Chapter 117 Chapter 117
Chapter One Hundred and Sixteen
Dimitri's POV
"Everyone in position?" I asked through the radio.
"North side ready," came the response.
"South side ready."
"East side ready."
"West side ready."
I looked at Mikhail and Sergei beside me. We were crouched in the forest, two hundred meters from Alexei's villa.
The building was lit up like a beacon in the darkness. Guards patrolled the perimeter. But not as many as I had expected.
"Something feels wrong," Mikhail said quietly.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"The security is too light," Mikhail explained. "Alexei knows we are looking for him. He should have more guards."
"Maybe he thinks he is safe out here," Sergei suggested. "Remote location in the middle of nowhere."
"Maybe," Mikhail said. But he did not sound convinced.
"We do not have a choice," I said firmly. "Irina and Nikolai are in there. We are getting them out tonight."
I had fifty men with me. All loyal. All well-trained. All ready to die if necessary.
Petrov had sent us the layout of the villa. Guard positions. Patrol schedules. Everything we needed.
The plan was simple. Four teams would breach simultaneously from all sides with overwhelming force and quick extraction.
We would be in and out in fifteen minutes.
"On my mark," I said into the radio. "Three. Two. One. Go!"
The night erupted.
Explosions rocked the villa's exterior walls. My men had placed charges at strategic points.
Gunfire immediately followed. My teams were breaching.
"Move!" I ordered.
Sergei, Mikhail, and I ran towards the villa with ten men as our personal guard.
The front gates were already blown open. Guards were scrambling, confused, and disoriented.
We shot anyone who got in our way.
I had one goal. Get to Irina and Nikolai. Everything else was secondary.
"Third floor!" I shouted to my men. "Petrov said the nursery is on the third floor!"
We fought our way inside. The villa was in chaos. Servants were screaming, guards were shooting.
My men were efficient and ruthless.
We reached the stairs and started climbing. We got to the third floor.
"There!" Sergei pointed to a door at the end of the hall.
We ran towards it.
I kicked the door open.
The nursery was empty. No Irina. No Nikolai.
"Fuck!" I shouted. "Where are they?"
My radio crackled. "Boss! We have a problem!"
"What problem?" I demanded.
"Reinforcements! Hundreds of them! They just appeared out of nowhere!"
My blood ran cold.
"What?" I said. "That is impossible! Petrov said…"
I did not get to finish.
The window beside me exploded. Gunfire poured in.
"Get down!" Mikhail shouted.
We hit the floor.
But it was too late. We were pinned down.
"They were waiting for us," Mikhail said grimly. "This was a trap."
He was right. Alexei had known we were coming.
But how?
Unless... unless Petrov had been discovered. Unless he had been forced to give up our plan.
"We need to retreat!" Sergei shouted over the gunfire.
"No!" I yelled back. "Not without Irina and Nikolai!"
"We will die if we stay!" Sergei argued.
More gunfire erupted. One of my men went down. Then another.
"Everyone fall back!" I ordered finally.
We retreated down the hallway. But Alexei's men were everywhere now.
Hundreds of them. Just like my scout had said.
They were not normal guards. These were military, professional soldiers.
And their weapons... I had never seen anything like them. Well advanced and deadly. Far beyond what should exist.
My men were being slaughtered.
"This way!" Mikhail pointed to a side corridor.
We ran. But there were soldiers there too.
We were surrounded.
"Put down your weapons!" A voice commanded in Russian.
I looked around. At least thirty guns were pointed at us.
Mikhail, Sergei, and I were the only ones left from our group. The rest were dead.
Slowly, I lowered my gun.
"Smart choice," the soldier said.
They rushed forward. Bound our hands behind our backs and forced us to our knees.
I had failed. Again.
We were dragged downstairs. Out into the courtyard.
My men's bodies were everywhere.
I felt sick. These men had trusted me and I had led them to their deaths.
"Dimitri, Dimitri, Dimitri."
I looked up.
Alexei was walking towards us. He was smiling, wearing a robe. Like we had interrupted his evening.
"Did you really think this would work?" Alexei asked, stopping in front of me. "Did you really think you could just waltz in here and steal my family?"
"They are not your family," I spat.
"They are now," Alexei replied calmly. "Irina is mine. Nikolai is mine. Everything you love is mine."
He crouched down to my level.
"I knew you would come," Alexei said.
"Your little spy was very helpful in confirming when."
My heart sank. "Petrov?"
"Oh, we caught him immediately he got here," Alexei said casually. "Poor man. He really tried to hold out. But everyone breaks eventually."
Rage flooded through me. "What did you do to him?"
"Nothing permanent," Alexei shrugged. "Yet. I am saving him for later. A nice public execution maybe."
"You are a monster," I growled.
"I am a winner," Alexei corrected. "And you, dear brother, are a loser."
He stood up and looked at his men.
"I have plans for these three," Alexei announced. "Something worse than death."
He pointed at Mikhail. "Let him go. But first, make sure he never walks again."
"What?" Mikhail said. "No!"