Chapter Thirty-One
Nikolai
My car screeches to a halt as I stop outside of Timur’s house.
I exhale deeply. Waiting for Timur to enter the vehicle, I turn my head to the sky and allow the dread to sink deeper. War is at my doorstep and Lauren became collateral. But at least I know she’s alive. Aslanov won’t do anything to her until he has me, which is a start.
Streaks of indigo slip into the sky, darkening the palette.
The moon hangs faintly in the distance—a crescent tonight.
I clench my fist as I think through the implications of what’s ahead.
Whatever happens next, I have to be prepared for anything.
Literally anything. Even if that means giving up my life to save Lauren’s and our baby’s.
The car door pops open and Timur climbs in.
“I can’t get a hold of our undercover guy.” He pulls out his phone and checks to see if there has been an update. Judging by the look on his face, there isn’t.
My pulse throbs too fast for me to stay completely grounded in this situation. I have always kept my cool, pausing to think logically in moments like this, but this is too fucking much. I’d burn the entire world down for Lauren and our daughter.
“Niko?”
I turn from the steering wheel, realizing how hard I’ve been gripping it. “Da. You can’t get hold of our guy. And?”
“Been twelve hours since I last heard from him. You know what that means.”
I fucking do alright. The thought makes me want to rip Aslanov’s head off. He’s outsmarted us, making us look like a bunch of fucking idiots. And on top of that, he has the woman carrying my child.
The helpless anger that courses through me is unlike anything I've ever felt—white-hot and consuming, threatening to override every tactical instinct I’ve honed over the years.
But I can’t afford to lose control. Not when Lauren's life hangs in the balance. Every second that passes is another second she’s in that bastard’s hands, another second our daughter is at risk.
Blyad!
I pinch the bridge of my nose in an attempt to silence my racing thoughts. Too much noise in the mind is never good.
Come on, mudak!
Think logically!
“What about the chip? Did they find it?”
Timur returns to his phone, bringing up the app that gives us access to all of our men’s locations. All of our guys have microchips inserted under their skin in case of emergencies like this.
He passes the phone over, pointing at a red dot next to our guy’s last location.
I zoom in on the map, my expression turning sour when I realize where he is.
About ten miles north into the countryside.
It looks like a bunch of buildings that were left to rot years ago.
Places like this are perfect to conduct the more brutal side of Bratva business because no one looks.
Timur takes the phone back and changes the map to 3D. “Skip and Peters Industrial Park,” he mutters under his breath, bringing up Google to get more detail. He skims the search results. He finds a map of the old layout, comparing it to our tracker data. “That’s where our he last pinged.”
“Then that’s where we’re going.”
I step on the gas, skidding around a bend with a screech. If this is where Aslanov took our mole, Lauren has to be there, too.
“Slow down, bratan,” Timur says, looking at the speedometer. It’s already reaching a hundred miles an hour. “They won’t do anything to her until they have you. We don’t want cops on our back.”
“They’re already on my back.”
Timur turns away, sighing. “I know you want to get Lauren out of there, but you have to think strategically. Going in hot-headed with no plan might make things worse.”
“I have a plan.”
“Do you?”
“To kill the fucker.”
Timur grimaces. “Not a bad plan. Unless he kills us first.”
“Us?” I make a left at the intersection, running a set of red lights. “He wants me. He’s not going to touch you.”
Timur shoots me a look but doesn’t say anything. He’s probably thinking the same thing as I am.
The rest of the drive is spent in silence, both of us focusing on what kind of hell this day has in store for us.
It’s the quiet before the storm. The kind of silence that settles in your bones and makes every heartbeat sound like thunder.
I can feel the weight of what’s coming—violence, blood and the very real possibility that I might not make it out of this.
But none of that matters as long as Lauren makes it out of there unscathed.
As long as she and our daughter have a chance at the life they deserve, even if I’m not there to see it.
The thought should terrify me, but instead it brings a strange kind of peace.
I know exactly what I’m willing to sacrifice, and I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life.
A little less than thirty minutes later, I turn into the industrial estate. The place looks even more desolate than it did on Google Maps. The gray infrastructure have been taken over by moss, weathered badly by the harsh winds that blow into Georgia over the winter.
I make sure to park a distance away so that the car engine doesn’t bring us any unwanted attention.
Timur gives me a side-glance. Not much fazes him, but I can tell this does. His expression is uneasy, his teeth gritted. “We should have called backup.”
“No time.”
Silence fills the atmosphere, even when I step out of the vehicle and take in our surroundings. I look over my shoulder to ensure that the coast is clear—not a person in sight, for now.
The good thing is, the element of surprise is on our side. Ronan doesn’t know that we were able to track our mole, which means we can barge in when they’re least expecting it.
The distribution center. I see it up ahead, situated in the next parking lot over from this one.
The place looks run down, almost eerie in this light.
A shiver runs up my spine, nerves firing through my body.
It’s close to sundown, the last few rays of light fading in the sky.
The roof of the building catches the light, but not for long.
A dark cloud shortly passes, stealing most of the daylight.
Slipping a hand into my jacket, I check if my gun is fully loaded.
Timur does the same, then looks at me, waiting for my signal.
I nod.
And then we’re moving, marching towards the looming building.
A new kind of fear grips my throat, tightening itself around me like a harness.
But it’s not fear for my own life. It’s a fear I’ve never experienced before.
A fear for the woman who is carrying my child.
A sometimes insufferable, feisty woman who managed to get under my skin and make me feel… love?
Head in the game, pridurok!
Adrenaline is already starting to pump through my body, my legs tensing as they fill with energy.
I never wanted this. I never fucking wanted to care so much about a person.
I always knew that the moment you develop feelings, you develop a weakness as a consequence.
What I never thought was that my goddamn heart was capable of developing something so intense.
She’s different. I’ve known it from the moment I met her at Timur and Sophia’s wedding. And I let myself get carried away with her, not expecting that she’ll change my life forever.
I thought I was immune to a woman’s appeal.
She’s proven me wrong.
And now, I’m diving in headfirst into a war that I might not survive.
And yet, I’m doing it without a hint of doubt.
Giving up my own life makes perfect sense if it means I get to save hers and our child’s.
We’re a stone’s throw away from the building, now. Timur rolls up his sleeves, his trademark move before battle, the top few buttons of his white shirt undone. I crack my knuckles, stretching them out. Then, I take out my gun. Timur does the same, and we share a look.
I signal him with another nod.
In a moment, our walks turn into sprints as we crash through the doors like battering rams, getting ready to slaughter everything and everyone in our wake.
Ronan’s men act fast, running to their positions to spray bullets in our direction.
Gunshots start to echo, one after the other, like fireworks.
Blood spray follows, misting into the air as I take out three thugs.
My bullets tear right into their eyes before they can even register what is going on.
The rage of battle surges through me, my second nature taking over. I don’t have control over myself in moments like this—it’s always instinct. I weave through the shadows, gun at the ready like this is what I was born to do.
A bullet sails my way. I duck just in time, my gun pressed to my chest as I roll to the ground, taking cover. Times like this don’t normally make me so fucking out of breath, but today I can’t regulate my breathing. I’m only fighting to stay alive so that I can save Lauren.
“Niko!” Timur hisses, snapping his head around to get my attention. He’s covering for me, turning around as he takes out two of Aslanov’s men. We just got through the first line of defense, but I’m certain there’ll be more as we get deeper into the building.
The mudak has a fucking army under his command.
“Find her!” Timur yells, rising to his feet. “I’ll ward them off.” He shoots me a cautious glance.
“Postaraysya ne umeret', mudak!” I roar. “Try not to die!”
“Too pretty to die today, boss. Go get her!”
I spring forward, my legs carrying me further into the crumbling building.
I cover more distance in the warehouse, sprinting into darkness as Timur continues to spray bullets, putting his skills to use.
Leaving him alone makes me feel uneasy, but he’s my right-hand man for a reason—if anybody knows how to take care of themselves, it’s him.