22.Alin #2
Graham is trying to guilt me into going back. He doesn’t know I’m here for exactly that reason—I won’t let Luca get hurt today.
Another half-hour passes, and the area falls silent. Graham calls several more times, but I continue to ignore him, finally sending him a single text.
I’m fine. Trust me, please.
11:48 PM
I peek out again and see the gate is now open, with no more of their men in sight. Taking a deep breath, I stand up and start moving toward the containers. Suddenly, a hand grabs my arm, yanking me to the side.
I look up and immediately recognize Vladimir. Shit. My heart races in my chest. I can’t let him report this. I’ll ruin Luca’s entire plan if I don’t act now.
“Looks like you really want a piece of me, if you’re following me around like this. You’d make a great addition to today’s shipment,” he says smugly, his eyes roaming hungrily over my body.
The thought of him touching me makes my skin crawl. I take a step back, trying to break free from his grip on my arm.
“Looks like you didn’t learn your lesson last time,” I retort sharply, ensuring no one else is around before swiftly raising my other hand toward him before he can react.
“Bitch, I’ll kill you,” he gasps as he starts choking, trying in vain to reach his gun.
This time, I don’t just choke him. I lift him off the ground using my powers and with a single hand wave, I slam his body hard against a nearby concrete wall. His head hits the wall with a thud, and he loses consciousness.
I rush to his crumpled body, seeing blood starting to pool behind his head. I grab his phone, his gun, and a knife I felt around his leg area. Living among criminals has certainly improved my survival skills, at least in their world.
I push the knife into the side of my tight jeans, put his phone in my pocket, and keep the gun in my hand. Before I can move, a gun is pressed to my temple. I jump in fright, but relax when I recognize one of Luca’s men.
He keeps his gun to my head, ignoring my attempts to remind him who I am, and communicates over his earpiece. Within minutes, two more men are in front of me, followed by Luca and Pedro.
Luca recognizes me instantly. “Matteo, lower your gun, or my next bullet will take you down,” he threatens through clenched teeth.
The soldier immediately lowers his weapon and steps back in fear. “Alin, what the hell are you doing here?” Luca demands, his voice laced with anger.
I sigh, knowing there’s no point in lying. “When I saw everything you had planned and realized the risks, I couldn’t let you go alone. I wanted to help,” I admit, realizing how stupid I must sound since he has no idea how I could possibly contribute to such an operation.
“Do you hear yourself? Luckily, it was one of my men that caught you. What could you have done against one of the Russians?” he asks, his frustration clear.
“I can protect myself,” I retort, pointing to Vladimir’s unconscious, bleeding body on the ground.
“You did this?” he asks, surprised. When I nod, his anger seems to rise even further.
“Alin, I have no idea how you managed that, but do you understand the danger you put yourself in? How did you even get here? Where is Graham?” he fires off questions furiously.
“I escaped him,” I reply, feeling like a scolded child. Luca runs his hand through his hair in frustration, cursing under his breath.
“I’ll deal with Graham when I get back. Come with me,” he orders, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. Pedro walks beside me, giving me a pitying look.
Their vehicle, a large black SUV, is parked nearby.
Luca opens the rear door for me and pushes me in, careful not to bump my head.
He orders Matteo to quickly hide Vladimir’s body before the other Russians notice.
Mariano, talking on the phone, glances at me from the driver’s seat, surprised. Luca signals him to ignore it.
At least now that I’m with them in the car, I can try to protect them if something happens. I sit silently as we wait in the vehicle and hand Luca Vladimir’s phone, remembering it was in my pocket.
It seems they’re waiting for a signal from the men in the field that the shipment has arrived.
Vladimir’s phone has been going off and Luca takes the chance to get a look through on their messages, with me translating it.
We’ve been waiting in the car for hours; it’s already 3:40 in the morning, and my phone battery is about to die.
I toss my phone onto the seat next to me, feeling exhaustion take over my body.
I close my eyes for a second and wake up abruptly as a voice startles us all. “The shipment is here. There are two containers, one full of women, and the other is still sealed. Waiting for your orders,” one of the men reports to Luca from a phone that must have been on speaker.
“Is Stas there?” Luca grabs the phone and asks.
“Yes. We have eyes on him; he’s moving toward the container,” the soldier responds promptly.
“Move in. Kill as many of their men as you can but keep eyes on Stas. He’s mine,” Luca orders, then looks at Mariano.
“You, inform your police contacts. The Russians are not getting this shipment,” he commands, loads his second gun, and steps out of the vehicle.
Mariano follows suit after completing the call.
Suddenly, I remember Stas’s conversation with Vladimir.
“Luca, wait!” I jump out of the car and stop him.
“There’s a girl in there. Stas doesn’t care about the shipment as much as he cares about that girl. I heard him say she’s worth a lot of money and that nothing can happen to her,” I explain.
Luca glares at me and barks in anger, “And you’re telling me this now?” His tone stings, but I maintain my composure.
“I only just realized how useful this information could be,” I reply confidently, not letting him shake me.
“Get the girl out of there. Ruin his shipment,” I add quickly, stating the obvious.
Luca takes a deep breath, turning back into the ice-cold monster I know. He nods and moves forward. I follow him closely.
“What are you doing? Get back in the car,” he commands, but I keep walking.
“As I’ve been saying, I’m not letting you put yourself at risk. Besides, I speak Russian. You might need me,” I assert without looking at him, giving him no choice. I hear his sigh in response.
He pulls me close to his back, and Mariano and Pedro flank us on either side with Matteo joining in.
I start hearing gunshots in the distance, and the brothers sprint ahead, with me following closely.
As we enter the container area, Luca shoots every Russian man he spots without hesitation, hitting each target perfectly.
I regret that Luca took my weapon in the car, but I know I wouldn’t have known how to use it anyway.
Luca takes down another man hiding behind the containers, and I spot another aiming his gun at Luca from our side.
Quickly, before anyone else notices him, I raise my hand and choke him into unconsciousness with a swift and powerful motion.
I quickly scan my surroundings and feel relieved to see that none of them noticed. I am definitely of use here, I reassure myself.
The brothers halt as we face a large white ship with two containers, just as the man on the phone mentioned. We press against one of the containers, assessing the situation on the ground.
Luca’s men seem to be gaining control, but a few of them are injured. The sea breeze now carries a hint of blood in the air. A big man rushes toward us, and I recognize him immediately—Abert. He is surprised by my presence but immediately starts briefing Luca on everything that’s happening.
I stop listening to their conversation as I spot Stas moving away from the scene. I quickly dash to another nearby container for a closer view. As I get closer, I see Stas holding a small girl, yelling in Russian to one of his men to find Vladimir and that he intends to kill him for disappearing.
I watch the girl, who looks so delicate, like a porcelain doll, trembling and crying. He drags her behind him as if she’s an object, almost tearing her arm out of its socket. Rage builds inside me.
Stas halts when one of his men reports that there are too many injured and dead to proceed with the shipment.
His face turns red with fury, and he shouts at his soldier before pulling out his gun and shooting him in the head without warning.
I flinch as blood splatters on his shirt and the girl’s body.
I hear him cursing and see him wiping the blood on his face with his sleeve.
I decide to take advantage of the opportunity and throw a small stone I picked up from the ground toward the girl’s leg. I miss but manage to catch her attention.
She looks at me, and I signal her to stay quiet. She nods, and I raise my hand toward Stas.
Before Stas is able to continue, he drops to his knees, cursing, struggling for breath. I smile at his suffering. His hand releases the girl as he tries to catch his breathe. I signal her to run toward me, and as she reaches me, I release Stas from my hold and hug her tightly.
She starts crying and asking for her mother in Russian.
“Everything will be alright,” I reassure her in her own language, stroking her hair as she clings to me. Stas will never get this girl, I vow.
Suddenly, I hear a gun being cocked above my head. I look up and see one of Stas’s men standing in front of me. I tighten my grip on the girl ready to protect us both.
Before I can react, a gunshot pierces the air, and the soldier collapses to the ground. I quickly turn and see Luca running toward me.
“We did it,” I whisper into the air, finally releasing a breath that felt held for an eternity.
“Can you stop giving me heart attacks tonight?” Luca pants as he stops in front of me.
I glance around and see the sunrise painting warm colors across the water in the distance.
I turn back to him with a satisfied smile. “Yes, definitely the last heart attack for tonight. The morning has arrived.” He chuckles, and in the distance, we hear sirens.