Chapter 14 #2
“Look out,” Sasha snarled, managing to shove me to the ground then dropping and rolling before firing off his weapon.
The asshole had managed to sneak up on me. Maybe I’d lost my touch. Scrambling to my feet, I moved through the warehouse, my weapon held in both hands.
Pop! Boom!
And the motherfuckers had smoke bombs. What the hell? It would seem they’d been prepared for any possible retaliation. That pissed me off. What had happened to the element of surprise when you needed it?
As acrid smoke filled the air, making it almost impossible to breathe, I realized we were on our own. There was no chance of catching sight of anyone. We’d need to act on instinct.
I threw my back against a wall, my eyes burning. After rubbing them, I was able to focus enough to see one of the security guards making his way toward Mikhail. Unfortunately, Sasha couldn’t see the enemy from where he was standing.
The shot was risky, so I lunged forward, grabbing the guard by the back of the neck, pitching him to the ground. Without hesitation, I fired off two shots, catching him between the eyes. But I couldn’t rest on my laurels.
An instant blast of pain electrified my system, starting with my shoulder and extending down my arm. I’d been shot. While a glancing blow, the anguish was horrific, the force enough to drive me against several crates. I went down, my weapon flying from my hand.
A soldier was right there, attempting to take advantage of the moment. While I was scrambling to reach my weapon, he decided he’d kick me in the stomach while I was down. The bastard even laughed.
Big mistake. There was little I hated more than being made fun of.
Even with being in my late thirties, I was still in damn good shape. Given I was one pissed-off Russian, I rolled onto my side, throwing my leg up and catching him in the face. He was instantly pitched backward. I jerked to my feet, lunging toward him.
“Aaarrrrr…” My bellow was one of fury and I drove us both into a stacked set of crates, sending them flying. I ignored the biting anguish as we wrestled, the fucker managing to get off several brutal punches.
But I was bigger and stronger, pummeling my fist into his face and throat, able to toss him aside seconds later.
But I’d be damned if he didn’t rise like from the dead, aiming his weapon at me.
I’d had enough, smacking my hand around the barrel, fighting to shove it away.
He was strong. I’d given him that, somehow able to scramble to his feet while we continued the death dance.
The asshole managed to drive the cold, hard steel against my throat.
Grinning, he believed he had me, a prize for his mantel.
He’d underestimated me as so many had. With a quick jab with my injured arm, I broke the tight hold he had, his fingers loosening enough I was able to jerk the man’s weapon from him.
After another brutal kick to the gut, I leveled the gun in his direction.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
“Take that, fucker.” Huffing, I raked my hand through my hair, wincing from the pain. Another sound caught my attention and I crouched low, swinging to the left. Just in time to catch another guard trying to sneak up on me.
He failed.
Only after his body slumped to the ground did I lower my weapon. Within seconds, there were no other sounds but the shrill alarm.
“Would someone cut the goddamn thing off!” Mikhail shouted from somewhere deeper in the interior of the building.
Half laughing and thankful the smoke was starting to clear, I went and found my weapon, shoving the guard’s phone into my jacket while holding mine.
Jesus Christ, it hurt like a son of a bitch.
The days of being fascinated by fights more than contracts were way behind me.
Within seconds, one of our men had successfully turned off the alarm, also switching off the emergency lights.
Through the smoke and carnage, I noticed the man we’d placed inside certainly hadn’t been wrong about the drugs. There were crates full of them.
“What the hell was that?” Kazimir hissed as he appeared from the shadows.
“A near ambush,” Mikhail answered.
“They were waiting for us.” Sasha lifted an eyebrow, looking from one to the other of us.
Vissarian wiped blood from his face with his arm. “Yeah. How the fuck did they know we’d hit tonight?”
Mikhail gritted his teeth. “I can think of a few reasons.”
Which could mean we had a mole. “You need to double check the personnel. Especially the recent hires.”
The Pakhan looked at me, finally nodding. “You’re right. Let’s finish this up and get out of here. No phone calls on the way out of here. You’re injured. Are you okay?” He narrowed his eyes when he peered at me.
While it burned, I gritted my teeth when answering. “I’ll live.”
He chuckled and shoved his weapon into his jacket. “That’s good to hear, brother.”
A strange noise caught my attention, one so slight that none of the others heard it. But my hearing was keen, much more so than the rest of my family. When I threw up my arm with my weapon in my hand, driving it like a wedge among the group of us, the others remained shocked.
Pop! Pop!
The single gunman had his weapon pointed at Mikhail. I took a deep breath while there was utter silence surrounding me.
“Well, it’s safe to say you haven’t lost all your skills,” Kazimir teased while patting me on the back.
I wasn’t honestly certain whether to take that as a dig or a compliment.
Either way, Mikhail had his eyes open wide, offering a silent thank you with a solid nod of respect. That’s all that was necessary.
Anything for family.
Anything.
Ten minutes later, we stood outside the warehouse at a safe distance. For whatever reason, we’d remained quiet since leaving the building. It certainly was not out of reverence to the lives lost.
Our near anxiousness was caused by the knowledge someone had tipped off Papadakis that we’d ascertained the location where he’d housed most of his drugs. I was shocked at this point there weren’t other men employed by their organization swarming the area.
Maybe Petros and Viktor truly believed it would be that easy to gun us down.
Or perhaps they had another enemy intent on destroying their empire.
We couldn’t rule out a single option, several we’d explore in the upcoming days.
At this point, we were about to finish playing our hand. If the Papadakis brothers didn’t take the hint, then God help them.
“We’re ready,” one of the soldiers said by way of two-way radio.
“Then get out and detonate,” Mikhail told him.
“This should be a showstopper,” Vissarian muttered, laughing as he did.
I didn’t give a damn about the fireworks as much as I did about providing a clear statement. We would see how well received that turned out to be.
My thoughts drifted to Halle. At minimum I’d need to find out if she’d made it home alright.
I was antsy. There’d been too many people at the hotel, a few having seen us together.
The last thing either one of us needed was full exposure.
And why? Certainly not because I didn’t want to be seen with her.
Just the opposite.
I longed to show her off to the world, even though she wouldn’t allow any such actions of grandeur. I could only imagine her reaction if I tried.
Why was it with every thought my cock ached more than ever?
While there should be no taste of her left when I licked my lips, there was. And even after being covered in smoke, her fragrance still lingered on my skin.
“You’re thinking about her. Aren’t you?”
Sasha’s question amused me. “How can you tell?”
“Call it the faraway look in your eyes. Just warning you that if anyone finds out you care about her after this, well…” He didn’t need to finish his sentence. I knew exactly what he was getting at.
“Yeah, I know. She doesn’t want to see me, so I’ll honor her demand. For now.”
“Oh, a demand. I think I need to meet this girl.”
My response was a simple showing of my middle finger, at which he laughed.
Why was it that I didn’t feel as jovial as perhaps I should?
The wait was grueling even though only two minutes went by before we heard a series of popping sounds.
My jaw tightened and I lifted my head, watching as the first explosion lit up the early morning sky.
It was just a matter of seconds before the entire back half of the building went up in flames.
Satisfied, I turned away from the group, heading to my car.
It had been one hell of a long day.