Chapter 26 Alexei
Alexei
Making Mila rest is harder than planning a raid.
We’re back in the bunker, with three guards rotating shifts at the door and two more monitoring the perimeter on TV screens.
She hates every second of it.
“This is ridiculous,” she snaps from the couch, where I’ve ordered her to rest. “I’m pregnant, not dying.”
“Your blood pressure is dangerous. The doctor was clear.”
She rolls her eyes. “The doctor is overly cautious. He doesn’t want to piss off the big, bad Bratva boss.”
I cross my arms and lean against the doorframe. “He’s trying to keep you and our baby alive.”
“By treating me like I’m made of glass?”
“By treating you like someone who needs rest.”
She throws her hands up. “I can’t just lie here while Papa is being tortured and you’re planning something that could get everyone killed.”
“That’s exactly what you’re going to do.”
“Alexei—”
“No arguments. You stay here. You rest. You let me handle the rescue.”
Her face flushes with anger. “You can’t just lock me up and expect me to be okay with it.”
“I can, and I will.”
“God, you’re impossible.” She stands, ignoring my warning look. “I need to move around. Sitting still makes me crazy.”
“Fine,” I relent. “You can walk around the bunker for five minutes. Then you’re back on the couch.”
“You’re not my warden.”
“I’m the father of your child. That makes me whatever I need to be to keep you alive and healthy.”
My phone rings before she can argue. Dmitri’s name flashes across the screen.
“I have to take this,” I tell her.
“Of course you do.”
I step into the hall and answer. “Report.”
“The families I contacted won’t commit,” Dmitri says. “Too risky. They claim Leonid isn’t worth a war with Novikov.”
“He’s Mila’s father.”
“That matters to you, not to them.”
I move farther down the corridor, out of earshot. “What about our men? We don’t need outsiders.”
“We do,” he counters. “Novikov is holding Leonid in a fortified warehouse with twenty armed guards. We can’t breach without stripping security elsewhere.”
“Then we pull them.”
“And leave our assets exposed? That’s what Novikov wants. He’s forcing you to choose between Leonid and the Bratva.”
“There’s no choice. We rescue him.”
Silence stretches. When Dmitri speaks again, it’s in a tone I’ve never heard. “I called a meeting. Nine a.m. You’ll defend this plan to senior command. They want to know why one rescue is worth risking everything we’ve built.”
No fucking way.
“What?” I grind out. “Since when do I need permission to lead?”
“When your decisions risk all of us,” he fires back. “This isn’t just you and Mila anymore.”
I want to argue, and remind him he once risked it all for Katya. But this time, he’s not wrong.
Rescuing Leonid means pulling men from critical posts, leaving openings Novikov can exploit. Families will pay the price for my choice.
“When’s the meeting again?”
“Nine sharp. Be ready to defend your position.”
He hangs up before I can respond. I stare at the phone, already planning tomorrow’s fight.
Tomorrow, I’ll have to convince my men that saving Leonid Andreev isn’t sentiment, it’s strategy. And I’ll have to do it while Dmitri questions every call I’ve made since I met Mila.
Mila is still pacing when I return, using every second of the five minutes I allowed. Her face is pale, but fire burns in those hazel eyes.
“You need to sit down.”
“I need to know what’s happening with Papa.”
“The planning’s ongoing,” I say, exhaling hard.
She stops pacing and faces me. “You promised you’d rescue him.”
“And I will.”
“When?”
“When the tactical situation allows it.”
She snorts. “That’s politician speak for ‘I don’t know.’”
I close the distance and cup her face in my hands. “I’ll get your father back. But you have to trust that I know what I’m doing.”
Tears pool in her eyes, and she blinks them away. “I do trust you. That’s not the issue.”
“What is?”
“Feeling helpless,” she says quietly, “while everyone else makes decisions about my life. About Papa’s. About ours.”
The edge in her voice slices through me. Powerless is the one thing she’s never been, and I’m the bastard who’s making her feel that way.
I brush my lips against hers—soft, fleeting, a peace offering I don’t deserve.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur. “For this world. For the danger that comes with wanting you.”
“Alexei—”
“Let me finish.” My voice roughens. “You deserve better than this life and a man who can’t promise you safety.”
She shakes her head and steps back. “Stop apologizing for things you can’t change.”
We stand two inches apart with everything unsaid hanging between us.
Then my phone vibrates, with Boris’ name flashing across the screen like a gunshot to the moment. The goddamn timing couldn’t be worse.
I roll my neck and exhale hard. “I need to coordinate with the team. Will you rest while I’m working? Please.”
“Will you tell me what you learn?” she teases, that wicked grin curving her mouth.
“Some of it. The parts that won’t spike your blood pressure.”
She drops onto the couch with a huff. “Fine. But if you’re keeping me in the dark, at least have one of the guys bring me something to read.”
“Done.”
I head to the war room, a small office I’ve turned into command central. Boris is already on the secure line when I dial in.
“What do you have?”
“Visual confirmation that Leonid is alive,” he says. “They’re interrogating him for intel. It’s getting rough.”
“Has he talked?”
“Nothing useful, but they’re ramping up. We’re running out of time.”
I pull the warehouse schematics on my laptop. A fortress. Multiple entry points, all guarded. The sight lines favor defenders.
“What about the drainage access?”
“Still viable,” Boris replies. “But we need specialized gear—seventy-two hours minimum to prep.”
“Too long. What else?”
“We could go old-school with a direct assault. Accept casualties and push through.”
The thought makes my stomach tighten. Good men would die. Men with families who trust me to be smarter than this.
“There has to be another way.”
“If there is, I haven’t found it.”
The laptop chimes with a call from Dmitri, so I put Boris on speaker.
“I have news,” Dmitri says without preamble. “And you’re not going to like it.”
“What happened?”
“Novikov just released another video. He’s beating Leonid, and sending a message to everyone watching.”
My fists clench on instinct. “Show me.”
“Alexei—”
“Show me the goddamn video.”
He sends the link. I click and immediately wish I hadn’t.
Leonid is tied to a chair, with his face a ruin of bruises and blood. Two men stand behind him with their weapons ready.
Then, Novikov steps into frame. “This is what happens when families make poor choices. Leonid Andreev sided with the Kozlovs. Now he pays the price.”
One of the guards hits Leonid. His head snaps sideways, and blood sprays out.
“You have forty-eight hours to withdraw your support,” Novikov says. “Otherwise, Leonid dies, and everyone will know the Kozlovs can’t protect their allies.”
The video cuts out. I close the window before I put my fist through the screen.
“This changes the timeline,” Boris says. “We need to move within twenty-four hours if we want him alive.”
“What about tomorrow’s meeting?”
“Still on,” Dmitri answers. “Might help your case. It’s hard to argue that we should walk away after that.”
“Or it proves this is the trap he wanted.”
“Either way,” Dmitri says, “you’ll have to convince them. Half want to cut losses, and half think backing down makes us weak.”
When the call ends, I sit and stare at the black screen. Tomorrow, I’ll defend risking everything for one man.
I can’t tell if strategy or love is driving the decision.
Mila appears in the doorway, holding a glass of water. “You look like hell.”
“I feel worse.”
“What happened?”
I close my eyes. A few weeks ago, I’d have kept her in the dark. But holding back only makes her worry.
“Novikov posted another video,” I say. “Your father’s alive, but they’re hurting him.”
Her face drains of color. “Can I see it?”
“Absolutely not. That video would send your blood pressure through the roof.”
“It’s my father, Alexei. I have a right to know.”
“Trust me. You don’t want that image burned into your head. It wrecked me, and I’ve seen worse. Please. For the baby.”
She moves closer, her jaw tight, and drops into the chair across from me. “Then tell me about the rescue.”
“I meet with senior command tomorrow. They’ll decide on resources.”
“You think they’ll say no?”
“Some of them think the risk is too high.”
“And if they refuse?”
“Then I’ll do it anyway, with whoever I can pull together.”
“That puts you at odds with your family.”
“Yes.”
She stares into her water glass as her voice gets quieter. “You’d risk everything for my father?”
“No. But for you, I’d risk it all.”
Her head lifts fast, and her eyes go wide. She doesn’t have to say a word; I see the answer in her face.
“They’ll back you,” she says finally. “They have to.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
“What can I do?”
“Rest. Take care of yourself and the baby. That’s all I need from you right now.”
She comes around the desk and squeezes my shoulder. “You’re going to save him. I know you will.”
“I hope you’re right.”
“I am. You’re the most stubborn man I’ve ever met. When you decide something needs to happen, it happens.”
I cover her hand with mine and chuckle. “Get some sleep, Zaika. The next few days are going to be hell.”
When she’s gone, I stare at the blueprints again, searching for the move I’ve missed.
Novikov has built himself a fortress, but every fortress has a weakness.
And I’ll find his before he takes another breath.