Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
Matvey
Hours after Riley vanished, I sat in the bratva headquarters.
I couldn't reach her. All I'd found near her place were her keys.
I had Anton deploy every man we had. We'd tear New York apart if that's what it took to find Riley. Damn it, where the hell did she go?
Just as panic clawed at my chest, a message lit up my phone screen.
"How much will you pay this time? The auction house. Come alone. You know what to do."
With the text came a photo of Riley.
She was tied to a chair, duct tape over her mouth, blonde hair spilling messily around her shoulders. Those blue eyes I knew so well held the one thing I never wanted to see—fear.
If I hadn't been forcing myself to stay in control, the phone screen would've already shattered.
My worst nightmare had come true. Riley had been kidnapped.
I recognized the background instantly—the wide stage, the red velvet curtains.
The auction house where I'd bought Riley. Victor Marchetti's territory.
At the edge of the photo were two blurry figures—one bald, the other in a brown leather jacket. I knew them. Marchetti's thugs. Those bastards always dressed like street trash.
What I hadn't expected was Veronica and Victor working together.
I gripped the phone, veins bulging on the back of my hand. Something I hadn't felt in years crawled up through my blood—rage, yes, at these bastards for touching my woman. But beneath that, something deeper.
They were challenging me. Threatening me with my woman. They'd better be ready for hell.
A second image came through. A hospital report. My eyes scanned the English text and numbers, stopping on one line.
"Twin pregnancy. Two gestational sacs visible with fetal heartbeats."
My breath stopped. All I could hear was my heartbeat, pounding hard enough to crack my ribs.
Pregnant. Riley was pregnant. With twins.
I stood so fast my chair toppled backward. My head spun. When had Riley found out? The test was weeks old—she must've known for a while.
Why didn't she tell me? Every time she pushed me away, every time her eyes went red as she cursed at me, every time she said "I'm leaving when this deal ends"—was she already... I closed my eyes. Those moments played through my mind frame by frame.
I thought pushing her away would protect her. Instead, I'd pushed her and my children straight into hell. I thought nothing could slip from my control, but I'd failed to protect the one person who needed me most. Fuck.
The office door burst open.
"Pakhan, I've issued the lockdown order." Anton strode in, his face tight. "Every informant in the city is mobilized, but still—"
"Stop looking." I tossed him my phone. "She's at Victor's auction house."
Anton caught the phone, glanced at it, his expression darkening.
"Veronica... and Marchetti?" Disbelief creased his brow. "How did those two team up?"
"Doesn't matter." I forced myself to stay calm. "What matters is they have Riley. And the children inside her."
I had Anton pull up the auction house layout on his phone, looking for entry points.
"After we hit them last time, he's down to maybe twenty men. If we go in hard, we could take the place in half an hour."
"But?" I caught the hesitation in Anton's voice.
"But they have a hostage." Anton met my eyes. "Pakhan, the second we move, she's the first one they kill."
A hostage was the ultimate card in this kind of deal.
"Then I'll have to go negotiate," I said.
Anton's head snapped up. "Are you insane? It's obviously a trap!"
"Trap or not, I have to walk into it." I was calmer than usual. "As long as I go alone, they won't kill Riley immediately. Because if the chip dies, the negotiation's over."
I'd never been the type to wear my heart on my sleeve. My father taught me that weakness was fatal, that emotions were cheap. But now, I'd trade my life for Riley's and the children's safety. Even if the odds were fifty-fifty. No—even if there were no odds at all, I had no choice.
"And what about you?" Anton's fists clenched. "Marchetti may be weak now, but the auction house is crawling with his men. You won't get a toothpick past security. You'll never come back."
"Pakhan, I've followed you for years. I've never questioned your decisions. But this time, let me lead the assault team. You stay outside and command." He was practically begging.
"You think they'll accept that? They want me. Send anyone else in, and they'll start shooting immediately."
Anton stared at me for a long moment.
"Pakhan," his voice was heavy, "this is too dangerous."
I knew it was dangerous. But I couldn't sit back and do nothing while the woman I loved and my children were held captive. At the same time, my mind raced, calculating for a safer approach.
"I'll pretend to agree to everything. Let their guard down. You take positions around the perimeter and put a sniper on the roof across the street." I finally said. "Wait for my signal."
"Yes, pakhan."
The auction house doors opened before me.
Four thugs with guns surrounded me, shoving me against the wall and patting me down head to toe.
"Pakhan, no offense." The lead guy pulled my phone from my pocket, then triple-checked I wasn't carrying weapons.
I didn't resist. Let them shove me inside. With each step forward, my heart sank lower.
Down the long red-carpeted corridor, my view opened up. In the center of the brightly lit hall, on that damned stage, there was Riley. Tied to a chair, her face paper-white.
Veronica stood behind her with a knife, smiling sweetly. "Matvey, you finally made it."
My heart took a punch. I wanted to kill everyone who'd hurt Riley.
When she saw me, Riley made muffled sounds. She shook her head frantically, tears streaming down.
We locked eyes across the hall. That stubborn look in her eyes—the same as when we first met. That look, from the night it first hit me from the auction stage, made my dead heart start hurting again.
"Riley, don't be afraid." I walked quickly toward the stage, mouthing the words silently.
Tears hung on her lashes. She was still trying to tell me to leave.
"Don't move." I'd barely reached the front of the stage when a familiar voice came from behind. Victor, that bastard.
Something hard pressed into the small of my back.
I crushed the urge to charge the stage and rip the knife from Riley's throat. Any move right now could get Riley hurt. I had to do what Victor said.
Victor kept his gun on me, slowly circling to my side.
His cheekbones jutted from sallow skin, eyes sunken. The drugs had obviously hollowed him out.
"Matvey Bykov." He said smugly. "You actually came alone, unarmed and obedient. Guess this little bitch really means something to you."
I ignored him. My eyes stayed on Riley.
"Tell me what you want. Any condition, as long as you let her go."
The instant I said it, Riley's eyes went wide. Tears poured harder.
I'd never said anything like that to anyone in my life. In my world, every deal got calculated for profit and loss. But now, I willingly pushed all my chips onto the table, just to keep Riley alive.
"Any condition?" Veronica laughed. She pressed the knife to Riley's throat. "You hear that, Victor? The Bykov pakhan says he'll agree to any condition."
Victor snorted.
"Matvey, I want you on your knees, repenting for everything you've done." Her face twisted with venom. "You made me the laughingstock of Moscow. You need to kneel and taste that humiliation!"
If kneeling would save Riley, of course I'd kneel. But I knew Veronica too well. She didn't want repentance—she wanted to watch the man she hated bow at her feet. Even if I knelt, she wouldn't actually free Riley. Or rather, she didn't have that authority.
Sure enough, Victor cut her off impatiently.
"Enough, Veronica." His tone held no courtesy. "Business first. Your personal grudge can wait."
He circled in front of me, gun aimed between my eyes.
"Listen up, Bykov." He licked his cracked lips. "The starting bid for this auction item—first, full control of the Southeast Asia routes. You sign the transfer documents right now."
"Second, publicly announce the Bykov family is withdrawing from the Eastern European market."
"Meet those two terms, and I'll return your little lover and those two bastards in her belly, good as new."
Blood rushed to my head.
"What, won't do it?" Veronica sneered. Her wrist moved.
A line of blood appeared on Riley's jaw. Riley's whole body shuddered in pain, those blue eyes brimming with tears, but she still shook her head at me. Even now, she was stubborn enough to break my heart.
And I had to watch her bleed, powerless to stop it. That feeling hurt ten thousand times worse than if the knife were cutting into me.
"I agree."
The moment I spoke, Veronica smiled with satisfaction. Victor immediately signaled his man to hand over documents.
My attention stayed locked on Riley. The instant Veronica relaxed, Riley suddenly moved, tipping backward in the chair. Veronica crashed to the floor.
Now. I raised my right hand, making a gesture toward the rooftop across the way. A bullet shot toward Victor. The rat reacted fast, dodging at the last second and rolling behind a column.
The sniper's first shot missed killing him. But it was enough—I heard more gunfire outside. Soon, my men would have this place surrounded. In the confusion, I vaulted onto the stage, lunging for Veronica.
Before she could react, I'd locked onto her wrist.
"Matvey!" She cried out in pain, dropping the knife.
I snatched it, rushed to Riley's side, slashed through the ropes binding her, then ripped the tape from her mouth.
"Riley!" I pulled her into my arms.
"Matvey..." She sobbed. "I'm sorry... I misunderstood you... I..."
"Riley, you never need to apologize to me." I pressed her face to my chest.
I breathed in the familiar scent of her hair, felt her real breath against my chest. I'd never been as aware as I was right now of how desperately I wanted to protect this woman.
Which is why I had to leave for a moment—the rat still needed dealing with.
"Wait for me. I'll be right back."
I'd barely taken a few steps when Victor emerged from behind the column.
"Watch your woman go to hell, Matvey." He snarled, aiming his gun at Riley behind me.
Time slowed. I saw him pull the trigger, saw the bullet trace its path.
My body moved before my brain could. I threw myself at Riley with everything I had. The bullet tore through my back and out the front. Searing pain spread. When I hit the ground, my head was going numb.
"Matvey, Matvey!" Riley's hands pressed frantically on my wound. "No, don't do this to me!"
The doors burst open. Anton and my men stormed in. Victor tried to fire again, but Anton, leading the charge, shot him dead.
I looked at Riley's tear-streaked face and felt something strange—fear. I'd been injured countless times in my life, but never felt this. I was afraid I'd never see those stubborn eyes again, afraid I'd never get to tell her how much I loved her, how much I loved our children.
"Riley..." I lifted my hand to wipe her tears, but my arm felt like it didn't belong to me.
My vision blurred. Riley's face grew distant. Her voice grew faint.
Then darkness, like a tide, swallowed me whole.