Chapter Twenty-two
Igor
I thought I’d dealt with pain a long time ago.
For years, I’ve mastered the art of not giving a fuck.
I knew how to keep my emotions in check, and if I ever needed to lash out, I knew exactly when I was able to do so.
I didn’t give anyone the satisfaction of drawing a reaction from me unless I dictated the terms. I hate the feeling of being helpless or lacking control.
But I learned something else over the years: life has a way of giving you the middle finger just before it flips the whole fucking table on you.
Today is a day like that.
It’s the day I watch Audrey collapse on a chair in the corner of the office, sniffling hard, with her phone nearly crushed in her clenched fist, and I’m unable to do anything. I know she’s trying hard not to cry.
I want to go to her, to do whatever I can to reassure her, but my feet are heavy and rooted to the spot. Seeing her in so much anguish rattles me in a way that stirs a destructive whirlwind of emotions.
My whole world flips upside down, and the first thing I want is the blood of the bastard who caused this.
“I’m going to fucking kill him.”
Audrey’s head snaps up and she glares at me through red, puffy eyes. “And then what?” She sniffles and wipes her nose with the back of her hand. “When you kill Serrano? What next? What’ll happen to my brother?”
I don’t hesitate; I respond with the first thought that crosses my mind. “We’ll get him back.”
“Before or after you kill Serrano?”
Her eyes are shining with a distrust that makes my stomach turn. She doesn’t believe me. There’s no spark of hope in her voice or the slightest belief that I can make this better.
And that realization hits me like a punch to the gut.
Sighing, I rub two fingers over my eyes. “Audrey…” I’ve never needed anything as much as I need her to believe I won’t let her down this time. “I’m going to rescue Simon.”
“How?”
“What do you mean how, Audrey?” There’s an edge in my tone that shouldn’t be there, but I can’t help it. I can’t stop it. Not when frustration eats deep into my bones and a wave of helplessness threatens to swallow me whole.
The feeling makes me want to punch a hole right through the fucking wall.
“I’ll get him out of this. I’ll bring your brother back to you, alive. I mean it.”
“By doing what you know how to do best?” she fires back, anger seeping into her gaze.
“What’s the plan then? No, wait, let me guess: starting a war, then blindly running into a building to snatch Simon out of danger?
Right now, we don’t even have the slightest clue where he is.
This is, sadly, real life, not freaking movie, okay? ”
I raise a hand. “Listen to me,” I say. It’s a small attempt to calm her down. I know she’s panicking and scared for her brother’s life, but she doesn’t pause to hear me out.
“Look, Igor…I know Serrano.” Her eyes glisten with tears, but she blinks them away.
“I wish I didn’t know him or the way he works, but I do.
And that’s problem: I know exactly what he can do.
My brother is in real danger. Serrano is ruthless.
He’s meaner than the devil, and he doesn’t bluff. He said forty-eight hours—”
“I know that.”
“Two days, Igor,” she repeats, her throat closing up with unshed tears. “If I don’t turn myself in, he’s going to kill my brother.”
I clench my jaw and grit my teeth hard.
For a moment, the room remains silent. We stare at each other with the weight of her unspoken words hanging in the air between us. I heard her loud and clear, and I know what she’s not saying.
I finally force myself to move, crossing to room to where she’s seated in three long strides, and stand a few inches away, holding her gaze.
“You’re not offering to trade your life for his,” I state firmly.
Audrey rolls her eyes, then scoffs. “It’s so easy for you to stand there and say that, isn’t it? You’re so used to giving orders and having things go your way that you don’t know when to just stop.”
I narrow my gaze. “You can say whatever you want. You have the right to be angry, but that’s a problem. When you’re angry, you can be irrational. So I’ll repeat what I said: you are not fucking doing that.”
She shoots to her feet with her shoulders squared and her eyes blazing intensely. “Oh, but I am, Igor. I will turn myself in to save my brother’s life.”
Her defiance hits me harder than any physical blow, and a cold spike of adrenaline pierces my chest.
My hands lock onto her arm and I yank her forward, keeping her firmly pinned against my chest as I force her to look directly into my eyes. “No.”
“I won’t let you dictate this, Igor. You can’t stop me! I’m going to save my brother, and this is the best chance I have of doing that.”
Unrelenting, I shake my head. “Over my dead body.”
Audrey begins to twist in my grip, trying to pull away.
The rigid composure she’s been forcing herself to maintain completely breaks, and it gives way to her real desperation. “If I go to him, Simon walks free! That’s the deal! And I want my brother to live, Igor! Why don’t you understand that?”
My jaw tightens until the bone aches, and I grind my teeth harder against the sheer madness of her words. “And you think a snake like Serrano will keep his word? You think he’ll let either of you walk away? Then you don’t know him as much as you claim you do.”
“But I have to do something!” Her voice cracks.
“Audrey, you’re not thinking. You need to fucking calm down and think with me. Going to Emiliano is shooting yourself in the foot.”
She jams her palms against my chest, pushing futilely against my weight. “I can’t just sit here, waiting while he dies! I can’t let him kill my brother!”
Anger and fear collide violently inside my chest like a dark storm.
I’m furious, but not with her. My anger is channeled at the world for forcing her to this edge. The thought of losing her, the image of her walking into Serrano’s slaughterhouse because she genuinely believes sacrificing herself is the only solution, turns my blood to pure fire.
“You’re going nowhere, and that’s final,” I growl, my fingers digging deeper into her arm—not hard enough to hurt her, but to anchor her. “I’m not letting you make a stupid mistake.”
The tears in her eyes are on full display as they roll down her cheeks. She’s trembling in my grasp, biting on her lower lip to try to stop the flow, but nothing is working.
She looks at me with sad eyes, then sniffles. “What if you’re wrong this time?”
“What if I’m wrong about what?”
“Serrano killing me,” she says with a tired shrug. “What if he doesn’t? He might torture me, yes. But he’ll let Simon go. And that will give me peace.”
I shake my head sharply. “You walking into his hands isn’t a solution. It’s surrender. And I don’t surrender what’s mine.”
“That’s exactly what this is about. It’s this sick game of control and possession between you two. He knows that and he wants to hurt you through me,” she cries.
Her eyes grow wild and shine with a terrifying mix of panic and grief. She twists violently in my hold, her breathing coming in shallow gasps.
“If that’s what he wants, then let him take me. If his obsession is with punishing you, let him have me! I just want him to let my brother go! Simon doesn’t deserve any of this.”
“No, he doesn’t.” My voice drops into a hoarse growl.
The fury inside me hardens into something cold and dangerous.
“No one touches my woman or my family. And your brother is my family. No one is allowed to use either of you for leverage, revenge, or anything else. You belong to this house, Audrey. You belong to me. And I won’t trade my wife’s life for anyone’s sick satisfaction, certainly not Serrano’s. ”
Audrey doesn’t relent. She pounds her fists weakly against my chest. “You don’t understand. He’ll kill Simon.”
I catch her wrists gently but firmly, then lower them between our bodies to stop her movement. “I understand. That’s why I’m not letting you destroy yourself over this.”
My tone softens as I release her wrists to brush a stray, damp strand of hair from her tear-streaked face.
I wipe a hot tear from her cheek with my thumb. “You stay here with me, Audrey. You survive. That’s the rule here. I’m not letting you sacrifice yourself when I’m still standing.”
I pull her tightly into me and wrap an arm around her waist, cradling her against my chest and allowing her to feel my strength.
With my free hand, I send a message to Sergei, telling him to immediately send out a memo to summon all the men to the private room where we’ll have an emergency briefing.
I turn back to Audrey, cup her face in my large hands, and force her to hold my gaze.
The panic in her eyes is still there, but it’s slowly fading, and I hope that it’s because she believes I can do this.
She nibbles on her lip and lets out a shaky breath. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean what I said earlier about…about you doing what you do best. That didn’t come out right, and I was—”
“Come here.” I put a finger under her chin and tilt her head farther back before leaning in to plant a chaste kiss on her lips. “I understand, and I’m not upset. What matters now is Simon, and I have a plan,” I say. “It’s not polished yet, but we can start from there.”
She blinks rapidly, her eyes suddenly gleaming with interest. “Tell me.”
“You say you know Serrano, right? That knowledge will be to our advantage. All you have to do is tell us everything we need to know about him—every detail, big or small. It’ll give us a head start in finding your brother.
We won’t need two days. We’re springing into action immediately.
I’ve already scheduled an emergency meeting with the men tomorrow.
Tonight, you need to calm down, eat, and recharge.
You’ll need all the strength you can get for the operation.
You’ll be central to the planning. That way you won’t think you’re not doing anything to help him. ”
“I…I appreciate that, honestly, but…tomorrow?” She frowns. “Why not tonight? The sooner the better, right? I don’t think I can sleep, knowing that Simon is locked up, hungry, cold, and alone.”
I place a hand on her lips, then muster a small smile.
“It’s hard to trust anything in this moment.
I get that you don’t really trust me, either.
But I need you to believe that I’ll bring Simon back alive,” I say softly, and stroke her cheek.
“You won’t trade yourself for him. Tomorrow, we’ll have a full team, and we’ll be ready to extract Simon.
I won’t fail you, and I definitely won’t fail him. ”
Audrey releases a deep sigh, but the uncertainty returns, shining through her eyes.
It doesn’t matter.
I know that this time, my promise to her isn’t a mere threat, but a sacred vow.