Chapter 173 OH, RAINA.
\~~~LUCIANO.
It had been an hour.
An entire hour since we reached the area.
And it felt like the longest hour of my life.
I crouched low in the thick underbrush, the kind that clawed at my pants and scratched my arms like it had a personal grudge. Sweat poured down my back, soaking through my black vest, making the fabric stick to my skin like a second layer of hell. It had been a full hour since we pulled up to this godforsaken spot on the outskirts of the city, the abandoned warehouse looming like a ghost in the fading light. The air hung heavy with the smell of damp earth and rust, and every rustle in the bushes had my nerves firing like live wires.
My men, Gabriel, Viktor, Alessia, and a dozen others spread out around me, their breaths steady but eyes sharp, and their weapons at the ready. We had hiked in silence, cutting through the tangled mess of weeds and thorns to avoid any patrols.
A crackle in my earpiece shattered the silence.
“Boss, signal ping! It is the phone from her call, and it has triangulated to two hundred yards northeast,” Rico’s voice, low and urgent, cut through the radio. My heart slammed against my ribs.
“All units, converge!’' I barked into the comms, already moving. The team surged forward like shadows, boots silent on the soft ground, weaving through the brush with practiced ease. Branches snapped underfoot, but we pushed hard, adrenaline cutting through the exhaustion.
Less than ten minutes later, we crested a low rise, and there it was, the crumbling building, its faded brick walls scarred by time and neglect.
Floodlights buzzed faintly from the corners, casting long shadows, and I spotted the armed guards patrolling the perimeter immediately, their rifles slung low and cigarettes glowing like fireflies in the dusk.
I raised a fist, halting everyone in their tracks. The air thickened with tension, and every man held his breath. “Radios off,” I whispered, tapping my ear to emphasize.
Gabriel sidled up beside me, his bulk a solid presence in the dim light. His face was set, eyes locked on the guards. “Give the order, boss. We can put them down quietly with no attention drawn.”
I nodded once, my jaw clenched.
I raised my hand to signal the hold, then tapped my ear pod to patch through to the drone operator, who was hovering high above, out of sight. “Status inside? Any movement?”
The voice came back steady, almost clinical. “Affirmative, sir. Two heat signatures on the upper floor, descending now. No clear ID on Marco. Both are uniformed like the exterior guards.”
Raina had to be somewhere inside. I scanned the building again, the boarded windows and rusted door screaming trap.
But we were here and there was no turning back. I turned to Gabriel and Viktor, who flanked me like sentinels. “You two, take three men. Flank the guards from the east and west. Close in silently with knives or suppress if needed. No guns until I say.”
“Sir,” they chorused, already melting into the shadows with their team. I watched them go, my chest tight. Viktor moved like a ghost, broad shoulders low, while Gabriel's steps were deliberate, predatory. The underbrush swallowed them, and I counted the seconds, sweat trickling into my eyes.
Alessia shifted beside me, her hand brushing my arm, a silent show of support.
It happened fast. From my vantage, I saw the shapes converge. Viktor and two men slipped up behind the first pair of guards, who were chatting low, oblivious. One guard turned slightly, sensing something, but Viktor's arm was already around his neck, a swift chokehold dropping him limp to the dirt without a sound. Gabriel mirrored on the other side, his knife flashing once and then a precise slash to silence the second before he could yell.
The third guard spun at the noise, hand fumbling for his rifle, but the third man from our side was there, tackling him low and driving an elbow into his temple.
The last one managed a half-turn, his eyes widening in shock, but Gabriel was on him like a shadow, clamping a hand over his mouth and twisting until the body slumped.
The men were down in under a minute.
Viktor straightened, scanning the area, then flashed a thumbs-up signal my way.
Relief flickered, but it was short-lived. My earpiece buzzed again, the drone operator's voice hurried now.
“They are descending the stairs! Main exit, Marco and... Madam.”'
Raina.
My blood ran cold. “Positions!” I hissed. Viktor, Gabriel, and the others melted behind the outer wall, their weapons drawn, and breaths held.
Alessia gripped her pistol tighter, her face pale but determined. I nodded at her to stay sharp and she squeezed my shoulder before fading back with the snipers.
I pulled my Glock from its holster, chambering a round with a soft click that echoed in my ears like thunder.
The world narrowed to that door, and every sense was on fire.
The door creaked open, and two men stepped out first, silhouettes against the dim interior light. They froze, their eyes dropping to the sprawled bodies on the ground.
One opened his mouth to shout and then suppressed shots from Viktor's team and dropped them before the alarm could escape their lips.
They crumpled like ragdolls, blood pooling dark on the concrete.
“Spread out! Cover the exits!” I ordered, voice low but iron. My team fanned into position, the snipers on the roof access, and flankers circling the sides. Alessia took point with me, her breathing steady beside the chaos in my head.
Then I saw her.
Raina. My Raina, stumbling out into the open, flanked by two more of Marco's thugs. Her hands were bound behind her, shaky, and her face pale as death under the bruises.
But before I could process, before I could call her name, Marco burst from the doorway behind them. He shoved the two men aside like they were nothing, grabbing Raina roughly by the arm and yanking her against his chest.
The world tilted.
Everything else faded. The shouts of my men positioning, the distant hum of the drone, and even the metallic tang of blood in the air seemed not to exist anymore. My eyes locked on her, drinking in every detail like a man dying of thirst.
Oh, Raina.
My wife, Raina.