Chapter 24 #2
Her entire face was suddenly pinched. “Are you kidding me? He shares nothing, as if as a wife I can’t handle his business.
Just like my father and uncle have done my entire life.
Whatever business my husband mentioned he could do while here is consuming him.
He was angry before he arrived. He wasn’t supposed to come. ”
“Then why did he?”
She was completely stressed. “He had a phone call. I think from my uncle. What have I done? Enzo had something to do with her disappearance. Didn’t he? The asshole tried to force me to go with him. I refused.”
Kazimir bristled behind me.
I squeezed her arm. “We’re going to find out. Just stay here. We’ll keep you protected.”
“You don’t completely understand. Vivian showed me a photograph.”
“What photograph?”
“A guy who looked very much like Kazimir.”
Both Kazimir and I sucked in our breath. “Mikhail,” he said under his breath.
“Does that mean you’ve seen him?” I was even gentler than before while I was about to jump out of my skin. A confirmation the bastard was determined to continue his family vendetta.
“Yes. Briefly but I’m not a hundred percent sure.”
“Then where?”
“Here. He was inside the church. Then again at the reception but dressed as a waiter. But he looks different. His head is almost shaved and he has a goatee. But the eyes. They never lie.”
Both Kazimir and I looked at each other. The fucker had been watching, stalking, paying close attention.
“Find my sister, Kirill. She deserves her happiness and I’ve never seen her so happy. With you.” Her smile was guarded yet I could tell she was being truthful.
“I’ll find her. Don’t worry.”
There was no way of calming my rage. I burst into the small conference room, tossing Sean against the wall. With my one hand wrapped around his throat, he had no idea how close I was to snapping his neck.
Every soldier in the room reacted, weapons drawn.
“Hey. Hey. Hey,” Kazimir yelled. “Not this way. Not here.”
Dimitri was on one side of me, Dante on the other trying to pull me off. “Kazimir is right. Not like this.”
“What is going on?” Gerald tossed out, bristling but not yet attempting to come to Sean’s assistance.
“Your daughter is missing as anticipated. However, it would seem this bastard decided his business was worth more than his niece. Isn’t that right, Sean?” Kazimir asked.
I studied Sean’s reaction. “If she is hurt, you will die.”
“Just let him go,” Kazimir directed.
While I did, backing away almost immediately, I was eager and ready to end his life if necessary.
Sean coughed, using hand signals to tell his men to back down.
“Talk,” I hissed. “What did you do?”
“For the love of fuck,” he wheezed, coughing a few additional times.
“Enzo isn’t an idiot. I expressed my… anger at my niece getting married to Russian scum.
He said nothing other than that he would make arrangements to handle the situation after he arrived in New York.
How the hell else would I manage to lure him to New York to see if I was betrayed? ”
“I think you’re the one who decided which side you were on and it isn’t with your niece,” I snarled.
“Bullshit!” Sean insisted.
Gerald suddenly made a move. “This wasn’t what we agreed on, Sean. You took one daughter. I refuse to allow you to take another.”
“I love Vivian and Nikki,” Sean insisted. “Yes, business is important, but I will not allow anyone to betray us. No one.” He tossed out the last remark for my benefit.
As if I gave a damn.
There was another presence and I took my eyes off the Irish asshole to find out the cause of the interruption.
“How she was taken from the hotel was easy to find. Too easy,” Stash said. In his hand was an iPad, showing Kazimir the screen first before bringing it toward me. “To get into the employee garage you need a key code.”
“The fucker has been working here all along,” I said absently. There was something to be said about a patient man. He always caught his prey.
Not this time.
There were two men who’d managed to garner access to the employee elevator that led to the garage dedicated to them as well. The decision was clever and another indication someone had been working inside the hotel long enough to know their way around.
While initially the kidnappers’ backs were turned, one lifted their head on purpose. Enzo. He was looking directly at the camera as if knowing it was there. This was all just a continuation of the game.
Every step they’d been ahead.
“How much of a head start?” Kazimir asked.
“Fifteen minutes,” Stash answered. “They knew exactly what they were doing.”
“What the fuck did you do?” Gerald hissed, lunging for Sean.
“Hey. Hey!”
They both managed a few punches before they were pulled away and Kazimir glared at me, obviously disgusted. He raked his hands through his hair, confronting Sean. “What business were you discussing with Enzo?”
“What do you think? Expanding into New York. Enzo is insistent we sign a contract with the oil and gas company this coming week.”
“With them as cosigners,” Kazimir laughed.
“Yes.”
A blip almost as if a text caught my attention. As soon as I jerked out the phone, I pumped my fist.
“She turned on the tracker.” I whispered the words, but Sean had caught them. In turn, I closed the distance between us, not touching, but I didn’t need to. “Where is this?” I held up the phone.
He barely darted a glance at the screen. “I don’t know.”
“Let me see it,” Gerald huffed and I allowed him to take the phone from my hand. “That’s a building Sean owns that no one knows about. It’s abandoned.”
“Thank you, Gerald. Maybe you do give a damn about your daughters.” My eyes never left Sean. “I will make you a promise, Sean. If this game of cat and mouse turns deadly, I will ensure that you and your family spend the rest of your life regretting fucking with us.”
I pulled away, taking long strides to the door.
“I swear to God, I did not double cross you. I want to kill that motherfucker myself.”
His statement was almost heartfelt.
“The argument you saw was my termination of our contract with him,” he continued.
“You did what?” Kazimir was furious. “That wasn’t the plan.”
“I understand that, but the fucker made me angry.”
Kazimir and I exchanged glances. His impatience added a wrinkle into the game we were playing. “And what did he say?” I gritted out.
“He was furious and said I would pay for leading him on. You need to know something. It’s not empty.
That building is loaded with weapons and ammunition.
I can tell you how to get in where they won’t notice you.
But be careful. The weapons were to be moved next week, a temporary location.
After that, the building will come down. ”
I lingered in the doorway. “You better hope we get to Enzo in time. If not, you will die.”