Chapter 23 - Iosif
I couldn’t help but wonder how Clara would react to my plan. I felt sure she would be pissed at me. But I didn’t care much. I had to get to her. Sneaking into Kolya’s place was my only option.
I didn’t care about my life at the moment; all I wanted was to see her once more. To hold her and maybe have one last kiss. I wanted to make things right between us. Living without her was like hell. I couldn’t take it anymore, and I felt sure we could work things out.
After managing to sneak past the guards, I stood by what looked like a living room window. The latch wasn’t closed, so I was able to unhook it and open the window. Glancing in, I saw no one. I listened but heard nothing.
This was my way in. Once the guards had moved around the corner and the coast was clear, I climbed in. Softly, I pulled the window closed behind me. I crouched behind the couch for a moment, listening.
There was movement above me on the second floor. But everything was quiet around me. Moving to the door, I peeked out. There was a long hallway moving in both directions. Doors lined the sides, left and right.
Moving into the hallway, I went right as the main part of the house was towards it. Kolya’s place was much bigger than I had imagined. I gently felt the door handles and looked into the rooms as I went. I did not want to be surprised by someone walking out of a room.
I felt lost as I made my way to the arch at the end of the hallway. I knew this was a dangerous and stupid move. I stopped at the end of the hallway and looked at the foyer opening before me. It was much bigger than the one at my new home or the one at my father’s place.
There were about five more archways and three sets of stairs. I felt like I was about to lose my mind. How did I ever think I would be able to find her inside this mansion? Well, no turning back now. I picked a staircase and started moving up. I was out in the open now. I had to move swiftly.
I was about halfway up the stairs when I felt the gun shoving into the back of my head.
“What the fuck are you doing in my house?” Kolya breathed like a dragon behind me. How did I not hear him approaching?
Raising my hands, I slowly started to turn. “I am unarmed and mean no harm,” I said.
The anger on Kolya’s face was prominent. His jaw was clenched so tight, I thought he might break his teeth. His brows were furrowed, and his skin had a reddish look. I understood why he was pissed at me. But I had to try.
Kolya’s finger slid to the trigger of his gun. I stood tall, not fearing death. I was prepared to face my death should it be here and now. Suddenly, Avgust came up behind Kolya, shoving his gun into the back of his head. The scenario was almost funny.
“Aren’t you happy that I shadowed you?” Avgust huffed, glancing at me with his usual cocky smile.
Sighing deeply, I nodded. “Yes, thank you, brother. But why in hell’s name were you following me to start with?” I asked.
There was a pause as Avgust took a breath before speaking. “Brother, you didn’t answer your phone.”
“I was a little busy, as you can see,” I shot back.
He took another deep, slow breath, shaking his head. “Clara tried calling you, then called Zhenya as she couldn’t reach you. Zhenya couldn’t either and called me. I tried calling…”
“Yes, yes, I get the drift,” I interrupted him.
“Well, when I couldn’t get hold of you, I tracked you. And now we are here,” Avgust replied. I could hear some anger in his tone. But the sarcasm dripped from his words.
Avgust shoved his gun harder against Kolya’s head as he shouted at him. “Lower your fucking gun before I put a hole in your head!”
Kolya had a strong resolve. I could see his determination as his grip tightened on his gun. His lips tightened, and his gaze was fixed on me. I knew that he wasn’t going to lower his gun. At the end of this confrontation, both of us would be dead.
His voice filled the air around us as he started throwing accusations around. “You kidnapped my sister, and now you’re back to do what? This time, you took her from my home!”
I froze as he shouted at me. I had no intention of taking her. I merely wanted to talk to her. Hell, I even came unarmed. Both Avgust and I replied the same thing. “We didn’t take her!”
If it wasn’t for the seriousness of the situation, we would have laughed. “What the hell do you mean we kidnapped her?” I questioned, confused.
Kolya shook his gun as he spat at me. His rage is coming through strongly. “You fucking took her! What do you want here when you already have her?” There was a sadness to his voice that I knew all too well.
The situation was frustrating, and we weren’t getting anywhere as he hadn’t given us a straight answer. His gun was still aimed at me, and Avgust’s gun at him. I could see it going off as he started squeezing the trigger. I braced myself, but the shot never fired.
Before it could, the double doors swung open, and our attention was drawn to my other brothers storming in.
“Stop!” Timofey exclaimed as he rushed towards us. Timofey held a tablet in his hands as he came running up the stairs. “It wasn’t us!” he screamed. “We didn’t take her. Here’s the proof.”
I felt my chest closing as fear stepped in. Raising my brows, I stepped closer as Kolya lowered his gun and grabbed the tablet from Timofey. There was a text note on the tablet screen.
We have her!
We want ten million for her safe return!
We will text you the details!
Below this was a picture of Clara tied up in the back of a van. I couldn’t believe it. I should have come sooner, then maybe she would be with me and safe. “You couldn’t protect her!” I spat at Kolya, feeling my rage growing.
He tensed up before throwing the tablet across the room. It hit the wall, and tiny pieces rained down to the ground. Turning to face me, I could see he knew what he had done. “I will let you go for now. I’ve got ants to terminate!” he spat.
Taking a deep breath, I tried calming my wild heart. I spoke in a calm, even tone. “Then we have a common goal. For now, let’s put our differences aside and save Clara.”
Kolya studied me briefly, then nodded. For the time being, this was how things would be. Yet, I couldn’t find it in me to trust Kolya. But putting our differences aside so we could achieve a common goal was vital.
“Alright, let’s get started,” I huffed, walking past Kolya down the stairs.
“I’ll have my people look into how and where she was taken,” Kolya said.
I nodded as I left with my brothers. I had my own research teams and will check in with Kolya later. As we headed home, I called Alexandr and asked for assistance.
It didn’t take Kolya’s men long to find where she had gone missing. They had captured images of her leaving the property. They also saw the kidnapping and the van. However, there were no plates to trace.
I sent the images through to Aleksandr. He let me know within an hour where we could find the van. “We have the last location,” he said. “But they might have changed vehicles.”
“It’s fine, thank you. Please send me what you have, we’ll take it from here,” I replied hastily.
My phone pinged before we hung up. “Sent, good luck,” Aleksandr added before the line went dead.
“Let’s gather the men,” I said to Avgust as I dialed Kolya.
“Yes, you have something?” Kolya asked as he picked up.
“I’ve sent you the details, meet you there,” I replied and hung up.
I took my men and headed to the place the van was last seen or tracked to. We parked a couple of blocks down and waited for Kolya. He sent one of his men to scout the building before we made our entrance.
“She’s in there,” Kolya’s man said as he returned.