Chapter 18
18
Ivan
T he jet ride to America was quiet apart from the roar of the engine filling the cabin. Adrian was tense the entire ride, not that I was fairing much better. I’d given explicit orders that no one on board was allowed to eat or drink anything, and we had a second pilot on stand-by just in case something did happen. And that pilot wasn’t allowed out of my fucking sight.
I would not take another chance that someone might target us again. Granted, no one had time to actually find out where we were going or that we were leaving, but just in case there were eyes on us, I wouldn’t take the chance someone got here before we did and paid someone off.
When we landed, Mark hurried off to get our rental car. Adrian took the time while we waited to call his family and check-in with them. I stayed sitting beside him, ready to be his anchor if he needed me to. Adrian was strong as hell—one of the strongest men I knew—but I knew this was hitting hard. James was his brother in every sense of the word but blood, and they hadn’t parted on all that great of terms. Adrian had been furious when he left to come to Russia.
I knew that was all he could focus on right then.
“Darren? Hey. Any update?” Adrian’s features were pinched as he listened to Darren speak, and then, his shoulders slumped. He leaned forward, and with his elbow braced on his knee, he covered his face with his palm. “Fuck,” he breathed. “Okay. We’ve landed, and we’ll be there soon.”
He ended the call, then sat back in his seat. I arched a brow at him. “Well?”
“He’s out of surgery,” Adrian said. “He made it through. Now, we’re just waiting on the anesthesia to wear off. We should be able to move him soon.” He scrubbed his hands over his face again, then dropped them to his lap with a quiet smack. “I’ve got an idea for a safehouse, but I need to run it by Darren and Jaxon first. Because I need to make sure they can hold it all down without me.” When he looked at me, his eyes were cold and flat. The monster inside of me rose at the sight of his.
There’s my kitten .
“I’m going to fucking slaughter whoever did this to James,” he growled. “And then, when I find Boris and Ninel, I’m going to make them regret the day they were fucking born.” After this bullshit, I’d let him have all the kills if that was what he wanted.
I wrapped my hand around his throat, then pulled his mouth to mine in a hot, deep kiss. He groaned, melting into me almost immediately. His pulse began to beat rapidly at the base of his throat, echoing through my palm and vibrating down my wrist.
“Only if you’ll allow me to bathe in their blood with you,” I growled against his lips.
He nodded before tilting his head to kiss me again. I nipped at his bottom lip before sucking the abused flesh into my mouth, my hand tightening around his throat.
“While I’m all for a good pornographic film,” Igor said, interrupting the moment as he came to lean on the seats across from us, his arms folded over his chest. I slowly released Adrian to look up at him. “Mark is here with the rental car. Let’s hit the road.”
* * *
When we got to the hospital, Darren was waiting outside for us. He nodded once at me in greeting before turning to Adrian. They slapped their hands together before drawing each other into a one-armed hug, their hands clasped between them. When Adrian stepped back, Darren led us into the hospital and to the elevators without a word.
The ride up to the fourth floor felt like it took ten fucking years. We were on the second floor when Adrian asked, “What room?”
Darren’s eyes were locked on the numbers slowly climbing to floor four. “Four nineteen,” he quietly answered.
When the doors finally slid apart, Adrian didn’t waste a beat. He followed the signs leading toward room four nineteen. A nurse shouted at him to stop, but I slipped her a hundred-dollar bill, and she went silent, turning away to go bother someone else.
When we stepped into the room, Adrian paused, staring at James. The man was pale—too fucking pale. And lying in that hospital bed, he looked fragile . A man who always seemed like he was practically fucking immortal now looked very mortal. It was a haunting reminder that we were all one bullet away from death’s door.
“Adrian,” Emmaline croaked as she looked up at James’s best friend, rising to her feet. Her face was pale too, her blonde hair a mess around her shoulders. Mascara lines stained her cheeks, and her face was damn near as pale as her husband’s.
“Hey,” Adrian roughly greeted. When she rounded the bed, he drew her into a hug, dropping a kiss to the top of her head. “Has he woken up yet?”
“No,” she quietly answered. “But the nurse said it would be any minute now.” She blew out a soft breath. “I’m so glad you’re here.” Stepping back, she swiped at her cheeks. “You’re going to find who did this, aren’t you?”
“I won’t stop searching for them until they’re dead,” he promised her. He stared at James’s still body, only the rise and fall of his chest indicating he was still alive.
Darren clapped a hand to Adrian’s shoulder. “I need to get back down to Juliana and Amberose,” he said, mentioning his wife and daughter. “Call me if he wakes up.”
Adrian nodded, and Darren slipped from the room, quietly shutting the door behind him. Igor, who’d been leaning against the wall doing something on his tablet, suddenly pushed off and came to stand beside me. I glanced over, my eyes locking on the grainy black and white image on his tablet. An image of a man, looking right up at the fucking camera in James’s kitchen.
“Found him,” Igor said, a smirk playing at his lips.
Adrian swung his gaze to us, then came to stand beside me, peering over my shoulder as the video played. There was no sound, but we didn’t need it. In the video, James was putting the finishing touches on a cup of tea. Someone moved from out of the doorway, their hood up. I gritted my teeth, watching as James continued to remain unaware of their presence. They moved closer, and that was their mistake.
When they were right behind James, they lifted their arm, aimed?—
And then, James turned around. Quick as a flash, he snatched a knife from the knife block and slashed it across the intruder’s neck but not deep enough to do real damage. The gun fired twice, catching James in the chest at a super close range. James hit the floor, and the attacker frantically reached up to cover their wound. In their haste, their hood fell back, and then, they looked up, their eyes wide with panic, staring directly at the mother fucking camera.
“Got you,” Adrian whispered. He made a tsk ing sound. “Rookie mistake.” He looked at Igor. “Can you get me an ID?”
“Already running facial recognition scans,” he assured Adrian. “But with it being so grainy, it might take a bit.”
Adrian grunted, then walked over to Emmaline. “You armed, girly?” When she nodded, patting her side, he bent and kissed her temple. “Do not leave this room unless Igor is with you, understand?”
“What?” Igor asked, flabbergasted and a bit irritated. He looked at me, his eyes narrowed. “I thought I was with you.”
I shrugged and reached up to pat his shoulder condescendingly. His upper lip curled in a snarl. “Adrian wants you here. You’ll be fine. Let me know when you get something.”
He huffed. “I hate babysitting duty.”
Emmaline gaped at him. “Excuse you?” she snapped. My eyebrows shot up onto my forehead. I hadn’t expected her to actually speak out like that. She was always so sweet and docile. I’d never seen her angry. She was always pleasant, literally one of the sweetest people I’d ever been around. Clearly, having her husband damn near on his deathbed had fried her nerves. “I don’t need a fucking babysitter, asshole.”
Igor held up his hands, one holding the tablet, in a placating gesture. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. Forgive me.”
She huffed and turned away from him, reaching forward to grab James’s hand in hers. I snorted a laugh at Igor being put in his place. Adrian looked at me. “Let’s go to the house. See what we can find in the kitchen.”
I gestured toward the door and gave a bow that he rolled his eyes at. “Lead the way, kotik .”