Chapter 80 Hell will rain down on you

Chapter 80 Hell will rain down on you
Aleksander’s POV

Dinner had come and gone with no signs of Maria. Snapping my fingers, I quietly motioned for Ivan to come over. He leaned over my shoulder, and I whispered into his ear, “Find Henry and Maria and see why the hell they aren't here.”

At this point, irritation was rising in me, and I slammed my fist into the table, causing the dishes to clatter.

I was a patient man, maybe too patient, but I couldn't let this go on any longer. I opened my phone and found Henry’s message in my texts. The last thing I had said to him was “Yes,” but what had I agreed to? Confusion began to slightly replace the brewing anger in me as I scrolled up and read the previous text,

Pakhan, can I take Maria to the White Lily Bakery in Duluth? It'll be during the day, and all safety measures will be followed. She's getting antsy, Pakhan.

My face went white, my hands clammy. What the fuck had I agreed to? At the time, it was early, and I thought it was something to do around the compound. But this message right here confirmed my worst nightmares.

They went off the fucking compound.

They were gone.

Then a new fear arose; she was with Henry, and it was nearing almost 9pm. They would've been home by now, long before the sun would have set.

How could I have been so stupid? I tried to control my breathing, trying not to let the panic consume me. But it was too late for that, because at that exact moment, my phone buzzed, and my heart stopped because that text was from Viktor.

My hand wavered over the phone, not daring to pick it up, too afraid to see what it might hold.

I screamed for Ivan to get in here, even though the words sounded unintelligible to my own ears. Ivan rushed in, gun drawn, then holstered it when he saw the look on my face.

I was scared; I'd never shown fear to anyone, especially not to my men. But here I was feeling like a scared little boy, not knowing which direction to take. I needed to open the message, I needed to see what Viktor wanted, but a part of me was too scared to see what was enclosed inside the message.

So instead, I unlocked the phone and handed it to Ivan.

“I believe Viktor has Maria,” I said, trying to keep my voice from quivering, “not as your Pakhan, but as your friend. I’m asking you to look at what's enclosed in this message because I just can't do it.”

Ivan gulped, too startled by what I had said, “But Pakhan, surely they're here somewhere.”

I raised my hand, “Stop, Ivan. They're not here. I checked my messages. I was too distracted earlier, and without fully reading the message, I agreed to let Henry take Maria off-site to a bakery. I'm pretty sure this is him letting me know he has her.”

Ivan dropped into the seat next to me, his face had turned deathly pale as if a corpse was sitting next to me. Maybe my own color looked the same?

He slowly picked up the phone and, with a tap of his finger, unlocked the message.

Using his finger, he scrolled down and stared at it for a few seconds, then dropped the phone. It clattered on the table, the sound vibrating against the walls.

“Oh, God, I'm gonna be sick.” Ivan jumped, only making it a few feet, where he threw up everywhere.
He took off his shirt, used it to wipe his mouth, and looked at me dead in the eyes. “Pakhan, I beg of you, please, please don't look at the message.”

But that did it; his reaction snapped something in me. Picking the phone up, I looked at the contents of the message:

Aleksander….I have your little pet. Why don't you come and join us? I sent you the location to your phone. I'll be seeing you soon.
\-Viktor

Picture after picture appeared on the screen, all showing the same thing.

Maria was lying on a thin, blue plastic mat on a concrete floor. Her legs were chained, but the most disgusting and worrying thing was the fact that she was bleeding, her face was bruised and swollen, and that bastard had his hand on her upper thigh.

What had he done to her? I’m going to make hell look like a cozy vacation spot when I get my hands on him.

Not taking another second to think, I stood up, knocking the chair back. Turning to Ivan, “I need all the men assembled in 25 minutes. When I say all the men, Ivan, I mean all of them! We're going after Viktor, and we’re getting my girl back.”

“Alek, we’ll get her back. I'll have the men ready in 20. I’m going to send one man to see if he can locate Henry. He has to be somewhere hurt if they were able to take her.”

“Fine,” I mumbled as I turned and headed towards the stairs leading to my room. Taking the stairs two at a time, I reached my room in what felt like a world record. Going into my closet, I moved my clothes away, revealing a floor-to-ceiling vault. Placing my hand against the scanner, the door popped open, revealing all of my favorite playthings.

Grabbing my bulletproof vest, I made quick work of strapping it on, feeling its familiar weight press down on me. Reaching back, I grabbed knives and placed them into the sheaths on my vest. I grabbed several pistols, checked them, snapped the clips back into place, and put them into the holsters.

The last thing I grabbed was my last-resort weapon: five grenades, all ready to go Boom if all else failed, because there was no way I'd let Viktor leave tonight alive.

Heading downstairs, I met up with Ivan, who I'm assuming was coming to get me.

“Status report,” I barked out as I kept going down the stairs. I wasn't slowing down for anyone.

“Men are all assembled, Sir. Waiting for your command.” Ivan quickly reported.

Reaching the front door, “My command is to kill anyone and everything that is keeping us from getting Maria back. This fucking ends tonight!”

Stepping out to the driveway, rows of SUVs were already lined up with my men waiting. I climbed into the one at the head of the line, with Ivan climbing into the driver's seat.

I typed the address into the GPS, a location somewhere in a run-down area of Southwest Atlanta.

It would take us about forty-five minutes to get there, but when I did, I’d rain all hell down on him.

No one takes my woman, and no one messes with the Volkov Family.

My father had warned me about this possibly happening three weeks ago when he got fed up with my shit and returned to Moscow. He'd taken Dimitri with him, much to both of our discontent, claiming he could use him more than me right now.

I should have fucking listened.

Tapping the dashboard of the car, “Let's go!” I ordered. Our convoy began to file out of the compound like ants leaving their mound.