Chapter 25
CHAPTER
TWENTY-FIVE
LEO
I wake up gradually, the world slowly coming into focus. It’s the middle of the night, I can determine that much by the moon still shining in the sky. Which is good. It means I still have another few hours alone with Aly.
My hand instinctively reaches for her warmth, eager to roll over and sink between her legs. Instead, I find her side of the bed cold and empty, like she’s been gone a while. Sitting up, I blink against the darkness, confusion clouding my mind.
My hand gropes for my phone, the faint light from the screen illuminating the cabin as I check the time. Three in the morning. I set the phone down only for it to vibrate with an incoming message. Dima’s name flashes on the screen. He’s sent a file.
Opening it, I find unsealed records from Jack’s time in juvenile detention. My eyes flicker over the words, my stomach clenching with a growing sense of dread as a certain phrase stands out.
Sexual assault.
Disgust settles in my stomach. He’s the absolute worst kind of scum. Once we arrive in Dubrovnik, he’ll get what’s coming to him. But right now, all I can think about is finding Aly.
My bare feet hit the floor, and I pull on a pair of boxers before I leave the stateroom. I move through the dimly lit hallway up to the mid-level deck, scanning the space for signs of her. Nothing.
A distant noise from the deck above snags my attention—a muffled thump, heated voices echoing in the stillness. Heart pounding, I race up to the top deck.
The vision I’m met with is worse than what I could have conjured in my nightmares. Alyona, trapped beneath Jack’s weight, her limbs thrashing, attempting to push him off her.
Rage pulses through me, and I charge at Jack with a guttural roar. My fist connects with his jaw, and the sound of bone cracking strikes like thunder. “You mudak. You will die for this.”
Alyona has scrambled to the side as Jack recovers and comes at me. Our bodies tangle in a vicious dance of punches and blows. Despite reeking of alcohol, he holds his own, but I am relentless, driven by a primal need to protect Aly.
I growl, landing a punch to Jack’s gut that makes him double over. “You’re a rapist. And I will personally make you pay for your sins.”
“She’s a whore.” He spits blood, venom dripping from his words. “You’re both scum, not worth all this shit.”
My fury reaches a boiling point, and I send Jack flying with a devastating punch. “You think you can hurt what belongs to me and get away with it?”
He’s not so quick to get up this time, and I take a brief moment to enjoy the sight of him sprawled flat on his back, struggling to breathe. I seize Jack by the collar, drag him to his feet, and haul his upper body over the edge of the railing. “You’re going for a swim, you miserable fuck!”
He starts bucking and snarling, desperately trying to get out of my hold. “You’re fucking crazy. I’ll die—”
“That’s the point,” Alyona’s voice rings out, cold and vicious. Our eyes meet across the deck, and she gives me a nod, her eyes flashing with resolve.
Jack’s screams rip through the air as I heave him overboard. With a satisfying splash he’s swallowed up by the murky waters of the sea.
I have Aly scooped up in my arms within seconds. My chest heaves as I struggle to catch my breath. “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay,” I whisper into her hair.
She nods, a sob slipping past her lips. “I’m okay,” she reassures me, though she’s still quaking like a leaf in my arms. “I tried to fight him off, but …” Her voice trails off into a whisper. “He’s a monster.”
“Was a monster. Was.” I kiss her hair, holding her tight. “Fuck, Aly, that scared the shit out of me. Finding you here, with his hands on you …” My voice cracks as I start towards our room. “I would die to protect you. You need to know that.”
“I know,” she whispers, face buried in my chest.
In the stateroom, I lay her down on the bed and hold her, trying to erase all his ugliness with my tenderness. “Fuck, baby, tell me how to make this better. What can I do to erase his marks?”
“You make it better. Your touch can erase the darkness.”
With her permission, I strip her and tenderly examine every inch of her body. Kissing each and every bruise, cursing every red mark and painful welt. When her eyes finally shut and her breathing evens out, I lie down beside her.
“I need to tell you something.” She turns to face me, her eyes wide with worry. “He’s told people, Leo. Sent our picture out to his contacts. He doesn’t know who we are, but it’s only a matter of time.”
Motherfucker. Ice freezes in my veins but I don’t want to worry Aly, so I say, “I’ll look into it. Right now, just sleep.”
“Don’t leave me,” she murmurs, but she’s already drifting off.
“I’ll be right here.” I stroke her cheek and kiss her forehead. “I’m not going anywhere.” Her breath evens out, and although she can’t hear my words, I whisper into her hair, “I love you.”
With Aly still out to the world, I leave her a note and head to the office.
There are things in need of my attention that can’t wait.
Like figuring out the damage that Jack wrought.
I blame myself for not seeing what he was earlier.
A sick man, a predator, the lowest of the low.
Anger claws up my throat every time the vision of Jack on top of Aly enters my brain. It’ll haunt me to my dying day.
But he’s left us with a much more urgent problem.
Dima already hacked into Jack’s phone and email accounts and learned that he made high-level connections working on the yacht—politicians, CEOs, mob bosses.
He sent them our photo, taken in secret like the twisted fuck he was, and exposed us.
Our true identities will soon be revealed, if they aren’t already.
Time has never been on our side, and now it’s become our mortal enemy. Soon, those hunting Alyona will find us.
“Andrei,” I say, answering the phone that buzzed in my hand. The fact that my brothers, Kira, and Yulian landed in Dubrovnik a few hours earlier and were able to get a head start on hunting Horvat might be our only saving grace. “What’s going on? Do you have Horvat yet?”
“We’re watching him. He’s in the back room of a nightclub getting his dick sucked. Him and his men are coked up, sloppy. It should make our job easier.” Andrei’s voice is somber, the weight of the situation evident. “When are you set to arrive?”
“Next few hours,” I confirm. “We’ll avoid the main port and head to Mlini, a small fishing village a few miles from Dubrovnik. I need a car ready and waiting for me.”
“I’ll make it happen. Kira secured a safe house. She’s grabbing supplies and will meet Aly at the house.”
I sigh, running an agitated hand through my hair. “Horvat better have some fucking answers,” I growl. “I can’t take much more of this shit.”
“He’ll know something, I’m sure of it.” Andrei pauses. “But this goes beyond Horvat, beyond any single brotherhood or mafia. Whoever is behind this has the resources to keep themselves well-hidden. Our contacts in Moscow had no intel. That’s rare.”
My nails dig into the palm of my hands. My brother’s not telling me anything I don’t already know, but fuck, it’s hard to hear. How the hell am I supposed to protect the woman I love when our enemy is a nameless, faceless force?
This is a nightmare, that’s what it is.
But now, it’s time to wake up and fight like hell.