Sinful Promise (Koslov Bratva #6)

Extra Scene

DIMITRI

“Do this for me Mitya.” Danil’s voice rings in my ears.

Mitya?

I frown as I hang up the phone and look over at Zara, who is standing in the kitchen looking pale.

When she woke me up to say that Emily hadn’t come home, I knew something was wrong. And the fact that Emily and Danil’s locations were off, and they weren’t answering any calls, only made the sinking feeling in my stomach ten times worse.

My wife’s eyes are wide. “What is it?”

I stare down at my phone and frown.

“It’s Danil.”

“What do you mean? Is everything okay? Is Emily with him?”

“Uh… She’s with Jana,” I mutter as I click back through to my call log.

At least, I hope she is.

“Oh, thank god. I swear I’m going to rip Emily a new one when I see her tomorrow. She knows she’s meant to message me if she’s not coming home.”

I’m barely listening to Zara.

Mitya .

“Dimitri?” I jerk when I blink and find Zara standing in front of me, a protective hand resting on the slight swell of her belly. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“Something’s wrong.”

“Okay…”

The sinking feeling in my stomach is throwing me off.

Danil has asked me to gather the rest of the bratva and head to his apartment, which is unusual in itself. Usually, when we have a family meeting, we gather at the penthouse in the city, which was my first clue that something is off. What that is, I’m not sure, but something is definitely off.

Zara reaches out to touch my arm, and I relax just a little at her touch. She knows just what to do to get me out of my head. “Talk me through it, Dimitri.”

“That was Danil on the phone. He asked me to get everyone over to his apartment.” Zara’s beautiful face scrunches up. “What? His apartment? And it’s four in the morning.”

“He said it was important. But…”

“But what?”

I look into my wife’s green eyes, and a wave of grief hits me.

“He called me Mitya.”

“I don’t understand…” The crease between Zara’s brows deepens, and I reach out to rub at it with my thumb to make her relax.

“It’s a code we came up with years ago for when he needed my help.”

“So, Danil is in trouble?”

“I think so. Whatever is going on, I think it might be some sort of trap.”

Zara looks panicked. “What do we do?”

I reach out to take her face in my hands.

“You are going to stay here with the twins and try to get some sleep. I will go and take care of this.”

“Dimitri…” Zara’s voice cracks, and I offer her a warm smile.

“I always come back to you, don’t I?”

She nods as her eyes well with tears.

I hate that I’m the reason behind them, and the last thing I want to do is leave her, but my brother is in trouble, and I would never forgive myself if I didn’t go and help him.

“I love you,” I whisper before kissing Zara softly. Then I bend down to press a kiss to her belly. “And I love you too.”

“Come back to us.”

I straighten and give her one last kiss.

“I always do.”

I wait until I’m in the elevator on my way down to the underground parking garage to pull out my phone and open up my tracking app. Danil’s location is still unknown.

“Fuck.”

What the hell has my brother gotten himself into?

The second the doors to the elevator slide open and I step out, I dial Rurik.

“Can you trace a past call for me? I need a location.”

“Was it on your phone?”

His voice isn’t even groggy from sleep. Does he not sleep?

I guess that’s good, because I need him at the top of his game.

“Yeah, it was to Danil, but his location isn’t showing on my app.”

“That’s not an issue. It won’t take long.”

“Good.”

I’m not sure how long Danil has.

I climb behind my wheel, and I’m dialing Alexei before I even turn on the engine.

My mind is racing as I try to think of what might be happening.

As soon as the call connects, I blurt out, “Where are you?”

If he’s out in Forest Hills, I’m screwed. I don’t think Danil has that kind of time.

“Family penthouse.” Unlike Rurik, Alexei sounds as if I just woke him up, but I don’t care.

Danil is more important than sleep.

I race out of the garage. “Danil is in trouble. I think Igor has planted a trap for us.”

“What? Dimitri, what the fuck is going on?”

“I’m not sure. All I know is that Danil has ordered us all over to his place because he has to tell us something.”

“Okay…”

“He called me Mitya.”

“I don’t follow.”

“Remember that time when he almost got himself killed when he was a teenager? This is something we came up with for whenever he needed me to bail him out of trouble.”

“Fuck.”

“His location is untraceable, and so is Emily’s. They were both out tonight, and Zara and I haven’t heard from them since. Except for this one call, which I’m having Rurik trace as we speak.”

“Anton is already here. I’ll give Mikhail and Lev a call.”

I push the gas pedal to the floor. “I’ll be there in five.”

Danil might be a grown man, but in my eyes he is still that little boy that couldn’t ask for help. I remember the conversation like it was yesterday.

“If you ever need my help again, all you have to do is call me.”

“But what if I can’t tell you I’m in trouble? What if next time, I…”

“If you ever need me but can’t talk or ask for help for any reason, just call me Mitya. Can you do that?”

“Like a code word?”

“Exactly. That way, I’ll know that you need help, but no one else will know you asked for it.”

“And you’ll come and help me? No matter what?”

“No matter what. I Promise. I’ll always be here for you, little brat .”

I try to ignore the sinking feeling in my gut as I speed across the city toward the family penthouse.

I have to remember that Danil is smart. He wouldn’t do anything that would put himself or Emily at risk.

Fuck, if something happens to Emily…

I think of my pregnant wife that I’ve left at home and my chest tightens.

I can’t be too late, because the alternative is too painful to bear.

By the time I’m riding the elevator up to the top floor, my body is practically shaking with nervous energy.

Thankfully, my brothers all responded to the call and are waiting for me when I arrive. The dining room table is littered with guns and magazines, and each one of the men is loading up with weapons.

Alexei looks up, and his eyes meet mine. “Rurik already sent through the location. And Lev has confirmed it to be one of Igor’s hideouts.”

Lev’s eyes darken as he tucks a gun into his pants. “It’s the one he used to keep me locked up in. The one I’ve been trying to remember.”

Mikhail folds his tattooed arms across his chest. His jaw is clenched, and he has that look in his eyes that tells me he’s ready to spill some blood. “We need to move.”

No one messes with our family without paying the ultimate price.

Alexei frowns harder than he already was. “Before we go anywhere, I want to make it very clear that I want Igor alive. I’m looking at you, Mikhail.”

“Fine.”

“I need your word too, Lev.”

If anyone has the grounds to be the one to kill Igor, it’s Lev. The hell that he’s been put through because of Igor is unimaginable.

He nods. “You have my word, Alexei.”

Anton turns to Alexei. “What’s the plan once we have him?”

Alexei picks up one more handgun and straightens up. “We take him back to the warehouse. Then we’ll end him. Together.”

I nod as I tuck an extra gun into the waistband of my pants.

Alexei smiles. A cruel, cold smile that would have me shivering if it were directed at me.

“This nightmare is coming to an end. Igor’s finally going to get what he deserves.”