Chapter Twenty-Two
Nikolai refused to return to the mansion, even though Dmitri warned that nothing could be done about Lisa's disappearance at this time of night. He was going insane thinking that something bad had been done to her, and there was no way in the world he could stay put knowing that he had put her in harm's way.
They had combed through the woods a million times, and Nikolai had even called for his men to help in the search, but all of them had come up empty. The only evidence Nikolai had was her footwear, but that gave no information on where they could have held Lisa.
Nikolai didn't want to involve the leading families, since they had not been a hundred percent in support of his business with the Colombian cartel because they knew how fickle those people could get. But in his situation, with Lisa's life on the line, Nikolai chewed up his pride and made the call. Kuznetsov sounded pissed that he had been woken abruptly in the middle of the night, but Nikolai was going to have to think about his wrath later. Right now, he needed to get to Lisa.
"I know where they could be," Kuznetsov said after making a million other calls with his contacts and allies amongst other cartels. He gave Nikolai a description and asked whether he needed reinforcement. The leadership families wouldn't hesitate to give that to Nikolai because even if some of them hated his guts, he was still a part of them.
That, and the fact that they would give anything to partake in bloodshed.
Telling them that he could handle it with his men, Nikolai ended the call and drove straight to the hideout located on the outskirts of Long Island, bringing his car to a fast halt at the driveway, not caring if anyone heard him. He didn't even sample the building first to check if anyone had a fucking sniper pointed at his head, and Dmitri cursed loudly beside him as he aimed and fired at the shadow of a figure lying on the roof.
"Go ahead," he steered Nikolai on, covering his back. "The men and I will handle things out here.'
Nikolai knew he could trust them with his life. They had always been there for him.
Inside, the house was pitch dark, yet Nikolai trudged on, trusting his instincts which were ninety-nine percent always right. He heard footsteps from his opposite end, and he ducked into a corner, waiting for it to pass. They seemed to be headed to the entrance of the hideout, where his men must have been causing a scene already.
When he could hear nothing more, Nikolai came out of hiding, his eyes already accustomed to the darkness. He went in the direction where he had heard the footsteps come from, and it led him into a dimly lit hallway that smelled of urine and death.
Suddenly, Nikolai's feet picked up the pace when he heard a faint whimper. He found Lisa huddled on the floor in the corner of an open room with her arms wrapped around her legs. She lifted up her eyes to him in fright, and a shadow of relief crossed her expression when she realized it was him.
"Nikolai!" she gasped as he ran into the room and pulled her into his arms. Lisa struggled with the knowledge of what Nikolai planned on doing with her, and the fact that he had come here to rescue her. This was what she meant each time she said he confused her, only that she never expected it to get this serious.
"Sh…" Lisa hadn't even realized that she was crying until Nikolai patted her back gently and squeezed her in his arms. "I'm here now. I'll always be here for you."
Lisa wanted to yell at him to quit making promises he couldn't fulfill, but this wasn't exactly the appropriate moment for it. He pushed her softly away from his arms and touched her body frantically, searching for any wound. Nikolai swore in his mind that if he found even just a scratch on her, he would burn the place to the ground, and that was in addition to what he already had planned.
Coming up with nothing, he got up and carried Lisa in his arms, walking out of the dark room. She flinched when his hands mistakenly grazed her feet, and Nikolai remembered the blood from her shoes they found in the woods.
"Fucking bastards!" he swore violently, tremor coursing through his bones. Although Lisa knew they probably deserved everything that would come to them, she was still scared of what Nikolai would do.
When they got back outside, everyone was in a frenzy as both groups battled. Nikolai edged to his car in the middle of the chaos and pulled the door open, dropping her carefully on the seat like he was scared she was going to break into pieces. Certain that it was safe to leave her to herself, Nikolai returned to his men.
Dmitri had already gotten the leader of the small mission to kidnap Lisa, and he was now on his knees in front of Nikolai as the rest of his men tried to gather the others. Nikolai was furious, because he had hosted this man in his mansion before, and he had sat across the table from him, looking at him like he wouldn't dare cross his path.
He had some fucking guts.
"Who the fuck sent you to get her?" Nikolai said with an eerie calm, grabbing a gun off Dmitri.
“No… No one…” he stammered like the fucker he was.
"I know you’re stupid enough to think that you would do something like this and get away with it, but do you really want to cover up for the idiot that sent you? Is it worth your life?"
"Russian Bear… I swear on my late father's grave…"
"I don't care about him."
"I swear on my life, no one sent us."
On a regular day, Nikolai wouldn't bother with these questions. But not today. He needed to know why this happened.
"The Petrova Bratva struck a deal with us. You were supposed to be taken out of the way so we could control the areas you are in charge of for the distro, but they walked out of the deal."
"And you thought the best way to get back at them was to take their daughter. How dumb!"
"We…" he winced in pain from where Dmitri had broken one of his legs. "We thought you didn't give a fuck about her. If anyone had to come here to fight for her, I thought it would be the Petrova."
Nikolai wanted to think they were right, but he had gone past that now. His standing there was enough evidence. "Whether Yelizaveta is worth anything to me or not, you still should never have thought about picking anything under my roof."
"Russian Bear…"
"Shut up!" Nikolai commanded, stopping till he was on the same level as him. "This is the last mission you are ever going to go on, and I'll make sure your Boss gets the message. Before dawn, your body and those of your men would be properly shipped to the rest of your cartel. It should be enough warning to them to back the fuck off. And if it isn't enough, they can dare me again. My family loves violence, and I would not hold them back."
Lisa was watching the scene from the hood of the car as she stepped outside. Oddly, everything looked so familiar, and like a switch suddenly flipped in a dark room, everything came flooding back. She remembered her kidnap, which happened the exact way her dream had gone. She had fallen before a black cloth was put over her head. Lisa didn't know what had happened after that, or how she had gotten into the system, but she remembered her real name.
Yelizaveta Petrova.
She had always felt strange bearing Lisa, even though it had grown on her later. Now, she knew why. She was fucking Yelizaveta. She was a purebred Russian! And Nikolai knew that, too. She remembered him from when she was little. They went on vacations together with his family. He used to love being on his own and would tease her when he got bored.
So, what happened to make him hate her family so much? Why did he want to use her against them?
Lisa flinched as the sound of the gun reverberated in the air. The man whom Nikolai was talking to dropped to the floor, and Lisa saw him hand over the gun to Dmitri. He gave his bodyguard a few instructions before stalking over to Lisa. He looked at her disapprovingly when he noticed she wasn't where he had left her, but Lisa was in no mood for his commands.
Getting into the car, she strapped herself in and turned to look out the window, remaining that way throughout the ride. Nikolai didn't bother to do a thing about it, seemingly content with the silence that was hanging over their heads tauntingly.
By now, Nikolai should have figured that she knew something, shouldn't he?
It was almost three in the morning by the time they reached the mansion, and Nikolai carried Lisa all the way to her room, refusing to put her down for fear that the pressure might worsen the injury on her leg.
"Do you need anything?" Nikolai asked as he placed her gingerly on the bed, brushing strands of hair away from her face. "I could run you a bath or…"
The rest of Nikolai's words died in his throat as Lisa pressed herself flush against him, tugging at his clothes in ferocious hunger and need. Her eyes were hazy with lust, and her core was dripping with desire for Nikolai. It was oddly placed, but who could blame her?
Lisa was in love with the one person she should hate with every fiber of her being, and her body was yet to understand the conflicting positions and emotions. It was the first time Lisa was taking the initiative, so as much as Nikolai loved being in control, he obliged her, allowing her to untuck his shirt and pull his belt away from his waist. She freed his strained dick from his pants and went on her knees with the bed as a cushion for her bones.
Nikolai could feel every bit of her conflicting desire as she fucked his dick with her mouth like an expert, flicking her tongue over the tip and pulling Nikolai to his peak. He had never come fast in his life, but he feared that Lisa… no, Elizaveta, was going to do that to him.
Suddenly, she got up and pulled him to the bed, getting rid of her clothes and settling on top of his dick. Lisa rode him passionately, throwing her head back in ecstasy and screaming into the air without a care in the world. Nikolai licked his lips as he watched her boobs bounce in the air while she took the full length of his cock, like no one ever could.
They both came at the same time, their high-pitched moans and raging breaths overtaking the room. Lisa dropped to his side in exhaustion and slid into the arms of sleep, leaving Nikolai staring at her.
And just like that, he figured it out.
She knew he planned on using her for a negotiation with her family. It was the reason she was so angry.
But who wouldn't be?