Chapter 14 Dimitri
DIMITRI
Ikneel beside Alexei on the blood-slicked marble floor of the Popov foyer, my hands already checking for injuries. His chest rises and falls in shallow breaths, and relief floods through me so intense, it's almost painful. He's alive.
"Alexei." I grip his shoulder, careful to avoid the bullet wound. "Can you hear me?"
His eyes flutter open, unfocused at first, then sharpening as they find my face. He tries to sit up, and I help him, supporting his weight as he groans.
"Dimitri." His voice is rough, strained. "They took her. I tried to stop them, but there were too many."
"I know." I keep my tone calm, controlled, even though rage is burning through my veins like acid. "Tell me what happened."
Alexei touches the side of his head where blood has matted his hair. "Viktor's men. They came out of nowhere. I was watching the front entrance when they hit me from behind. When I came to, they were dragging Alina out the back. She was unconscious. I think Viktor drugged her."
My jaw clenches so hard I hear my teeth grind. "Did you see where they took her?" I ask, though I'm already preparing for the worst. If Alexei doesn't know, we'll have to track them, and every minute that passes is another minute Alina is in danger.
"I heard them talking." Alexei's eyes meet mine, and I see the guilt there. He blames himself for this. "Before I passed out again. They said something about a cabin. Old hunting cabin in the woods, north of the city. Near the river."
Hope surges through me. It's not much, but it's something. A direction. A place to start.
"How many men?"
"At least six that I saw. Could be more." He tries to stand, and I help him to his feet. Blood soaks through his shirt from the shoulder wound, and he's swaying slightly. "I'm coming with you."
"No." I shake my head firmly. "You're going to the doctor. That wound needs attention."
"Dimitri—"
"That's an order, Alexei." I soften my tone slightly. "I need you alive and functional. Get patched up, then coordinate from the estate. I'll need backup if this goes wrong."
He wants to argue. I can see it in his face. But he's been with me long enough to know when I won't be swayed. He nods reluctantly.
I turn to Borge, who's standing nearby with three other soldiers. "Take Alexei to Doc’s. No hospitals."
Borge nods and moves to support Alexei. As they head toward the door, I pull out my phone and start making calls. I need men. Weapons. Vehicles. And I need them five minutes ago.
My first call is to Mikhail, one of my best trackers. "I need you to find an old hunting cabin north of the city, near the River. Kozlov soldiers are using it. I want coordinates in the next ten minutes."
"On it, Pakhan."
The next call is to Yuri, my weapons specialist. "Meet me at the estate. Bring everything. We're going to war."
As I stride out of the Popov house toward my waiting SUV, my mind is racing.
The cabin could be anywhere in a fifty-mile radius.
The woods north of the city are dense, full of old hunting lodges and abandoned structures.
But Mikhail is good at what he does. If anyone can narrow down the location, it's him.
I slide into the driver's seat and grip the steering wheel, forcing myself to breathe. To think clearly.
Fear, raw and visceral in a way I haven't experienced since I was a young man fighting for survival in the streets. Fear that I'll be too late. That they'll hurt her. That I'll find her body instead of her alive and fighting.
And something else. Something deeper and more complicated that I don't want to name.
I've known Alina for less than a week. Five days since I pulled her from that burning church. Five days since she became my responsibility, my problem, my… what? I don't have words for what she is to me.
She was supposed to be leverage, a pawn in the game between families. A way to salvage the alliance that Sergei's death destroyed.
But somewhere between the church and now, between her pulling a gun on me and her standing up to her father, between the taste of her lips and the fire in her green eyes, she became something more.
She became mine.
Not in the way Viktor owned her, like property to be traded. Not in the way Sergei would have owned her, like a trophy to display. Mine in a way that makes my chest tight and my hands shake. Mine in a way that makes me want to burn down the entire city to get her back.
I've built an empire on blood and fear. I've done things that would make most people sick. But I've never felt this kind of desperation, this kind of need.
My phone buzzes. Mikhail.
"I have three possible locations," he says without preamble. "Sending you the coordinates now. The most likely is an old family hunting lodge. It's been abandoned for years, but satellite imagery shows recent activity. Vehicles. People."
"That's it." I can feel it in my bones. "Send the coordinates to everyone. We move in ten minutes."
I end the call and press the accelerator to the floor. The SUV surges forward, and I weave through traffic with the kind of reckless speed that would normally get me pulled over. But I don't care. Let the police try to stop me. I'll go through them if I have to.
Back at the estate, organized chaos greets me. My men are already assembling in the courtyard, checking weapons, loading vehicles. Yuri has laid out an arsenal on a table near the garage. Assault rifles, handguns, tactical gear, body armor.
I move through them quickly, issuing orders, coordinating the assault. We'll take three vehicles. I'll lead the first team directly to the cabin. The second team will circle around to cut off any escape routes. The third will hang back as backup in case we need reinforcements.
As I'm strapping on body armor, I catch sight of my reflection in one of the SUV's tinted windows. My face is hard, cold, the face of the ruthless Pakhan everyone fears. But my eyes tell a different story. There's something wild in them. Something desperate.
I think about the last time I saw Alina. Standing in the foyer, torn between two worlds. She'd chosen to go with Viktor, to see her family, even though I could see the doubt in her eyes. Even though she knew it was dangerous.
I should have stopped her. Should have locked her in that bedroom and refused to let her leave. Should have trusted my instincts that Viktor was planning something.
But I gave her a choice. I let her make her own decision. And now she's paying for my mistake.
"Dimitri." Yuri approaches, holding out a rifle. "You ready?"
I take the weapon, check the magazine, test the weight. "Let's move."
The drive to the cabin takes forty minutes that feel like forty hours. I push the SUV as fast as it will go on the winding forest roads, my knuckles white on the steering wheel. Behind me, two more vehicles follow, filled with my best soldiers.
The coordinates lead us deep into the woods, far from any main roads or civilization. This is the kind of place where people disappear. Where bodies are buried and never found.
I won't let that happen to Alina.
As we get closer, I slow down, killing the headlights. We can't announce our arrival. The element of surprise is the only advantage we have.
Through the trees ahead, I see a faint glow. Lights. The cabin.
I pull off the road into a small clearing and kill the engine. The other vehicles do the same. My men exit silently, weapons ready, moving with the practiced efficiency of soldiers who've done this a hundred times before.
I gather them around me, speaking in low Russian. "We don't know how many hostiles are inside. Assume at least six, possibly more. Our priority is getting Alina out alive. Everything else is secondary. Understood?"
Nods all around.
"Yuri, take your team around the back. Cut off any escape routes. Borge, position your men in the trees. Sniper coverage. I'll take the front with my team. We go in fast and hard. No mercy for anyone who gets between us and Alina."
More nods. My men disperse into the darkness, moving like shadows through the trees.
I lead my team forward, staying low, using the forest for cover. As we get closer, I can make out more details. The cabin is old, the wood weathered and gray. Two vehicles are parked out front. Dim light spills from the windows.
And there, standing guard near the front door, are two men. Kozlov soldiers, based on the tats visible on their necks.
My hand tightens on my rifle. These men took Alina. These men are keeping her prisoner. These men are about to die.
I signal my team to hold position and pull out my phone, sending a quick text to Yuri and Borge. Everyone needs to be in position before we move.
The responses come back quickly. Ready. Ready.
I take a deep breath, forcing my racing heart to slow. This is what I do. This is what I'm good at. Violence. Strategy. Survival.
But this time, it's different. This time, it's personal.
I think about Alina's face when I kissed her. The way she responded despite her fear, despite everything. The way she looked at me in the foyer of her father's house, choosing to trust me even when she had every reason not to.
I think about the pendant around her neck, the panic button she pressed. She called for me. She trusted that I would come.
And I will. I'll tear apart anyone who stands between us.