Chapter 81 It's time to meet your maker

Chapter 81 It's time to meet your maker
Aleksander’s POV

We were five minutes out, comms were on, and the gun was loaded. We were all ready for this conflict to come to an end. I should have ended this years ago when I took over Atlanta, but yet I was merciful enough to spare him some dignity.

This is how he repays me.

“Two minutes out, Pakhan,” Ivan told me while keeping his eyes on the side road we had turned onto.

Pressing the button on my comm, I send out an order, “When we arrive, I need car 2 and 3 with Ivan and me. The remaining cars secure the perimeter. No one comes in or out without my permission.” A chorus of echoing “Yes, Pakhan’s” sounded over my comms.

We pulled into an industrial area full of run-down office buildings and warehouses. The address led us to pull in front of a medium-sized warehouse with broken windows, surrounded by shrubs that looked as if they hadn't been cut in years.

Everyone filed out of the SUVs, organizing into their assigned groups as if this were just another day on the job. After a few minutes, I finally got the alert that everyone was in position.

It was game time.

Motioning to the men who were in cars 2 & 3, they filed into a V formation behind me.

We moved as one, entering through a side door to reduce the risk of detection. Giving the signal, a smoke bomb was thrown, enveloping the area in a thick, dense smoke. Good to cover our tracks, bad for them, as it would make it almost impossible for them to see us.

We kept moving deeper into the building until we encountered our first bit of resistance. Red lasers began to shine through the smoke that we were still using as cover. Bullets began to whiz past us as we did our best to seek cover. “Ivan position a sniper to higher ground and have them pick them off. We don't have time for this,” I barked the order out over my comm.

The firefight went on for a few minutes until the familiar sound of a sniper rifle fired off seven shots, leaving the world in an eerie silence.

Standing back up with my gun still in position, I motioned for the men to follow me deeper into the warehouse. Halfway through the warehouse, we still had not seen any sign of Viktor, his men, or Maria.

“Men, keep yourself on high alert. I don't like the look of this. This could be a trap,” I spoke quietly over the comms.

As we were making our way down a hallway, a person walked into our path, bringing us to a halt.

Standing in front of us were Alina and Nina, the two bitches behind some of Viktor’s most nefarious schemes.

They were dressed all in black, even wearing little hats with short black veils as if they were attending a funeral.

Alina started clapping, “Hello, lover, it's been so long. Have you missed me?”

“You're fucking insane, Alina,” I spat at her, then pointed at Nina, “I don't even know why you're here, you Irish bitch. I already took the pleasure of putting a bullet between Adam’s eyes.”

Nina stilled, obviously confused about my most recent confession.

She turned, looking at Alina, “What is he talking about? I was supposed to kill Adam. That was the whole reason I was here.”

Alina didn't even flinch. She rolled her eyes, spun, and looked at Nina in her eyes, “shut up, you whiny bitch. You've used up your usefulness,” and shot her straight between the eyes. Nina didn't even have a second to react, a look of shock on her face as her body slumped to the floor, dead.

Twirling her pistol, she looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. “Lover,” she purred, “Daddy dearest is waiting for you in the basement. He wanted to show you his latest pet he’s added to his collection.” She motioned to a door a few feet away, and I began to move. I hadn't made it a foot when a bullet landed about half a foot in front of me, stopping me dead in my tracks.

“Now, lover, you know the rules. The meeting of a Pakhan is between the Pakhan’s and their seconds, and I don't see Dimitri anywhere.” She slowly aimed her pistol straight at Ivan, making her intention known. No one besides me would be able to make it down into the basement.

Ivan looked at me and took a step forward as if already knowing what I was about to say.

I looked at him and the rest of my battle-wary men, knowing they'd go to hell and back for the Bratva and me. But sadly, the bitch was right, and this had to be Pakhan vs. Pakhan, no exceptions.

Pulling Ivan into a quick side hug, I gave him one more quick order, “If Viktor comes up those stairs, kill them all!”

Nodding, he stood back, rejoining our other men who had taken a stance across from Alina, keeping her in their view.

Not even giving it a second thought, I rushed to the basement door and opened it. Finding the light switch, I flicked it on and began the descent.

The air was musty and damp, as most basements are. Spider webs clung to the corners, filled with bugs who were their necessary victims. Before I could even reach the bottom of the stairs, I heard him. Heard him whistling that annoying ass tune that had always driven me up the walls all those years ago. And yet here we are, twenty years later, and not much has changed.

Stepping off the last step onto the basement floor, my gun was still drawn, and I swept the perimeter. And that's when I found them.

In the middle of the basement floor, Viktor stood in his Sunday best. From the look of it, it was a tailored Armani black suit with all the bells and whistles down to the elaborate cufflinks. His evil grin spoke of a victory he'd thought he already won.

But that's not what I saw, not truly.

Because there, sitting on the floor, was Maria. She was chained to the floor, dried blood clinging to her now dirty body, and bruises on her face peeked out behind her tangled brown hair.

I didn't waste a single second.

Not even when he tried to speak.

Not even when he pointed a gun at her head.

When I had made it less than a foot from him, I launched myself at him, knocking him off his feet, forcing him to fall backward into the hard concrete floor.

He thought he had the upper hand, testing my patience. He thought he could manipulate me or scare me. He thought he could use the Russo family to impact my empire. And lastly but not least, he thought he could use the one thing I love in this life against me.

The moment he had done that, he signed his own death warrant without even realizing it.

I could drag this out. I could listen to his prepared speeches. Or I could get into a gun battle with him or his men until one side claimed victory.

But he'd pushed me too far.

I'd lost my patience and my sanity about an hour and a half ago when he sent that text.

Punch after Punch after Punch hit him, his cries and groans silenced into mere squirms as I had broken his windpipe and forced him to swallow his own broken teeth. Even with that, I didn't relent, not even when I heard his pathetic life leave his body.

I only quit when I heard her.

"Please stop, Alek. Stop, he's gone!" Maria whimpered, barely able to speak.

I stood up, looking down at Viktor’s dead body, knowing that with him, I didn't even have to waste a kick to double-check.

Not wasting a single second longer, I searched Viktor's pants and found the keys to unlock the chains that were connected to her legs. Saving her one last trauma from having to possibly shoot the locks of the chains to get them off her.

Kneeling down, I unlocked each chain, making sure to slowly remove them from her ankles to prevent further damage.

Scooping her up into my arms, I pressed a firm but gentle kiss to her lips, “I love you more than life itself. I’m so damn sorry! I’m so damn sorry my stubbornness led to you getting hurt. From this moment on, I’ll never ever hide shit from you again.” A tear fell from my face, landing on her cheek. She raised her hand, trying to touch it, a small smile forming on her face, and, before she passed out in my arms, she whispered, “I love you too, my Pakhan.”

Making quick work of it, I hauled her up the stairs, doing my best not to jostle her. Reaching the opening, I shouted out, “Ivan, kill the bitch!”

Alina screamed, “Noooooo!” as the sounds of guns being fired rang out, leaving no one left who would try to avenge Viktor’s death.

Ivan ran to my side, looking down at her with a sense of awe and respect, “She’s a tough one, Alek. Is she ok?”

“As far as I can tell. Physically shell have a few weeks of healing, but there's no way to know on the mental end.” I sigh.

“Good news or bad news first, Pakhan?” Ivan said as if this were a normal day of giving reports.

“Just spit it out, Ivan!”

“Good news is that our man found Henry pretty banged up, left behind the bakery near the dumpster. I guess they thought they killed him. Bad news is he's going to be out of commission for a few weeks, too, Pakhan.”

An idea so genius penetrated into my head that it shocked me.

Turning to Ivan, “Let's get her back to the house so the Doctor can get her treated. But it seems only fitting that the bodyguard stay near his charge, even while healing.”

Laughing his ass off as we walked back to the SUVs, he blurted out, “They’re going to kill you or kill each other, you know that, right?”

“I know, but it'll make their recovery so much more entertaining.”

Lying her in the backseat, we sped back towards the compound, feeling content for the first time in a long time. The woman I loved was safe, my enemies were dead, my men were safe, my father and brother were safe, and for once, I could sit back and breathe.