’t come through.

I’m fucked if I can’t find Olivia. We’ll both die.

I rush to the courtyard to try and find a door that’s not consumed by fire.

“Aiden!” Olivia shouts. “Help me.”

I look up to see her looking down at me through the window on a bedroom on the third floor.

I’m transported back nine years ago, and I could be staring at Gabriella with her long black hair flowing out behind her.

Today I’m looking at Olivia, and her white hair swirls around her like a cape. Smoke surrounds her, and the air from the window is the only thing that’s keeping her going.

“I’m coming,” I call back and look at the only entrance I see. It’s an opened door with fire flowing from it.

That is my way in.

That is the only way.

Throwing my jacket around me, I run and jump into the fires of hell, just like nine years ago, to save the angel.