Chapter 28
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Zahkar
We pulled all our resources into finding out who this piece of shit is. And, yes, that includes enlisting our father, who was infuriated with Yuri’s brass balls for sending someone to spy on us. Things back home are already on rocky ground, and Yuri is losing friends quicker than he did children.
We plan to deal with him when the time presents itself.
According to our father, the nun girl was the daughter of Yuri’s most deadly henchman, Alexey Maiburov. From what information is out there, he went AWOL a couple of years ago, and his brother Sergei took his place as Yuri’s top dog. Sergei’s niece, Alexey’s daughter, was brought into the fold.
“We should have changed into something a bit more breathable,” Rodion complains, loosening his collar.
“Viktor said to come straight away.” I take the next turn on the GPS, almost bouncing out of my seat with eagerness. I want to end this motherfucker painfully.
“A storage unit?” Rodion questions, tilting his head toward the large sign emblazoned with SECURE STASH, as our GPS announces the arrival at our destination.
“Look there.” He gestures toward Viktor, who leans casually against a weathered blue shipping container, his impeccable suit contrasting abruptly with the industrial surroundings.
We pull the car up and step out, taking a moment to absorb the scene before us.
The area is filled with row upon row of freight containers, painted in various colors.
There’s no one else around, but there are mechanical noises in the distance of containers being moved.
The air carries a faint scent of metal and rust mixed with a hint of diesel.
Nestled next to the blue container is the white van that had been outside Alyona’s.
“I’ve had the manager disable the video surveillance for the next hour,” Viktor announces, looking over at us while running a hand through his hair. “Shall we?”
“How did you find him?” I ask, watching him unlock the unit.
“I didn’t,” he replies casually, glancing back at me. “He found me. He thought I would give him information. That was a fatal error on his part.” A smirk forms on the corner of his lips.
“You’ve killed him already?” I ask, disappointment deflating my excitement from moments before.
Chuckling, he leans toward me, placing his hands on my shoulders. His tone drops an octave as his smile turns into a predatory, vicious grin, much like mine. “And deny you the honors?”
A thrill surges through my body, and I nod toward the container. “Let’s play.”
Sergei is strapped to a chair in the middle of the container that has a bed situated toward the back end, a bunch of video monitors pointed toward it.
“Do we want to know?” I ask, raising a brow at the bed.
“Other business, not yours.” He juts his chin at Sergei. “He’s yours.”
“Still being a disappointment to your father all the way across the pond.” Sergei spits, the white, foamy fluid lands at Viktor’s feet. “Predatel.” Traitor.
“Traitor?” Viktor sneers incredulously. “I owe no loyalty to you or Yuri. Poshel na khuy.” Go fuck yourself.
Blood oozes from a cut on Sergei’s lip, a bruise blossoming over his right eye. Viktor must have had to get handsy to get him here. To look at Viktor’s clean appearance, you wouldn’t think it.
“Where’s your brother?” Rodion asks, unbuttoning his shirt and slipping it off, folding it and placing it on the ground near the door away from Sergei. Both Viktor and I observe with appreciation the planes of creamy deliciousness he’s put on display.
“You killed him.” Sergei narrows his eyes in disgust. We exchange confused looks, and Sergei tips his head back. “No fucking way your bitch did it.” He roars against the restraints, almost knocking the chair over while trying to escape, but he fails.
Dumdumdumdumdum.
“What the fuck does that mean?” Rodion slaps him across the face. Not a punch, a fucking slap, and the man’s pupils expand like a rising tide swallowing everything else.
“Where is my niece?” Sergei demands, sweat running down his bald head, his muscles tensing against the restraints.
“Tell us what we want to know, and we’ll tell you where she is,” I offer, rolling my neck over my shoulders.
“Is she fucking dead?” he growls, squinting his dull grey eyes at me.
“No,” I lie, dropping my bag and bending down to unzip it. His eyes track my movements, straining when I remove a pair of pliers, a hacksaw, and a few daggers.
Viktor sits on the bed, crossing his feet at the ankles and splaying his hands beside him. "Make him bleed," he purrs, a feline sound escaping his lips. "I enjoy the color red."
This is why I always liked Viktor so much. He embodied death and carnage, never shying away from it. He looked into the darkness within death and the darkness looked back at him. Became part of him. Just like me.
Choosing to believe the lie, Sergei begins talking, “Alexey was told to find you. He did. He called me and said the bitch was with you.”
Slapping him across the face again, Rodion warns him, “Call her a bitch again.”
“Fuck you.”
“You’re not my type. Now when was this?” Rodion demands, snatching a push dagger from my hand and jamming it straight into Sergei’s kneecap using all his strength to tear through the bone and cartilage. Blood splatter sprays Rodion’s bare chest and the sight exhilarates me.
Beautiful.
“He looks like a painting.” Viktor grins at me, also enjoying the artistic show.
Sergei’s howl reverberates off the metal walls and sends a pulse straight to my dick.
Holding up a second dagger, Rodion waves it in front of Sergei’s face as a threat. “When?”
“A couple of years ago,” he gasps, his breath coming in harsh, painful bursts as he winces. “I didn’t want him to take on the job by himself. Your reputation precedes you, and I was worried for his safety.”
“Flattery won’t get you anywhere.” I flash my teeth, gripping the dagger still lodged in his knee and twisting, making blood spurt out when I yank it free. His screams fill the space. And Viktor gives me a round of applause when I shove it back in through the same hole.
Rodion narrows his eyes in disappointment, gesturing toward the vibrant red stain covering me. “You’ve ruined your sweater,” he says, with disapproval.
I bite back a laugh, the absurdity of the moment bubbling up inside me, and casually shrug my shoulders. “I’ll buy a new one,” I reply, recalling his words from when my watch got ruined weeks ago. Damn, that feels like a lifetime ago.
“Arghhh.” Sergei takes in a couple of ragged breaths when I tap the dagger. “He said he drugged your liquor, so he didn’t need me.”
Thoughts whirl in my mind and my stomach twists.
The night she left. Both Rodion and I got wasted. Usually our tolerance is much higher.
I look at Rodion who nods in confirmation. We don’t need to speak the words aloud. Our thoughts are one in the same.
“Yuri said Alexey had to kill you all if he found you together.”
Motherfucker.
Viktor straightens at this confession. It’s one thing to send spies to watch our business dealings, but to put a bounty on our heads, to authorize someone to kill us…
This is war.
“My brother never made it back from that job. I assumed you killed him,” he growls through gritted teeth.
Dumdumdumdumdum.
Not us. Alyona killed him and he’s why she left.
“Now where is my niece? Let her live.”
I grip the pliers in one hand and the hacksaw in the other. “She’s already dead, like you’re about to be, in around…” I look at my watch and smirk at Viktor. He said we had an hour. Fifteen minutes of that have passed. “Forty-five minutes.”