Chapter 155: 155

I wince. He doesn’t even sound angry anymore. Somehow, that’s so much worse. I’d know what to do with his anger: take it.

His sympathy, on the other hand, is a complete mystery. “Nikolai…”

“Don’t,” he says firmly. “You can apologize to me later. After you’ve found Alyssa and sorted out your shit with her.” I sigh. “You’re a better man than I am.”

Nikolai snorts. “Stop feeling sorry for yourself. You’ve never played the victim before; don’t start now.”

“Alyssa’s in Boris’s claws because of me. And our last interaction was a dumb fight that involved me accusing her of cheating on me and trying to pass off another man’s babies as mine.”

Dimiv curses softly in the back seat but Nikolai just glares at me. “And you’re going to get her back and you’re gonna do everything in your power to make it up to her.”

“And what if I don’t get that chance?” I growl. “What if—”

“No,” Nikolai says sharply. “We’re not going there. You hear me? We’re not going there until we have to.”

“Damn straight,” Dimiv agrees from the back seat. “The baby birds have just landed. Stepan’s got them secured at the castle. Half the family is good—let’s take care of the other half.”

“Good.” I look down at the location on my phone. “We’re almost there. Seven minutes.” Nikolai steps on the gas and we hurtle down the road, past suburban cul-de-sacs towards a single house at the end of masses of empty land. “Check in with Dominik for an ETA.”

“We have enough men,” Nikolai says.

“I’m not taking any chances.” I gesture for him to slow down. “Park here and let’s walk down. The area thins out after this point and I don’t want to risk being seen before we’re ready.”

Nikolai parks on the side of the road just behind a thicket of trees. The three of us get out of the car while the rest of the caravan queues up behind us and begins to unload and arm themselves.

Dimiv tucks his phone away. “Dominik is right behind us. Should be here in a minute or so.”

“Good. Dimiv, take a couple of men and try to scope out the back of the house. I want to know what kind of resistance we’re dealing with.”

Nodding, Dimiv picks out three guys and they slip off down the road, using the trees as camouflage. Meanwhile, I grab the binoculars from the back seat of the SUV and aim them at the house in the distance. “We’re looking at two guys in the front… That’s all I can see.”

Nikolai pulls out a box of cigarettes and lights one up. When he sees that I’m watching, he offers me one.

I wave him off. “I’m good. You haven’t smoked in a while.”

He shrugs. “I’m feeling a certain kind of way.”

“Yeah? What way is that?”

“This is the same bastard that killed our parents. Fucked up Lev. This is the motherfucker that tried to sell Polly into sex slavery, tried to rape Alyssa, and now, he’s abducted her for the second time.” As he recites the list of Boris’s sins, I can feel my blood heat up to a boil. “It’s about time we finish off this asshole once and for all.” I nod. “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Incoming!” Vlad calls from the jeep behind us.

Dominik arrives with two carloads of men in tow. He gets out of the lead vehicle and strides towards Nikolai and me.

“What happened to you?” he asks in alarm as soon as he’s close enough to see Nikolai’s face.

Niko shrugs. “Walked into a door.”

“Must’ve been a hell of a door.” He purses his lips, but doesn’t ask any more questions about the bruises. “What are we doing standing around out here?”

“Just doing a little recon. There’s Dimiv on his way back now.”

My cousin approaches. “There’s a car parked a couple of yards away. Two men inside. There’s bound to be more soldiers inside the house, but we couldn’t tell for sure. Windows are closed, curtains drawn.”

I nod and turn to Dominik. “Can you take care of the guys outside the house? That’ll give me time to get inside without being noticed. I need to do this silently and quickly.”

Dominik checks his weapons as he listens. “No commotion?”

“Not if you can avoid it. I don’t want to risk them hurting Alyssa. She’s in a delicate position and anything might set her off.”

Dominik nods and gestures for his men to follow him. I give him a minute’s head start, then we follow quietly, hidden from sight by the mass of trees. But the closer we get, the more the treeline begins to thin. We stop a few feet shy of where we’d be easily seen.

Dominik twists around to lock eyes with me. “I can try taking them out from here. But there’s a chance I’ll miss.”

I move forward, put my silencer on and take aim. “Don’t worry about it. I got this.”

It takes a second to get my hand to stop shaking, but once I focus on the man on the left, I feel a strange sense of calm settle over me.

This is what I know. It’s what I was raised for, trained for, molded for.

More importantly, the stakes have never been higher. Instead of agitating my nerves, it pulls them back. I’m not about to put Alyssa in further danger because I couldn’t get a hold of myself when she needed me most.

I take a deep breath, open both eyes, and fire. The first bullet catches the first guard right in the forehead. My aim is perfect. I don’t hesitate from there—I slide my gun two inches to the right and shoot again. I’m aiming for this mudak’s forehead, too, but I get him in the nose instead, obliterating his face as his blood splatters like abstract art against the white-washed stucco wall behind him.

Nothing moves. Not the birds or the squirrels or the warm California night beyond.

I lower my gun and turn triumphantly to the men behind me. “All’s clear on this side.”

Dominik is staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes. “Jesus.”

Nikolai just rolls his eyes. “Show off,” he mutters, pushing past Dominik and his men. “Come on, we gotta move fast.”

I give Dominik a parting nod as he takes his men and marches around back. Quietly, I murmur commands to my troops. “Nikolai and Dimiv with me. Anton, watch our backs. Have a vehicle ready to move Alyssa fast if we need to.” I make eye contact with Artem. “And call Dr. Emily. Tell her to be ready at a moment’s notice.”

Once the delegation is taken care of, we move fast for the front door. I make sure to keep an eye on the windows but Dimiv was right—those shutters are nailed down tight. Nothing to be seen there.

“Should we break down the door?” Dimiv asks when we reach the entrance.

“That’s going to create noise,” Nikolai warns.

I ignore both of them and reach for the handle. I twist and push and the door swings open easily. The darkness of the interior yawns like the mouth of a cave. There’s no telling what kind of creatures are waiting within.

“Anyone think that was a little too easy?” Nikolai whispers.

He’s right, but I can’t afford to look a gift horse in the mouth right now. I venture inside, gun at the ready, my red laser dot dancing across the far wall.

I glance around the corner to find three men on the sofa watching a basketball game. All three of us take aim and all three men go down simultaneously with silenced bullets to the backs of their head.

As far as death goes, it’s a good way to go out. Oblivious and entertained.

Their comrades won’t be so lucky.

We move quickly through the house, taking down any man that comes our way. Six more bodies hit the ground before we get to the center of the deceivingly large house.

“This is it,” Dimiv whispers. “We’ve covered the whole floor. Every room is empty.”

I shake my head. “There’s a trap door somewhere. Has to be. He’s got her here. I can feel it.”

I start pulling at the paintings and mismatched hangings that decorate the walls in odd places. I hit the jackpot when I reach a long burgundy carpet that’s been nailed to the top of the wall. Tearing it down reveals a narrow, rickety wooden door that opens to a staircase winding down.

More darkness.

More caves.

More unknown creatures beyond.

I pull my gun out and creep down the stairs. It’s all silent on the way down, but the moment my boots hit the floor of the basement, a thumping sound echoes between walls. A woman in nurse’s scrubs with jet black hair spins around and gasps. She opens her mouth to scream but Nikolai takes her out with a bullet to the throat.

I step over the cooling corpse and towards the last door set in the wall. I kick it open to reveal a blindingly white room. It takes a long time—too damn long—for my eyes to adjust to the change in brightness. But I don’t have to wait for my vision to fully clear to realize that this whole situation is fucked.

Beneath the razor-sharp white lights is a bed.

In the bed is my fiancée, with her feet in stirrups and abject misery imprinted on her face.

And beside her… is Boris Sobakin—with a gun to Alyssa’s head.

I freeze, but she doesn’t seem remotely aware of anything that’s happening. I’m not sure if she even knows I’m here. She’s still pregnant but it looks like that won’t be true for long.

“Get the fuck away from my woman, you bastard.”

Boris only laughs and cocks his gun. “I was wondering when you’d show up. Now, the fun can begin.”