Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Tolya
The Don’s Warehouse
Istare down at the man who once ruled a family, thinking he was untouchable.
He wasn’t.
He just hadn’t met the right monster.
The building is slowly quieting around me. The sounds of crying girls and shouts of orders have faded into coordinated efforts. The men work quickly to clean house and escort survivors into waiting vans. The rest of the crew is tying up loose ends, burning evidence, and wiping the slate clean.
My fingers start to ache and I realize I still have a death grip on the gun in my hand. Exhaling slowly I holster it and crack my knuckles. Nico moves to stand beside me, staring down at the lifeless body at my feet, the edge finally bleeding from his posture.
He looks over at me, eyes narrowed, sharp in the low light.
“You really shot him in the fucking knee,” he mutters with a quiet laugh.
“He was trying to run,” I answer flatly.
“You were toying with him.”
I don’t argue. All that rage, all that fury inside me, unleashed in those final moments before taking the kill shot. He deserved every ounce of it.
Nico lets out a breath and claps a hand to my shoulder. “Still. Well played.”
Then he says it, quietly: “I heard what you told him. Right before you pulled the trigger.”
I don’t respond. Stiffening slightly.
“You called her your wife,” Nico goes on. “Not just in title. You meant it.” His voice is different now, no teasing, no bravado.
Nico studies me for a moment, thoughtful. “How’d you find out what he’d done to her?”
I glance at him, my jaw tightening with the memory. “Yaro. He brought it to my attention just this morning. Photos, notes, a pattern going back years. Turns out the Don had been sniffing around her for years. Pressuring her. Threatening her when she didn’t play along.”
Nico doesn’t flinch.
“You knew,” I accuse, watching him closely. “Didn’t you?”
A long pause. Then slowly he nods in acknowledgement. He’s quiet for a long moment. His eyes flick back toward the smoldering building.
“I found out the day I signed the treaty with you. I’d always suspected something,” he says. “But she never told me. She wouldn’t, would she? Too proud. Too afraid I’d do something reckless.”
A beat of silence stretches between us.
“You did something smarter,” I tell him. “You married her off to someone worse.”
That earns a dry laugh from him. “Worse, huh?”
“Meaner, perhaps.”
He grins. “Your protection was the only thing I had left to give her, Tolya. I couldn’t protect her in my house, not from him. Not forever. So I gave her to someone who could. I’m glad it was you. She’s got someone now. Not just a husband. A fucking monster willing to kill for her.”
I nod once.
“She’s mine now,” I say quietly, my voice raw, gravel-thick. “Whatever happens, she’s mine.”
Nico looks at me then, really looks. There’s something in his eyes that wasn’t there before. Respect, maybe. Relief. But also something sharper, more calculating.
“She changes people doesn’t she?”
I glance at him. “She didn’t change me.”
He smirks. “You’re right. She reminded you that there’s more to live for than vengeance."
We both fall silent. I hear someone shout something about the last van pulling out. Cleanup’s nearly done. The girls are safe. I run a hand through my hair, every inch of me tight with the urge to move, to do something.
“I should’ve killed him slower,” I mutter, mostly to myself. “Sooner.”
Nico’s face falls. “You did more than enough.”
My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket and I snatch it up, pressing it to my ear. “Da?”
Mila’s voice on the other end is clipped, urgent. My stomach twists as the words sink in. ‘Pakhan? It’s Eva…she’s gone.’
The phone slips from my hand before I even realize it, clattering against the cracked cement floor. A hollow roar fills my ears as my blood wooshes through my veins at light speed.
“Yaro! Get your ass here now!” I bellow, turning to face the warehouse, voice raw and jagged.
“What is it?” Nico asks, alarmed by the sudden change.
“Someone’s taken Eva,” I tell him, moving through the space, eyes scanning the shadows for my second.
“Yaro! Where the hell are you?!” I bellow again, voice cracking but filled with raw fury.
No answer. No sign of Yaro. My stomach drops hard, sick with the sinking realization.
Yaro is gone.
Eva is gone.
A cold fury ignites deep inside me, betrayal so thick I can taste it.
Yaro knew everything. He’s the one who uncovered Gavril. The one who led me straight into the trap. He played me like a damn toy.
Rage and frustration boils over. I seize the collar of the nearest of my men, one of Yaro’s most trusted, shoving him roughly against the cracked brick wall.
“Where is he?” I demand, my voice barely more than a low growl. “Where the fuck is Yaro?”
He blinks, clearly startled, but he doesn’t break eye contact. “I... haven’t seen him since the start of the cleanup, Tolya.”
My grip tightens, teeth clenched. “Don’t lie to me.”
He holds my gaze, refusing to back down. “I swear. He left right after the fighting finished. Said he had to handle something urgent. Didn’t say where he was going.”
I release him, stepping back, heart hammering in my chest. Turning sharply to Nico. “This was never just Gavril. The rot runs deeper. I’ve been played.”
Nico’s expression hardens, steel settling into his eyes. I pause, eyes narrowing, heart pounding with a bitter certainty. “And it looks like the rat... was closer to home than I ever wanted to admit.”
Nico’s jaw tightens. “Then we don’t have time to relish small victories. We move fast, find her.”
I nod, already moving toward the doors. Because if Yaro’s betrayal runs this deep there’s no telling how much damage he’s done.