Chapter 23 - Artyom
Unclear voices swirled around me. My head felt clouded with fog, every movement felt like I was in a damn trance. I was being moved. I needed to know where the fuck I was and who was moving me. I forced my eyes open and Yegor’s concerned gaze met mine.
Smoke hit me next, and confusion replaced the fog for a few seconds before everything slammed into me all at once. An explosive device hit the front of the damn car before we flipped.
Fuck. Ninel. The baby.
Panic surged through me, and I forced myself upright with Yegor’s and Zahkar’s help, ignoring the pounding in my skull, the blood trailing down the side of my head and my protesting muscles.
“Where’s Ninel?” My voice cracked. I coughed into the sleeve of my shirt, blood splattering on it. Yegor’s eyes darkened.
“She isn’t here,” Zahkar said grimly.
I spun, heart hammering against my ribs.
“Let’s get you to the hospital. We’ll find Ninel,” Yegor said firmly.
I straightened, scanning the road behind us. A log lay in the middle, and the SUV Ruslan and the other guards had been in was flipped. Three of our men were standing with them.
“No. We go to Lev,” I growled.
“But…” Yegor began.
“No,” I cut him off, my voice hard. “We find Ninel first. She always comes first. Got it?””
Yegor gave a brief nod.
We moved quickly to one of the vehicles. Yegor slid into the driver’s seat and floored it, the engine roaring as we barreled toward the Safin faction.
I patted my pants, searching for my phone. It wasn’t there.
“Zahkar. Phone,” I barked, barely keeping my composure. He handed me his device, and I dialed Konstantin.
“Zahkar, what can I do for you?”
“It’s me. Mrs. Rykov has been taken. I need you to find her. My phone’s also missing, cut all access.” Every word was carved in ice.
Even though my phone was coded, I wasn’t taking chances.
I told Konstantin the road where the attack happened.
“When you find the bastards who took my wife,” I growled menacingly. “Every single person connected to them…kill them. All of them.”
I ended the call without another word.
Every second stretched, every heartbeat a countdown.
Ninel and our child were in danger. If anything happened to either of them…
I wouldn’t survive it. And I had survived a lot in this brutally cold world.
I had to check myself before spinning out of control.
My family needed me. They were counting on me.
And I would not, could not, disappoint them. Their lives were in my hands.
After driving like a bat out of hell, Yegor slammed the SUV to a stop outside Lev’s compound. He barked into the intercom.
“Lev, we've got a situation. It's Ninel.”
The gates swung open and we tore through them, tires squealing, and pulled up to the mansion. The front door opened, and Lev, along with the rest of Ninel’s brothers, poured out of the house.
We barely had time to exit the vehicle when Lev was on us, eyes blazing.
“What happened?” he demanded sharply.
“We were attacked,” I growled. “The front of the car was hit with some sort of explosive device. I lost control and we flipped a couple of times. When I came to…Ninel was gone. You have to help me find her.”
Jaroslav’s cold gaze locked onto me, his gun trained to the middle of my forehead.
“Like the fuck we will,” he spat. “You planned this.”
Yegor and Zahkar snapped their weapons up. Marten, Pyotr, and Avit mirrored them, every finger on triggers.
“Do you think I’d blow up my own car with me in it?” I barked through clenched teeth. “Do you think I’d harm Ninel?”
“Yes. For the same reason you’ve lied to us before…to lower our guard, to execute whatever fucked-up scheme you’re hiding. As for hurting Ninel, you already did when you fucking tore her away from her family!” Jaroslav snarled and took a step towards me.
Yegor and Zahkar moved to protect me but my hands shot up to their shoulders to stop them.
He continued, his voice was venomous. “I warned you that I’d forget you’re my wife's brother.”
I laughed, bitterly. The harsh sound hollow in my ears. “And if you kill me, and my brothers, how the fuck are you going to find her if I'm behind the damn attack? I came here for help from her brothers, men who claim to love her. And this is how it goes?”
Pyotr's eyes narrowed. “Make no mistake. We love Ninel. But in our eyes you've proven time and time again that we can't fucking trust you.”
I ran a hand through my hair, tension wrapped around my lungs making every breath hurt. This wasn’t getting us anywhere.
“Yegor…Zahkar…lower your weapons,” I sighed.
They obeyed but they didn't put them away.
“Lev,” I pleaded. He had remained silent as his brothers tore into me, his face blank.
“Help me find my wife. A few weeks ago, she was followed.
Konstantin couldn't find any traces of them on footage.
The only ones who've had the ability to go untraceable and slip past Konstantin is the fucking ghost enemy.
I can't lose her.” My voice cracked at the last words, my fists clenching at my sides.
“Lower your weapons,” Lev commanded his brothers.
They obeyed, but their eyes never left me.
“We’ll look for Ninel,” Lev’s tone was clipped. His head tilted toward the gash on my forehead. “Go get yourself checked. When we find her, we’ll let you know.”
“You expect me to sit this out?” I spat, half-amused, half-pissed.
“Yes,” Lev said flatly. “You came to us for help. We’ll handle it from here.”
“Handle it?” I hissed. “When Katya went missing, did you sit the fuck out? You were front and center. I will not sit in some fucking hospital twiddling my thumbs while my wife is in enemy hands.” I stepped toe to toe with Lev, Jaroslav’s eyes burning directly behind Lev, his gun raised once again.
“You may not like the fact that I'm Ninel's husband or how I went about securing our marriage. But, Ninel is fucking mine. And nothing or no one will get in my way of looking for her.”
I stepped back. “Yegor…Zahkar. Let’s move.”
This time, I climbed behind the wheel myself. As soon as my brothers hopped in I sped it out of Lev’s compound.
Fuck Lev.
Fuck anyone trying to tell me what I could or couldn’t do when it came to my wife. I will fucking tear through any state to find her. Consequences be damned!
On the way to our headquarters, I called Kolya. We needed eyes on the ground while Konstantin and his tech crew worked their magic.
An hour later, I was pacing the office, Zahkar’s phone pressed tight in my hand. Zahkar and Yegor had taken some of our men and were already in the streets, combing every inch of the city for a lead.
The phone buzzed.
“Tell me you’ve got something, Konstantin.”
“I do. She’s in PhilaPort.” He gave me her exact location.
“What the fuck?”
A cold icy shudder shot down my spine almost freezing me on the spot. But, my legs were already on the move heading to the car park.
Were they planning on shipping her? I pushed the bile down that threatened to spill into my mouth.
Konstantin's voice snapped me back to the present. “They may have blocked all the main security cameras, but I tapped every other feed I could find: dash cams, nanny cams, amateur spy cams. That’s how I spotted her. It's the same bastards from the art gallery.”
I slid behind the wheel, and clipped the phone to the mount. “And you’re sure she’s there?”
“Yes. I'm watching her now through one of the guards’ cams that I was able to tap into.”
“Is she hurt?” My pulse spiked.
“She has a mark on her forehead and a few bruises, probably from the accident.”
I let out the breath I’d been holding as I tore out of the parking lot.
I couldn’t wait for Yegor and Zahkar. She might look fine on the outside, but that didn’t rule out internal bleeding, or the baby being hurt.
Ninel grew up in Bratva. She was stubborn as hell and would never show weakness, never let them know how badly she was injured so they could use it against her.
But I prayed nothing was wrong. I needed her to be okay.
Hold on, Printsessa. I’m coming.
“How many men? So I'll know how many fucking bastards I'll have to kill.”
“Twelve. But they’re spaced out. You can slip in and out before they see you. I can’t tap their feed to block it so you'll have to stick to the shadows.”
I ground my teeth.
“Call Lev. Let them know. Keep this line open.”
“Yes, boss.”
I heard Konstantin's muffled voices on the other end as he made a few calls. But, my focus was on Ninel. She was the only thing that mattered at this point.
Twenty-five minutes later, I parked two blocks away from PhilaPort. Feet hitting the asphalt in a jog, phone pressed to my ear.
“Boss, something’s happening.” Konstantin's voice came through the speaker.
“What?”
“They’re moving her. Fucking hell. Looks like they’re planning on putting her in a crate.”
“Fuck.”
I melted into the shadows, moving fast and silent. Everyone I came across was going to fucking die. As I crawled through the shipping dock to the warehouse, I snapped the necks of two guards before they even knew I was there.
Ten more fuckers to go.
When I got close enough to the warehouse, I whispered into the phone. “I'm heading in to get her.”
“Mrs. Rykov’s brothers are on their way. So are yours.”
I cut the call and pulled out a knife.
I stepped into the warehouse, and not long after, I slashed the neck of another guard.
Fucking nine.
The further I went in the more lights were on. I slashed two more.
Fucking seven.
I was almost to the back of the warehouse when I heard talking and Ninel’s screams. I surged from the shadows, her cries fueling the rage boiling inside me.
I watched as she kicked one bastard in the groin, elbowed another in the ribs, resisting their attempt to shove her into a tiny crate. Her face was contorted in rage and her defiance lit a fire through my veins…pride and fury rolled into one.
She was in danger, but even now my eyes locked on her clothes. I was glad I’d changed her outfit last minute, because I wanted to take her on my yacht and I wanted her to be warm. The thought of her dress riding up, those bastards seeing her sweet cunt, made my blood run hotter.
I raised my gun and tore through the three fuckers in quick succession, each with a headshot.
Fucking four more.
She dropped to the ground, stunned, and I ran to her, out in the open. I gently pulled her to her feet, and pressed her against me. I knew we couldn't stay, we had to move, but I couldn’t ignore her shaking, the way she clung to me as tears cascaded down her cheeks.
I brushed her hair from her face and wiped her eyes. After kissing her lightly, I whispered, “You’re safe now, Printsessa.”
Just then two shots exploded behind me. A searing pain tore into my back. Ninel screamed, eyes wide with terror. My chest tightened at the sight of the horror on her face. It was here I realized that nothing in the world mattered more than her.
I spun, fired, and cut the two bastards down.
“Fucking two…” I croaked as I collapsed to the ground.