Chapter 29

POV ILYA KRAVTSOV

I was lying face down on a bed, not really knowing how much time I had lost. The pain made me wake up from time to time, but they sedated me again, which pissed me off.

At times, even feeling the fever consuming my body and the cuts on my back burning as if I were lying on a hot iron, I tried to get up, even pushing the doctor – they called him Dr. Cavendish, though I hadn't even seen his face – while growling Alejandra's name.

It was only her name I said, by the way. In moments of agony, moments of relief, moments of delirium.

I had failed to protect her. But it didn't matter if I needed to get up from that bed, agonizing in pain, even sick or injured. Even if they broke my arms and legs. I would still crawl across the world just to find her.

"Ilya? Quiet down, damn it! You need to recover!" Hunter's voice sounded beside me, authoritative.

"Ale... Alejandra..." I gasped. "Moi rys..."

"We're already looking for her. Caleb and Kellsier are trying to track her down. They're with Charles, trying to get information. Things aren't looking good over there."

"Tell them I want..." I started to speak but was interrupted by a coughing fit. "I want him alive. I need..." I let out a sigh, clenching my fist in frustration for not being able to speak. "I need to get my hands on him."

"We'll do that. But you need to rest. When you're better, Giovanni and Dominic want to talk to you. They're on our side."

After hearing that, I fell back into a deep sleep.

I woke up and passed out several times until I started to feel better. At least to the point where I could stay awake.

Three times a day, someone came to apply ointment to my back and change the bandages, and some of them started to itch unbearably.

Still, I managed to get dressed and walk to some kind of office, where the two men whose faces I already knew were waiting for me. Dominic, apparently more restless, was standing with his hips propped up on the table, wearing the mocking expression he always had. Caccini was all seriousness.

"We're sorry for what happened. First of all, we'd like you to know that we didn't order any of this," Giovanni spoke.

"I'm a renegade from the Bratva. It wasn't wise to trust me," my voice came out so hoarse it even surprised me. At the same time, it was deeper than usual, because I felt empty inside. Almost like a specter.

"Do you really think we didn't investigate the people we hired?" Dominic asked with a sly smile on his face. "Besides, it wasn't hard, because a fake last name like the one you gave us doesn't cancel out your distinctive description, Ilya Kravtsov." He paused, taking a drag from his cigar. "The Beast of the Bratva. Don't you think you were quite the catch for us? If we had any doubts, they were erased the moment you almost took down several men on your own, even when you were badly injured."

"How many days was I unconscious?" I asked, maintaining a military-like posture. Shoulders up, head up, hands in front of my body. Almost motionless, because any rough movement could cause me pain, and I didn't want to show weakness.

"Five," Hunter replied. He was also among us.

"Der'mo!" I muttered under my breath, between my teeth.

I could only think about Alejandra.

"Anyway, Charles Hill wouldn't work for us anymore, even if the Wildfire didn't take care of him, which I imagine will happen. He’s useless to us," Giovanni said.

"He's quite useless," Dominic added, shifting in his seat. "You and Hunter are much more interesting acquisitions. Exactly why we have no intention of changing our decision."

I raised my chin a little more, because somehow I felt a "but" was coming.

"But we don't tolerate lies. And you tried to lie to us," Caccini said. "You've already been punished, and we’re not going to weaken you further."

"The price, however, will be your loyalty to us."

"I am loyal," I answered with a grunt.

"We need a little more than that." Dominic started walking, and I recognized that type of behavior as intimidation. "We know you were the captain of the Bratva. And that you betrayed them..." He flashed another smile. One that would make me want to punch him in the face just for the audacity. "Which makes you a little less loyal... don’t you agree?"

"Dominic!" Giovanni tried to reprimand, but I knew the boss of the New York mafia had his own rules and didn’t respect almost anyone.

"What we want is for you to be fully available to us, at least for a while. We know your skills, we're impressed by them, and we believe you’ll be an important asset to us."

"I have something important to do," I kept answering, without any trace of humor.

"We know that. Your girl was taken by the Bratva. We also know the circumstances that brought you two together, how much danger you're both in." I looked at Hunter, but he didn’t look away. I knew he could’ve been the one to tell them, but I didn’t judge him. If he didn’t prove his loyalty to Cosa Nostra, we’d both be in trouble. "We’ll help with whatever we can. You can keep searching for her, but if we call you, you need to report back as soon as possible. We can provide resources for your search, and the payment offer is irresistible."

"I have plenty of money."

"Sorry, that's not the issue. You owe us," he had lost the ironic tone and was speaking very seriously.

"I can disappear and never show up again."

"Trust me, we’ll find you. Or we’ll find the Wildfire. We have a good relationship with them, as you should know. We don’t want that to change. If you know what I mean."

And that’s how I signed my pact with Cosa Nostra.

In order to recover completely, I returned to the Wildfire complex, and both Jordana and Gillian and Cady took care of me like I was a brother. Slowly, I started getting back to normal, but the men forced me to strengthen my body again.

It was only fifteen days of rest – which was driving me crazy – but they were right. If I wanted to be ready to find Alejandra and save her – if she was even still alive – what I had to do was prepare for it.

When I began to feel my body a little stronger, I decided it was time to go to Russia, because from the information that I and the others gathered, she had really been taken there.

But the night before my departure, I had something to do.

Charlie was still alive. By a thread, but he was.

Caleb and the others had extracted all the information they could from him, but the bastard pissed himself when he saw me.

**"The beast! He killed everyone... Everyone..."** his trembling voice started to speak as I got closer. Sensing his fear, I began to move deliberately like a predator.

I furrowed my brow, clenched my fists, and grabbed one of the chains on the ground. I knew the Wildfire crew had shown him the security footage, of what I did to free myself and to kill the men who held me captive.

He was terrified.

**"You hurt my woman,"** I said in an even fiercer tone, as if I were a wild animal. A reaper. When I got close enough, I whispered in his ear: **"I’m going to be your worst nightmare from now on."**

I wrapped the chain around his neck and tightened it so much that I swore I was going to break it. But not so fast. He was going to suffer.

Hours later, after a shower and with Charles’ death – very, very painful – on my shoulders, I packed my things and put them on the bike.

I said goodbye to each one, hugged a crying Jordana, gently hugged Adelle – her daughter – and left Caleb for last.

He was holding something in his hand, which he extended to me. I was surprised to see the Wildfire ring with the square stone, the skull standing out.

**"I can’t accept this, Cal,"** I told him, still feeling somewhat lost.

By bringing Alejandra there, I had opened a possibility of danger for them. Charlie was part of the community, and they had to kill him. None of this would be forgotten by me.

**"You’re our friend. You’re a Wildfire for everything you’ve done for us. If you want to come back, anytime, under any circumstances, we’ll be here."**

It was a great honor. So great that it was hard to put into words how moved I was.

After everything that had happened, I felt as though my heart wasn’t beating in my chest the same way as before. Slowly, I would return to reality, but the fact that Alejandra had been taken from me and the way I was tortured and what I had to do... it was the kind of thing that didn’t easily leave a man’s mind.

That’s why I needed time.

A solitary bear... That’s what I needed to be.

I hugged my friend, did the same with Hunter, and got on the bike. I put on the helmet, started the engine, and left, driving out through the heavily guarded gates of the complex to catch my flight.

At some point, one of Caleb’s men would come to get the bike I would leave in the airport parking lot.

I was heading back to Russia... with many debts to settle.