Chapter 28
DANTE
Remik gasps, trying to push himself up, blood running between his fingers. “Did you just fucking shoot me?”
I lower the gun, keeping it pointed right at him, my hand steady. “You put your hands on my wife. You’re lucky I didn’t aim for your head.”
I had been talking to a few old associates near the bar, half listening to their stories about the docks, when I looked around and realized Adriana wasn’t there anymore.
For a second, I thought maybe she’d gone to the restroom, but the feeling in my gut was all wrong.
The club was loud, crowded, too many faces and too many shadows.
I pushed away from the group and started looking for her, searching every hallway and back corner. I caught a glimpse of her on the first floor with one of Maksim’s security guys and kept moving. I told myself she was fine. She was stubborn, smart, not the kind of woman who got herself cornered.
But I heard something, maybe her voice, maybe just instinct. I found the staff door open and stepped inside. That’s when I saw Remik, his hand twisted in her hair, her face twisted in pain.
I didn’t think. I just raised the gun and pulled the trigger.
Now Remik is bleeding on the floor, glaring up at me, hate and disbelief in his eyes. Adriana’s eyes are wide, her breath shaky, but she’s alive. That’s all I care about.
I step between her and Remik, gun still raised. “You have five seconds to get out before I put another bullet in you,” I say, my voice as cold as I feel inside.
Adriana is shaking, but she grips my arm, steadying herself. For a moment, the only sound in the room is Remik’s labored breathing and the dull, distant thump of the club’s music.
Remik staggers back, face twisted in pain and outrage. “You’re fucking insane, Volkov. I was only trying to save you. She’s got you wrapped around her fingers pretty well.”
I just watch him go, gun steady at my side, not bothering to answer. He disappears down the hall, cursing under his breath.
As soon as the door clicks shut, Adriana turns to me, eyes searching my face. “What did he mean by that?”
I shake my head, the adrenaline still running hot in my veins. “I don’t know. Remik’s always been good at talking shit when he’s desperate.”
Adriana looks almost stricken as she grabs my hand. “Dante, I know who the real killer is.”
I start to turn toward the door.
She quickly shakes her head. “No, not him. It’s Luka, the guy my sister ran away with.”
I expect a surge of anger or something, but to be honest, I feel nothing. I can’t care less about Julianna. She only matters because of Adriana.
“Then your sister might be in danger if she’s with him,” I say quietly.
She nods, already reaching for her phone. “Yeah. I need to warn her.”
I watch as she dials Julianne’s number, her hands trembling. The call rings, then goes to voicemail. She tries again, same result. I see the panic in her eyes and step closer, steadying her with a hand at her elbow.
“She’s not answering,” she whispers, voice small, afraid. “What if she’s already—”
I squeeze her arm, my voice calm but fierce. “We’ll find her, Adriana. I swear it.”
On the drive back to the apartment, Adriana sits beside me, silent at first, then calling Julianne’s number again and again. Each time it goes to voicemail, I can see her hands start to shake a little more, her jaw clenching with every failed call.
I keep my eyes on the road, glancing at her every few blocks. She dials again, her breath coming faster, panic starting to edge into her voice.
“Try again,” I say quietly.
She does, and when it goes straight to voicemail this time, she lets out a shaky breath, her eyes glistening in the passing streetlights. I reach over, sliding my hand to her thigh, then pull her gently across the seat until her shoulder is pressed against me.
“Hey,” I say softly, my voice lower than I mean it to be. “We’ll find her. We’ll find Julianne, I promise.”
She leans into me, her phone still clutched in her hand. Her head drops to my chest and for a minute, she just breathes, letting herself be held.
I run my thumb slowly over her shoulder, steady and warm. “We’re going to figure this out,” I tell her, and for the first time tonight, I realize how much I mean it. I’ll tear this city apart if I have to.
As soon as we’re back at the apartment, Adriana paces the living room, calling Julianne over and over, her anxiety growing by the minute. I know she won’t sleep, won’t even sit down, not until she hears her sister’s voice. So I do the only thing that makes sense—I start making calls of my own.
I reach out to every resource I have—guys who owe me favors, club managers, even a few cops willing to talk for the right price. I text Liam, telling him I need help tracking down Julianne, no questions asked. I even call in Bella, figuring Adriana needs someone she’ll actually listen to right now.
When Bella shows up, she stands in the doorway, confused and out of breath. “You wanted me here?”
I nod toward Adriana, who’s curled up on the edge of the couch, phone pressed to her ear, staring out the window. “Just…do your thing. Distract her. Keep her talking.”
Bella gives me a look as she steps into the living room. “You really don’t know how to ask for help, do you?”
I gesture at Adriana, who barely registers us. “Just—try, will you?”
Bella rolls her eyes and goes to sit beside Adriana, gently pulling her into conversation.
Hours crawl by with no news. The apartment feels tight, every clock tick too loud. I check my phone every minute. Nothing.
Then, just as dawn starts to lighten the sky, Liam calls. My pulse jumps.
“I’m downstairs,” he says. “I’ve got something. You’re going to want to hear this in person.”
I’m already moving, grabbing my keys. “I’m coming.”
Liam stands awkwardly by the curb, not meeting my eyes. I’m about to ask what’s going on when the back window of a sleek black car rolls down. My father’s face appears, cold and imperious.
“Get in,” he orders.
For a moment, I consider refusing, but that old reflex is hard to kill. Even now, after everything, I find myself doing what he says. I slide into the back seat. Liam joins me, his jaw set, eyes forward.
We pull away from the curb. My father doesn’t waste time.
“I have information about Julianne Petrova,” he says, voice clipped. “About where the little whore is hiding.”
I bristle but force myself to keep calm. “She might be in danger,” I say. “This is bigger than you think.”
He shoots me a look of pure disdain. “When did you turn into this man, Dante? I raised you for war, not for chasing after lost girls and soft causes.”
A bitter laugh builds in my chest. “Maybe you should ask yourself what you really raised.”
He ignores me, fingers tapping on the armrest. “You don’t even remember, do you?
” He looks at me like I’m something he regrets.
“Julianne. You saw her at that party, two years ago. You said you wanted her. You kept looking at her. I thought—why not give my son a gift worthy of the Volkov name? And what better way to humiliate the Petrov family than to practically make them beg to take my son as their daughter’s husband, the same family they made an outcast years ago. ”
My father leans forward, his voice cool and satisfied, like he’s already won. “I know where Julianne is. If you don’t get to her soon, she’ll be dead. She’s gotten herself in deep, and it’s only a matter of time.”
My hands curl into fists. “Where is she?”
He smiles, almost kindly, which makes it worse. “I’ll only tell you on one condition. You let Adriana go. You divorce her, send her back to her family, and end this embarrassment. I’ll handle her future. You’ll walk away and do what’s expected of you. You have no other choice.”
My whole body goes cold. I can barely breathe past the anger rising in my chest. Adriana’s face flickers in my mind, every stubborn, brave moment, every quiet laugh. The thought of letting her go, letting my father have any say over her fate, is unbearable.
“No,” I say, my voice flat and final.
His jaw tightens. “You’re making a mistake. You have to make a decision, Dante. Right now. Your wife, or your pride. You can’t have both.”
My father waits, letting the threat settle in the silence. I don’t look at him, but I feel the weight of his stare.
I shake my head. “You don’t get to make this choice for me.”
He leans in, voice low and cold. “If you walk away from this, Julianne will die and your wife will never recover. That’s not a threat. That’s just the reality of what you’ve built around yourself, son. You can’t save everyone, and you can’t have it all.”
Liam sits tense beside me, eyes darting between us, waiting to see what I’ll do.
For a second, I feel the old fear in my chest, the same fear I had as a kid, but it’s gone as fast as it came.
I think of Adriana’s stubbornness, the way she never backs down even when she should. Maybe I finally understand her.
I turn and meet my father’s eyes. “If anything happens to Julianne, you’ll never see me again. You’ll lose your son, and you’ll lose everything that goes with him. Do you understand?”
He narrows his eyes, lips curling in a sneer. “Is that supposed to scare me?”
I stare at my father, anger simmering just beneath my skin. “Why are you doing this?”
He looks at me like I’m a child, disappointed. “You’ve become weak, son. All this…sentimentality. You used to understand the rules. Now you’re letting a woman make you soft. You’re supposed to be my successor. The next Volkov. You can’t afford to be weak.”
I clench my jaw, thinking only of Adriana—how devastated she would be if something happened to Julianne. The thought of that pain on her face makes my answer clear.
I swallow hard, the words heavy and cold in my mouth. “Fine. You want me to choose? I’ll do it. I’ll let Adriana go. Just tell me where Julianne is.”
A small, satisfied smile tugs at the corners of his mouth. He nods, signaling the driver. The car turns, and a few minutes later we stop in front of the deserted apartment complex.
“You’ll find her there. And remember your promise. If you don’t, I’ll kill your bride.”
I can’t trust myself to speak, so I don’t say anything at all. As I get out of the car, the cold air hits my face, but it’s nothing compared to the emptiness opening up inside me. I made the choice. I hope to God it was the right one.
I take the stairs two at a time, gun gripped tight in my fist, my heart pounding loud enough to drown out the noise of the city outside.
The apartment complex smells of dust and cold metal, the kind of place where every shadow feels like a trap.
My father’s words ring in my ears, but I shove them aside, focusing on what I might find ahead.
A door slams somewhere higher up. I push harder, boots scuffing the crumbling concrete as I round the landing and head up another flight. My chest is tight with dread and adrenaline, every instinct screaming that I’m already too late.
A figure bursts out of a doorway on the next landing, running straight into me.
I catch a flash of tangled hair, and wide, terrified eyes.
It’s Julianne. She crashes into my chest, nearly knocking the gun from my hand.
She looks up, and for a split second, she doesn’t even recognize me, just another threat in a place full of them.
“Julianne, it’s me,” I manage, breathless.
She staggers back, still shaking, arms wrapped around herself, her whole body trembling so hard I worry she’ll collapse. Her face is smeared with tears and panic, her breaths coming in gasps.
Before I can speak, there’s a crash behind her, someone moving quickly inside the apartment she just escaped from.
I shove Julianne behind me, gun raised, finger on the trigger.
The shadow moves, a blur in the dark. I fire a warning shot, the crack of it deafening in the empty stairwell.
The figure ducks, vanishing back into the apartment, and I hear the slap of running feet retreating down another stairwell.
For a second, I want to chase, but I look at Julianne and know I can’t leave her. She’s still shaking, barely able to stand. I holster the gun and pull off my jacket, wrapping it around her shoulders.
She clings to the fabric like a lifeline, tears starting again as the adrenaline finally leaves her system.
“Luka…” she stammers, voice broken. “He was different, Dante. He looked at me like he hated me. He brought me here. At first, I didn’t understand why and I couldn’t leave when I wanted to.
I thought he was going to hurt me. I thought I’d never get out. ”
Her hands are icy and her whole body shivers. I kneel in front of her, hands steady even though my mind is spinning. “It’s all right,” I say softly, pulling her close. She collapses against my chest, sobbing now, her fear and relief finally spilling out.
“You’re safe,” I whisper, stroking her hair, holding her as tightly as I can without crushing her. “You’re safe now. I promise.”
She cries quietly into my shoulder. I keep moving, not stopping until we’re out in the cold, empty street, and I know she’s finally safe.