Chapter 26
NIKOLAI
Ifinish the last set and the world narrows to the scorch of breath and the burn in my shoulders. My shirt is a second skin by the time I drop the dumbbell and grab my water bottle.
I don't usually work out this late, but the house feels like a coffin without Elle. I check my watch again. She should be back by now.
God, I want to call. But I'm not that stupid. She's already furious. If I push, she'll combust. But sooner or later, we need to talk.
I'm walking out of the gym when my phone rings. I pick up faster than instinct when I see it's one of the bodyguards.
"Boss." His voice is thin. Shaking around the words like paper in wind. "Boss, it's Elle. She's been taken."
The floor drops away.
For a beat, I hear nothing but the slow, obscene thump of my own heart. Then the world comes back with sharp edges.
"What the hell do you mean she's been taken?"
"I was waiting by the car. Igor and Vlad were with them inside. There were gunshots. Igor's dead. Vlad's hurt bad. The girls are gone."
"Girls?"
"Elle and Natalia."
The air between my ribs goes thin, like someone's pulling a wire tighter and tighter and I'm about to snap. I drop onto the bench, my body shaking with grief and rage.
Natalia was with her. Fuck. This is on me. I should have kicked her out when Viktor told me to.
"Who took them?" I hiss.
"We don't know."
"Get our men on it. Secure the area. Hack every CCTV in the periphery. We need to find Elle. Now."
I hang up and force myself to stand. My head is a wreck. I need to call Viktor. I need someone who thinks straight when I can't. I need to get in my car and drive to the scene.
I grab the spare gun from the foyer cabinet, feet hitting gravel as I slide into the car.
I'm about to call Viktor when my phone rings again.
Every hair on my body stands up. I answer because my gut already knows who it is.
"Hello, son-in-law. I'd wager you've heard."
Gayle.
That cold, cunning snake.
"Where is she?" I snarl.
"Such dramatics. Elle is perfectly fine and back at my place. For now."
My teeth grind so hard the pain shoots straight to my skull. "Put her on."
"All in good time. First, we discuss terms."
"You're using your daughter as a bargaining chip?" My voice is ice.
"She's the most precious thing in the world to me." I can hear her smile through the phone.
"Name it." Even though I'd rather rip her throat out through the receiver.
"Ten million. Cash. Twenty-four hours."
"You're delusional."
"Then your pretty wife becomes someone else's problem. I have buyers who'd pay double."
The steering wheel creaks under my grip. "Touch her and there won't be a hole deep enough."
"Such a disappointment. I expected better negotiation skills from Viktor's right hand."
I'm already turning toward her neighborhood.
"You'll get your answer in person."
I hang up. Toss the phone. Floor it.
All alone. No backup. Just rage.
Not the safest play. But the only one my blood will allow.
The doorman doesn't stop me. The elevator crawls upward, numbers ticking, and I force my breathing to slow.
Every nerve screams to get to Elle.
The logical part of me, the one that usually keeps me alive, whispers that this is a mistake.
I ignore it.
When the doors open, I see Gayle's men immediately. All armed. Professional. These aren't rent-a-cops. She's made sure I'm walking into her world on her terms.
For the first time tonight, the stupidity of this hits me. No backup. No plan. One gun against a dozen. If I'd brought my team, maybe I'd have a chance.
Now I'm just a man walking into a trap because he loves his wife too much to think straight.
"Arms out. Slowly."
I comply. They take my gun, the knife in my boot, the garrote wire in my belt. Strip me of everything lethal.
Gayle's on her white sofa, legs crossed, wine in hand, like she's celebrating.
"Well, look who decided to join us. Did you bring my ten million?"
"You think I'd walk in with a bag of cash?"
"I thought you might be desperate enough." She sips. "You've always struck me as the impulsive type."
"You won't get your money. Viktor won't approve that payout for someone he's known three months."
"Oh, I don't want Viktor's money." She sets her glass down. "I want Viktor's life."
My heartbeat pounds in my ears. "You want me to kill my uncle."
"With Viktor gone, his organization fractures.
Egor has been waiting for exactly that opening, and I've already secured his protection.
By the time Viktor's men figure out what happened, I'll be untouchable and halfway across the Atlantic.
" She says it calmly. Rehearsed. Like she's been building this chess move for months.
"I'm giving you the opportunity to prove your loyalty. To your wife, your child, your future."
"You've lost your mind."
"Kill Viktor Ivanov, and you get your wife back. Refuse, and I sell her to Egor by the end of the week."
"How do I even know she's alive?"
"Proof of life. Fair enough."
She snaps her fingers. Two men drag Elle from a side room.
My heart stops.
She's barefoot. Wrists bound. A bruise on her temple. When they force her to her knees in front of Gayle, she lets out a small cry that tears through me like a blade.
I take a step forward.
A gun raises. Gayle picks hers up off the table and aims it at Elle's head.
"Move again and she dies right here."
My throat goes dry. Every instinct screams to charge forward. To grab her. To put myself between them. But one twitch and she's gone. So I stand there, fists clenched, hating myself with every breath.
Elle's eyes find mine. Terror, yes. But something steadier underneath. She's telling me don't do anything stupid. I can read her even now.
Gayle keeps the gun trained. "You see, Nikolai, you may think you're in control. But I own the strings. And if you want her and the baby alive, you'll do exactly as I say."
It takes me a second to register what she said. "What baby?"
She smirks. "Didn't she tell you? Congratulations. You're going to be a father."
The room disappears.
The guns. The guards. Gayle's voice. All of it cuts out.
Father?
I look at Elle. Her eyes don't lie. She's crying, and I know, right then, that it's true.
And I missed it.
Fuck.
That's what she was trying to tell me. The candles. The dress. The dinner I walked away from.
Jesus Christ.
I was too busy chasing the wrong threats. Trying to fix everything around her while she was right in front of me, scared and alone, trying to find one moment to say the thing that should have mattered most.
And I didn't see it.
I didn't fucking see it.
I let her carry that alone.
"Elle," I whisper. "Is it true?"
She nods. Chin trembling.
My heart rips in half. I don't care about Viktor. I don't care about Gayle. All I want is to put my hand on her stomach and feel what's ours.
I've already failed them once.
Gayle's voice cuts through. "So tell me, Nikolai. Do you really want Egor raising your child?"
"No."
"Then you know what to do." She lowers the gun slightly. "You're the only person in this city who can get close enough to Viktor to put a bullet in his head. That's why you're walking out of here tonight. And that's why you'll come back to me when it's done."
She lets that settle.
"Don't think about running. I know where your car is parked. I know where your son sleeps. I know every move you make before you make it. Seventy-two hours, Nikolai. Bring me Viktor, and you get your family back."
Her men close in, forcing me toward the door. I let them. I don't fight. I don't speak. But inside, every thought, every heartbeat, every breath is a single burning promise.
I'm coming back for her.
And when I do, I'll make sure Gayle never touches her, or our child, ever again.