21. Chapter 21
I paced along the path separating the two platforms, holding shelves of books, waiting for everyone to arrive, twirling and twirling my knife between my fingers. It didn’t bring me any sort of comfort or calmness.
My head was starting to pound with the constant rise in my blood pressure, the primitive part of my brain in constant fight mode, except there was no fighting. No blood. No mutilation!
Even though I generally like my anger, it was currently getting on my nerves. I needed a damn outlet for it, but instead it was being bottled up, ready to explode, like a carbonated soda bottle being shaken too much.
Where the hell were Maverick and Khai ?
“I can’t wait for fucking people,” I said, and rushed off to head downstairs to retrieve my weapons and change clothes. I could do this alone.
“Where are you going?” Sid asked as I headed toward the elevator. He was sitting on a leather sofa in the lounge area with Dante, who had Luca curled up next to him, watching television.
“I’m done waiting. It’s taking too long. Calling the family was a mistake.”
Sid stood and purposefully walked over to me, his blue eyes never leaving mine. I looked away, knowing he was going to make me focus, but I didn’t want to. I need to do something instead of standing around.
“Tell me what’s happened. We don’t have to wait for the meeting.”
“No, I need to go. I need to kill them all!”
“Look at me,” he said too calmly.
“No.” I paced again, back and forth, back and forth.
“Do you have your knife?”
“I always have it.”
“Use it to calm down.”
“What the hell do you think I’ve been doing?!” I boomed. I ran a hand through my hair, tired of my pounding fucking heart. “It’s Thomas.”
“Who’s Thomas?” Dante asked.
I stopped in my tracks, realizing only Sid, Dalton, and Sully knew about him. “He’s my boyfriend.”
Dante raised a black brow. “Boyfriend?”
“He’s not like me. Thomas is innocent and pure. He worships me. But his fucking father is a gambling addict and got in over his head. Now they want retribution for not being paid back, so they took Thomas and his sister. He’s the reason for all Thomas’s suffering!”
“That explains your anger. If anyone took Luca, I’d burn everything down.”
“Yes! Exactly!” I continued to pace, tapping the pads of my fingers together, unable to focus. “I need to kill them all. No doubt they’ve hurt him.”
The red and slaughter filled my mind, and I shook my head, trying to calm down, but nothing was working.
“This is taking too damn long!”
“Calm down and focus, Easton.”
I stopped my pacing to face Sid again. “I won’t calm down! I’m going to murder all of them, starting with his pathetic father!”
“You will not kill his father,” Sid insisted.
“Watch me.”
“Thomas will not like that,” Dante said.
“How would you know? Didn’t you kill Luca’s father?”
“No, Luca killed Luca’s father. Besides, Luca grew up in darkness. If Thomas is as innocent as you say, he will not like that you killed his father.”
“He’ll forgive me in time.”
Sid shook his head and stopped my pacing by placing gentle hands on my shoulders. “Thomas will never forgive you. Even if you save his life and that of his sister, if you take out his father, he will always see you as a monster.”
“Sid’s right,” Dalton said, coming into the lounge area, carrying two cups of coffee, and handing one to Sid .
Sid sat back on the leather sofa, crossing a leg over the other, as Dalton sat on the armrest next to him.
He looked at me with shrewd blue eyes that said, ‘ I’m your boss right now, not your father.
’ “You were right to call us, East. This is a family issue. We handle this the right way. If you go in there on a rampage, you’ll risk Thomas and Annie’s lives even more than they already are. ”
Sid was one of the few who could calm me down, if only a little, probably because I trusted him with my life.
“You finally found some happiness in your life, East. Let’s keep hold of that. Use that to direct you as we decide the next steps to take,” he continued in his tone that was both authoritative and soothing.
“Sit down for a moment,” Dalton said, maintaining that calm yet firm tone Sid had given. “Everyone will be here in a moment.”
I sagged on a chair next to Sid as Dalton patted my shoulder. “Layla just got here. She’ll be up in a minute. Khai and Maverick just texted that they pulled into the parking garage.”
I stayed put and did what I was told, but only for Thomas’s sake, to get him back into my life, where he belonged.
Sid leaned toward me. “Don’t worry. You’ll get your chance to slaughter these people.
There’ll be blood on your hands. That’s a promise.
However, you must maintain a cool head. Don’t let the rage guide you.
You’ll fail then. And Thomas will either die or be taken to a place we can’t find him. And if we do, it’ll be too late.”
I hated that he was right.
Soon, Layla came up, yawning and sipping coffee. “It’s my day to sleep in. I sure hope this is worth it.”
“It is,” Dalton said .
A few minutes later, Khai and Maverick came in and headed our way. Khai walked behind Maverick, eyeing his every move for some reason while Maverick planted a fake smile on his face. Maverick was relatively easy, and so were his smiles, but not then. He looked strained and tired.
Malik came out of his office with Sully on his heels. “Good, we’re all here. Let’s gather in the conference room and talk.”
“Can I help?” Luca asked, turning off the TV. He always liked to be busy around here. While he had been trained to kill and protect himself by Dante and me, he chose to run errands and work around the office.
“Can you make an extra pot of coffee, and I’d like—”
“Your tea! I know!” Luca ran off toward the kitchen with a smile on his face and blond curls bouncing behind him.
Once we all gathered in the conference room, everyone sat but me and Sully, who tucked himself into a corner and flipped his knife through his fingers as I often did, watching me. He was always watchful and had a sharp eye, which made him good at what he did.
Maverick still looked stressed, and he was too quiet, while Khai sat next to him, his face made of stone, showing nothing.
Malik waved a hand in my direction. “Please, Easton. Tell us what has happened and what you need from us.”
“This is about my boyfriend, Thomas. His father is a piece of shit gambling addict. When he got in over his head, they took his kids as payment. Now they’re demanding half a million dollars for their return, but we all know he doesn’t have that kind of money.
” I slammed my fist on the table. “I want these people hunted down and fucking killed! Thomas belongs to me! ”
“I wonder how they knew about his two kids,” Dalton said.
“This is a game to these people. They use people like Thomas’s father and their addiction against them with promises of more.
Sometimes, they win just to give you a taste of what’s to come, and the glory of winning so much money, but instead of winning more, they get so deep in debt, they drown in it.
His kids were probably treated as collateral. ”
I perked up, ready for my murderous rampage, seeing that red again. “He put his kids up as collateral?”
Dalton held up his hand to calm me. “No, Easton. I doubt it. They did it without his knowledge, especially if he’s got nothing left to pawn.
When he can’t pay, they take his kids and will sell them on the black market.
They give him a chance to pay them back, but they ratchet up the price, so it’s nearly impossible.
They may even let him bet again for a chance to win his kids back.
When he fails, which he will, the kids will be sold. ”
“Then we need to hurry!” I demanded.
“There’s time,” Malik said. “We need information and to organize. Even if they do get sold, we can probably track them.”
Layla had her laptop booted up and took a sip of her coffee. “Do you have any names? Any information at all that will direct us where to go?”
“Yes, I threatened Thomas’s father. He said he’d been working with Gregory Ivanov.”
“See what the FBI has on him, Layla,” Dalton suggested.
She typed away, chewing on her bottom lip as her large glasses slid down her nose.
“Okay, here are the basics, but I’m sure there’s more when we dig deep.
Gregory Ivanov, forty-one years old, six-foot-four, unknown weight, came to the U.S.
from the poor town of Buryatia back in 1998 when he was fifteen.
It appears his family was shipped here by the Bratva.
If his family was poor, they were probably recruited or forced into the mob.
They will pay families to come to the U.S.
and force them to work to pay off their debts.
Ivanov began with petty crimes and theft, and eventually progressed to more serious endeavors when he started organizing underground fighting and races.
He’s not a top dog within the Bratva, but he’s paid well.
He not only makes them money through betting, but he also manipulates addicts into doing more than their conscience would otherwise allow them to do.
Some get recruited into the ‘ family ,’ but if they can’t pay and there’s no collateral, the victims usually end up tortured and killed, unless they have something of value.
Like if a woman is young and pretty enough, she can prostitute for them. ”
“Where? We need a place,” I demanded.
She was unfazed by my outburst as she typed away on her keyboard. “This is going to take some digging. The FBI doesn’t have any known recent locations for him. His last place of residence was in Richmond, Virginia, and that was six years ago. Currently, he’s off their radar for now.”
We all waited as she worked her magic. There was nothing we could do until we found him and where they were keeping Thomas and Annie.
“Okay, got it. He’s got a large home in Potomac, Maryland, on a five-acre wooded lot.”
Sid shook his head. “He’s not going to keep kidnapped children in his home.”
Layla nodded. “You got it. He lives there, apparently, with his wife and two sons. ”
“Is there anything else he owns? A warehouse of some sort? A safehouse?” Malik asked.
She continued to click away on your keyboard and nodded.
“I’ve tied the real estate company that sold him his house to commercial properties.
Digging deeper, this company has ties to the Bratva.
The business is probably used more to funnel money through and launder it.
However, there is one building that could be his, but the owner’s name on it isn’t Gregory Ivanov; it’s Ivan Grekov. That could be him. Most likely.”
“What’s the building? Where is it? Can it hold prisoners?” I asked in rapid fire. “Just point me in the damn direction!”
She narrowed her eyes at me before typing again.
“It’s in Washington, on 8th Street. It’s a 48,000-square-foot industrial building used for storage.
There’s not much else around it. The highway is behind it, and flanking the building are other industrial buildings, both of which are abandoned.
Perfect for what they do. It’s isolated. ”
“What’s the security like?” Maverick asked, speaking for the first time.
“If they’re housing stolen kids, it’s going to be high. It will take more digging. I should have it all hacked before you go, as long as it’s on Wi-Fi. I can’t currently access a satellite to scan the area, but I’m sure there will be guards.”
Malik nodded and stood. “We’ll have to improvise on this. We go in with caution. Do not rush. Maverick, work with Layla to find some high ground if you need to take out some guards quietly. Khai, you maintain the perimeter and be Maverick’s eyes on areas he can’t see.”
Both men looked at each other before nodding .
“Please tell me you’re sending me in. It’s been a while since I played,” Sully said.
“This is Easton’s call on who is his partner.”
Now that we had a plan and Malik had allowed me to choose my partner, I breathed a little easier. The rage dissipated, and I was focused on getting Thomas out.
I nodded at Sully. “You can come with me, but no playing until we find Thomas and Annie. After that, you can do what you want.”
His smile was broad, and his entire face lit up. “Done.”
Malik nodded to Sid and Dalton. “Please be the ears for Easton and Sully. I would also like Dante to go with you, Easton. We do not know how many people are inside. Dante is very good at infiltrating. He can be an extra pair of eyes.”
I simply nodded.
“Everyone, please stay alive, yes?” Malik said and left the room.
Finally, I was ready to get my little rabbit.
I headed to the lower level to gather my gear and change my clothes. I was ready to get blood on my hands.
And Thomas better still be alive.