Chapter 24 Nadir #2
I envision myself burying this thing deep into Taro’s chest, not stopping until the blade is fully in him and coming out the other side.
I peer out the window. We’re almost home.
The private cabs I hire are undercover police cars. Technically, it’s illegal. But we’ve never been pulled up on it.
It’s useful during emergency situations, like now.
The Kozhikovs can kill our extortionists, kill whoever they want. But I can’t let them take Jess.
I tuck the knife away as we round the corner. I jump out and waste no time barreling over to the four cars parked outside, each one loaded with guards.
I bang on the window, and the driver winds it down.
“Taro. Have you seen him?”
“No.”
“Have you seen fucking anybody?”
“I saw your housemaid two hours ago if that’s any consolation. She was walking with a man, talking to him, but it seemed pretty harmless to me.”
“Who was the man?” I grab the guard’s collar, yanking him toward me.
“I’m not sure. But we didn’t think he was a Kozhikov.”
“I didn’t hire you to patrol the streets for your opinion. I hired you to do a job.”
“Confronting Maureen and the man was only going to cause more problems. We’re under strict instructions from Sergey to remain inside the car unless we’re sure something is wrong.”
“Yes,” adds one of the other guards sitting in the back. “Plus, Maureen was captured. She wouldn’t be hanging around with a Kozhikov, having a joyous conversation with someone she knows is the enemy.”
I shove the driver back into his seat. “Where did they go?”
“They walked past your apartment block and never came back.”
“Did you see anyone come out? Like Jess?”
“No.”
I turn back around, facing my apartment building as I wrack my brain for answers on where Jess is.
Maureen managed to escape the Kozhikovs—the guard’s right. They wouldn’t be having a pleasant conversation if they found her again. They’d be killing her.
I cross the street, taking wide steps as cars come to a screeching halt around me.
I push into the lobby of my apartment building and call for an elevator. Jess has to be in here if nobody saw her leave.
Taro has to be messing with me, trying to play on my weakness now that he knows what it is. All thanks to me throwing a keyboard.
He knows I have feelings for Jess.
It’s happening all over again, three decades later. Someone finds my weak spot and exploits it.
I slip sideways out of the elevator as the doors roll back, and barrel down the corridor, losing my vision again. I feel my pulse everywhere. In my throat. My stomach. It stabs me in the chest, causing physical pain.
I unlock my penthouse door with facial recognition and rush in.
“Jess!”
Blood rushes to my face, a faint spell washing over me. I power through the lightheadedness and head upstairs after doing a quick check of the kitchen and living room. Her room is empty. So is the bathroom when I kick open the door.
On my way downstairs again, I smell something strong. Something that smells a lot like vintage red wine.
I run down the rest of the stairs and pause when I get to the last one, seeing a bottle smashed all over the floor. It’s empty. The wine spilled everywhere.
I dash into the living area and run my finger over the wine. It dried approximately an hour ago.
Abandoned on the couch is Jess’s phone, flooded with my messages and missed calls.
The pain under my ribs is almost unbearable, but when I stand up, it floods into other areas of my body. I feel a horrible burn in my lungs, like I’m watching Anastasia die all over again. It hurts.
Until it doesn’t. When you feel the pain, really sit with it for a few minutes and allow it to ruin you, it starts to feel useful.
Jess isn’t dead, but I’m still feeling the emotions from that night.
The pain drains from my chest. It sets alight and turns itself into anger.
And then I’m rushing back upstairs, unlocking the ammo room. I grab a shotgun from the wall and chamber a round of bullets, fighting to keep my vision. It keeps disappearing, ebbing and flowing like a high tide. Here one minute. Gone the next. Just like the cycle of life and death.
The anger transitions back into pain for a moment. Fuck. Why does it feel like I’ve already lost her?
I head downstairs, lock up, and take the elevator. It’s only occurring to me now as I step into the elevator that the front door to my penthouse was unlocked. I didn’t even notice.
And that’s because I stop thinking logically when it comes to Jess. I’m emotional. I throw keyboards across the room when I’m on a call to the enemy. I’m not thinking about consequences. I’m not thinking about anything.
I allow the present moment to swallow me up. And now I’m a slave to my emotions, running on enough adrenaline to survive a marathon.
I dart out of the lobby, back outside, and collide with someone.
I take a step back. And lock eyes with Maureen.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m sorry. They found me, Nadir. They were threatening to kill me.” Maureen’s eyes are wide with fear, her gaze falling. She can’t seem to catch her breath either.
I narrow my eyes. “You need to tell me what happened.”
“He said if I got him in and out of the penthouse, pretended we were friends for a half hour, he’d spare my life.”
“Who?” I step forward, my vision turning red again. God, if Jess wasn’t so fond of the woman, I’d be pinning her up against this wall, getting the answer out of her in a quicker, more efficient way. “Fucking who, Maureen? Talk to me.”
Maureen clasps her hands together in an attempt to stop them from shaking. “I don’t know who the man was. But he was working for them.”
I step out into the street, running a hand through my hair. This stress won’t be good for my hairline, but I’d sacrifice every last strand for Jess.
I’m willing to sacrifice more.
But what about my empire? Am I willing to give up everything to save one life?
I box that question up, sealing it into a faraway corner in my mind. Asking big, rhetorical questions like that won’t get me any closer to Jess.
“Where’s Taro keeping her?”
“I’m not sure,” she says. “I’m guessing it’s the same place they kept me. I don’t know the name. It was an abandoned hospital, I think. Away from the city. I was lucky to escape and catch a ride from hitchhiking.”
“What’s the name of the place?”
“I’m sorry.” Maureen shakes her head frantically. “I wish I knew. They blindfolded me.” Her head straightens. “You’re going to save Jess?”
I clench my jaw and look away.
Her voice is soft. “I knew there was some good in you. Not a lot. But I always felt it lurking beneath the surface.”
“Stop.”
“Jess and the kids brought it out of you.”
I clamp down on my jaw, turning away. “Not another word.” I walk past Maureen, away from the apartment building. I have a lot of fucking research to do.
“You think it’s a flaw,” she shouts behind me. I hear her footsteps shuffle closer. “But it’s actually a strength and you shouldn’t feel ashamed.”
She should be pissed at me. Not walking back toward me. I thought she never wanted to speak to me again after I left her for dead.
“You don’t know anything about me.” I keep walking away from her, but now she’s tugging on my sleeve.
“Jess and her children have brought out a different side of you. I like you when you’re around kids. You’re more…”
I think the word she’s looking for is human, but I don’t finish her sentence. I don’t correct her either, and let her know I’m the father. I don’t have time to stay and chat.
“Goodbye, Maureen. Make sure you keep out of this.”
As I’m walking away, my phone buzzes with another incoming call—the same unknown number as before. That will be Taro ringing for an answer. I decline. Patience is a virtue. He can wait a bit.
I’m so glued to my phone, researching where Jess could be, that I slam right into another body. I drag my eyes up to the face and see Leon staring back at me.
He gives me a look. “This is the first time you’ve not wanted my help. Why is that?”
I minimize the two internet tabs I have open and shoot one of my other men a quick message—the one on triplet duty. He can’t bring the kids back here. The safest bet is to lie low in Jess’s place for a while until I have everything handled.
“Nadir?”
I finish typing out my message and flash him daggers. “I told you to let me handle this. Alone. What part of that are you not understanding?”
“You’ve been lying to me.”
I notice the shotgun hidden under Leon’s belt. He better not be intending to use that on me.
I fix my hand on my own weapon just in case.
Leon wouldn’t dream of pulling the trigger out here in the middle of the financial district. Granted, we’re down a quieter street, where there are less cars, people, but Federal Street is only a few blocks away. People would hear the gunshot.
He wouldn’t dare kill me and take my place as leader of the Medvedevs. He’s even more superstitious than I am when it comes to keeping it in the family. Bad blood, bad karma. He preaches it more than me.
Which is why I thought he bought the heir thing.
“Where are the triplets now?” he asks me.
“With Ziven. He’ll take them to Jess’s place for a while. Bringing them here is too risky.”
“You know where Jess lives?”
“I had to know—due diligence.”
“It’s been a while since you last did your own admin.” Leon deepens his gaze. “You keep lying to me about Jess and the children. Tell me why.”
“We’ll talk later.”
“You asked the driver to put on lights and sirens when you left the office. I heard them myself. Checked with the driving agency to make sure.” Lines appear across Leon’s brow.
“You don’t call emergencies for your own men, but you call them for Jess.
” Leon shuffles his weight onto the other foot. “You love her.”
“I don’t—”
“I was hoping I’d see the day when you started caring about something other than business.”
“Stop speaking nonsense.”
“You can’t expect to live your life this way forever. It gets boring.” He narrows his eyes. “Admit you love her, and I’ll help you save her.”