Chapter 27 - Damien
I didn’t know how much longer I could take of it…of not being able to see Sky with my own eyes.
It was one thing for us to be able to track her location but to know her current status was another. Without knowing if she was okay was driving me insane, and even with my family by my side, along with the Levovs, it still felt like we weren’t doing enough. Like we weren’t moving as quickly as we should’ve been.
I knew that nothing would feel like enough, and until I found he,r I’d be insatiable…uncontrollable.
That fixation I had on her, even if it had been tamed by her more recent acceptance, it seemed to rear its ugly head at the notion of her being taken and held somewhere we were just then reaching.
Despite my ever-growing impatience and the desperate need to find her, I had my family with me. I had the force of two significant families in New York behind me, and it was time to get Sky out of there.
After regrouping in a back alleyway that led to the nightclub, Alex, Ari, and I came up with a game plan, everyone was in position and ready to have the place secured from the inside.
The Pesci club would be crawling with patrons given the hour, and we had reason to believe the kingpin was already there.
“We did a thermal check, and from what we can tell, there should be at least two heat signatures in this back room,” Ari said, pointing to a rough floor plan of the club. “We believe Esidor and Sky are currently there.”
“We’ll send the first group in to disperse the patrons and hopefully get them out of the way, take out the guards, then leave it open for you to infiltrate the room,” Alex said, holding my gaze. There was nothing short of determination in his eyes. “We’ll be right behind you.”
With a nod, itching to get started already, I cocked my pistol. “It shouldn’t be a problem…I already have the layout memorized.”
“Good…” my brother affirmed with a single tip of his head. “If anything goes wrong, we’ll back you up. Remember…focus on the target. Neutralize the kingpin and we’ll handle everyone else.”
“I’ve got it,” I said, completely zeroed in on what I needed to do. While I appreciated the subtle support and reassurance in Alex’s eyes, I didn’t have time to focus on it. I needed to get in there, and I needed to find Sky.
“Alright…we’re going in,” Ari said, lifting a hand to signal to the first group of guys.
Wordlessly, the leader nodded, then pushed the doors open and began pouring inside. With a warning yell, alerting the patrons to clear out, we caught a few screams from the otherwise soundproof club thanks to the door being open.
Shifting back and forth on my feet, expression hard as I waited, I could only think about Sky…of how terrified she must’ve been thanks to Raf and the bastard kingpin.
She never should’ve been brought into any of it…she never should’ve had to face the dangers I wanted to safeguard her from.
“Go time,” Ari said after a moment, clapping me on the shoulder.
Not needing to be told twice, I sprung into action, slinking in through the door with my gun raised.
Immediately, the club was a scramble of clientele either hiding beneath tables or the bar or running for an exit. My eyes adjusted quickly, taking it all in and piecing together my path.
All around me, guards were taken out either by fist or bullet, and while the Levov and Novikov men took charge of the place, I focused on the building layout. Right up ahead, one of ours pointed out the room.
“In here!”
With razor-sharp focus then, aware that my target was close enough for me to infiltrate the room within the following seconds, I hurried closer.
Gun raised, I kicked the door in to find a hall full of individual rooms with heavy curtains for doors and dividers. A few women who were hardly dressed cowered in the corner, hands over their heads to shield themselves.
Ignoring them, I pushed forward, finding most of the curtains open until I landed on the middle section. It had to be him. It had to be.
Not wasting another minute, I yanked the curtain back with my gun pointed ahead, eyes focusing immediately on the scene in front of me.
Sky was there, hands bound behind her back, while a man stood behind her with a pistol pressed against her temple. He grinned while he loomed over her as the fear consumed her, teetering between life and death.
It was him. Esidor.
The bastard I had been after for weeks without knowing it.
A faint click to my right stopped me in my tracks as the awareness flitted through my system and caused me to lock up slightly.
“Easy, Novikov…don’t go doing anything too hasty…”
That voice. That damn voice that I learned to hate more than anything during my time in the office.
“Raf,” I muttered, just able to see him in my peripheral.
I knew I should’ve done something sooner. I should’ve trusted my gut and taken him down before things could get to this point.
But there was nothing I could do about my previous choices then…I could only push on and get Sky out of there, regardless of currently being at a disadvantage.
At the same time, the group behind me had no choice but to stop, or else we ran the risk of causing a chain reaction I wasn’t willing to let happen. Not with that gun pointed at Sky.
Even if their guns were trained on Raf and Esidor as best as they could be, nobody could fire yet. It was too risky. Sky had to be out of the line of fire first.
Esidor chuckled, eyes veiled with a dark sort of satisfaction. “How rude of you to drop in unannounced like this…but I wouldn’t put it past you…or the Levovs.” He exchanged a glance with Raf, then gestured with his head while he kept one hand on Sky’s shoulder and the other pointing the gun against her head. “Now, be polite and give up your weapon.”
Everything about his demeanor and tone grated against my nerves, but I knew I wasn’t in the position to shut him up just yet. If I wanted Sky to make it out of there alive, then I had to abide by his rules for the time being.
As much as it wounded my pride to have to do it, I slowly turned the safety on and then offered it to Raf.
Not wasting a moment, Raf snatched the pistol from me and stuffed it in his waistband with a smirk. “Good choice.”
Pulling in a discreet breath, I forced myself to stay calm. To keep myself level and clear-headed regardless of the stakes and the unfortunate position I found myself in.
With Sky at the barrel-end of that pistol, and me without mine, I was at Esidor’s mercy.
I hated every second of it. I hated knowing he assumed the victory was already his.
“That’s much better…” Esidor said, voice punctuating the deafening silence of that private room. “Now that I have you and the Levov dogs here…I think it’s about time we talked.”
“Then cut to the chase,” I grit back, keeping my hands where both of them could see. I wasn’t about to do anything stupid…at least not until I came up with a suitable plan that would guarantee Sky’s safety.
The kingpin sighed. “I guess we have dragged this out for quite some time. After spending so much time waiting and putting all the pieces of my plan together, I wouldn’t mind getting to the heart of it.”
I held my tongue despite being tempted to use my words as weapons instead since I knew it wouldn’t get me anywhere. It would only jeopardize it all.
“It’s a shame, you know. My dad would’ve loved to see this moment for himself…hell, he would’ve loved to orchestrate it himself. But unfortunately, he passed a few years back, and he never got to see his goals accomplished or his revenge exacted,” Esidor said, giving Sky’s shoulder a faint squeeze, only making her more tense as she squeezed her eyes shut. His gaze darkened. “Even if the Levovs here ruined his initial plans before and ruined his legacy, I’m here to avenge that dream of his. I’m here to further that legacy…and to accomplish that, you Levovs and Novikovs are going to do exactly what I say.”
Clenching my jaw, I looked only at him. “And if we don’t?”
“You already know the answer to that,” he said with a chuckle, just barely tapping the barrel of the gun against Sky’s head in a taunting manner. She flinched and pulled in a sharp breath, and it took everything in my power to not lash out then and there. “But since I doubt very much intelligence runs through that head of yours, I’ll tell you…”
It was bad enough that Esidor had Sky as his hostage and was planning on trying to ruin both of our families, but it was the cherry on top for him to question my intelligence. To assume I didn’t have it in me to reverse the roles.
Everything about him and the situation at hand made my blood boil, but I had to rein it in. I had to keep my cool and not let him assume the situation had already been won.
Esidor’s lips stretched into a deceptive grin as he trailed the gun down the side of Sky’s neck, furthering his taunt. “If you don’t comply with my demands, then I won’t hesitate to take the precious mother of your child out myself.”
Gritting my teeth to keep my unfettered rage down, I hated knowing that he wasn’t bluffing.
Someone willing to wait years just to exact his revenge wouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger when it all came down to it.
He had waited long enough, and I had no doubt he’d keep his word.