I was covered in blood as I loomed over my victim. If you looked from his neck up, you’d think he just got back from the most wonderful session of sexual intercourse a man could ever have. But below the next was a different story. Currently, I was flipping the last knife I had left in my hand. All the rest were snuggly using the mercenary as a pincushion.
“I have one more question for you, little prick. You’ve done so well. A few…snags here and there, but over all, you’ve been one of my most pliable victims.”
He was breathing heavily as he could barely focus on my face. Leaning in, I brushed some of his hair that was sticking to the sweat on his forehead. Taking a deep breath, I smiled.
“Who hired you?”
His head started to shake and I started to shake mine with it. “You don’t want to start this again…do you? It’s the last question, little prick. The very last one. I keep my promises
Marek walked with me in his arm up the stairs and opened the door. The that guys were standing in the hallway all jumped to attention. They looked from him to me and started to move away.“Keenan.”Keenan stepped forward, looking worried as he eyed the two of us. “Yes sir.”“Bring the car around back.”Nodding, Keenan disappeared from our sight and Marek nodded to room. “Dispose of the body. Clean up in there as well.”“Yes sir!”All the guys moved around Marek as he walked down the hall, the opposite of where we came. Turning around, he opened the back door with a push and stepped out into the night. Looking up, I tried to see if there was any light in the sky but we were still surrounded by tall buildings.“What time is it?”“Four. It will start getting light soon.”Nodding, I rested my head on his shoulder. “I’m tired.”“We can go home and sleep.”I wrinkled my nose. “I need a shower. You do too after carrying me.”“Well, I guess we will just have to save water and take one together
Marek took two weeks to nail down what exactly we wanted to do. He also didn’t want to tip off anyone, so the meeting with Santiago was set to be the week after. The fake meeting was put into his calendar. We were supposed to meet Kamilia and Damir across the city for lunch. That was the cover. It made sense to use the tunnel with the place we were going.Juri wasn’t happy about the plan. He wanted to bolster up. Have us take a caravan of bratva soldiers. Take them out with the combined power. They attacked the Baranov Bratva and they should feel the full force of it. An entire week was dedicated to Marek trying to talk Juri into our plan.Plus, as much as they attacked the bratva, it really wasn’t about them. Not really. So, begrudgingly, Juri only provided us with one of the most tricked out SUV I’d ever seen. That included the vehicles my father drove around. His paranoia meant that safety while driving was his highest priority. Juri beat him by a mile.Mostly because it wasn’t just
I crouched behind the front passenger door. They definitely weren’t expecting us to have the firepower we were showing. AK’s weren’t really my forte but I did get a few good shots in before I needed to reload. As I was slamming the cartridge in place, Marek let off his first shot.The sound rocked my brain, my head rattling and my ears ringing. It echoed so loudly in the tunnel that I wondered if we displaced some of the concrete. Hearing him reload, I counted the seconds until he managed to get another shot out. I would have that much time between his shots of coverage but I had no doubt that whatever he was aiming at would be obliterated.Marek was right. While they were continuing to shoot as I fired, the moment Marek took his first shot, heads ducked. The second one ensured that they didn’t pop up again as he waited for his next target to pop up like a mole.When I couldn’t see an
“Enzo.” His name felt like poison in my mouth.I took stock of what was going on. We were outnumbered completely. These were his segugi and from the looks of it, it was almost all of them. Keenan and Lec were on their knees, two guns trained on both of them. They had hoods over their heads. Slowly, my eyes caught Marek’s. He was on his knees near Enzo. At least four guns on him but they left his head free.“Put the gun down, sorellina. Unless you want me to kill one of your friends.”My gun didn’t move. “Bullshit, Enzo. You don’t care.”Enzo threw his head back and laughed. “You’re right. I don’t.”He waved his hand and one of his guys shot Marek from behind. A scream bubbled up but I clenched my teeth. Dropping my gun, I put up hands keeping my eyes on Marek as he breathed through the shot. Enzo continued to laugh, shaking his head.“And here I thought you had no weaknesses. It seems the Baranov family has made you weak.”I swallowed, pure and vibrant frustration flowing through me.
My eyes widened, as much as they could. “N-no. D-don’t c-come…down…Enzo…”Two heads popped around the corner of the wall. Cecilia and Gia saw me and gasped. I shook my head as they opened up the cell I was in.“You…two…need to go. Now.”“Bianca is keeping watch. Enzo and Dad are gone. You can get out.”Cecilia pulled out a bolt cutter from under her pink daisy dress. I opened my mouth but the two of them shushed me. Going around, it took both of them to cut the chains that were holding me to the chair. Taking the cutters from them, I cut the chains at my ankles.“Who put you up to this?” My throat was raw and ever word took time to get out.“Wizard. He messaged us. Said he’d reward us if we got you out.”I rolled my eyes and shook my head. “Next time, say no. It’s too dangerous. If you got caught, you’d be killed.”Gia shook her head. “I’m already engaged to Sir Kirkland and Cecilia is engaged to Mr. Lorenzo. We are already spoken for. Cecilia even managed to get Mr. Lorenzo to agree
“Rosaria!”I opened up my eyes and realized I had fallen asleep. Kamilia was crouched down, her hand on my cheek. Damir was behind her, looking worriedly down at me. Closing my eyes again, I leaned into her touch.“Hey…” My voice was quiet.“You…I can’t…” Kamilia sounded like she was crying.I opened up my eyes to find just that. The woman who I’d never seen cry or even bat an eyelash at anything. She had tears falling down her face. Lifting up my hand, I brushed them away.“Don’t…cry. I’m n-not worth i-it. Too…much trouble.”Kamilia chuckled quietly. “You are far too much trouble. Come on. Let’s get you fixed up.”Damir stepped up and lifted me up. I was surprised. He was such a slim guy with glasses but he didn’t seem to have an issue with me. They walked to a waiting car and I was placed gently into the back seat.“Mrs. Baranov!”Keenan was sitting in the back seat and helped Damir pull me into the seat. The door shut behind me and I let my head rest in Keenan’s lap.“I’m sorry. Ju
I was sitting up in the hospital bed with a book in my lap. Kamilia expressly refused me to get a new cell phone. Saying that I needed to rest and not be worked up over anything. It was more frustrating that I didn’t have access to Wizard, who I had hoped could work with Keenan to find Marek. There was no information coming in.It had been four days already. We were coming up on three weeks. I didn’t even know if Enzo had set something up with Juri for a trade. Though, I also didn’t know if Kamilia had said anything to him about me. She seemed more on edge than normal and it made me think that maybe they were keeping my escape a secret.The door to the room opened quietly and my eyes widened as Keenan slipped in. He closed the door before turning around.“Keenan!” I put my book down.“Mrs. Petrov told us we couldn’t reach out because you needed rest.” He came over to the bed. “How are you doing?”My lips pursed in a thin line. “Better. I can walk but not very far. Kam is stopping all
When Keenan pulled into the underground parking lot, I felt like I could breathe a sigh of relief. It was home. It felt like home. Knowing Marek wasn’t there didn’t make it feel like a victory but there was still something to coming back to where we lived together. Keenan helped me out of the car and we made our way over to the elevators.“Can you do me a favor?” I handed him his phone back.“Of course.”I smiled at his immediate reply. “There is a package coming for me in a few minutes. Can you wait at the front desk for it? I’m going to head up to the penthouse. When you get it, just come up and knock. I’ll come down and meet with this asshole.”“Sure, Atamansha. Anything else?”“Some food? Maybe India? I’m starving. If I have to look at Jell-O within the next ten years, I think I will puke.”Keenan laughed and nodded. “Done.”I stepped into the elevator that took me up to the penthouse and Keenan moved to the one that would take him to the front desk. The doors shut and I sighed. L
*** Five Years Later *** I rubbed my shoulders before lifting my glasses up and rubbing my eyes. There was a knock on the door and Ria pushed the door open with her back. She was holding a tray and stepped into my office. Setting it down on the edge, she put her hand on her hip. “You didn’t break for lunch. Again.” “I know. I’m sorry. Your brother sent a few more things for me to look at and I got engrossed in it.” Shaking her head, I reached out for her and pulled her into my lap. “How did the appointment go?” “Fine.” My eyebrow rose. “Just fine?” “Well, we figured out the issue. If that’s what you want to know.” “And?” I looked at her over my glasses. Ria had been struggling with her equilibrium lately. It started with when she was carrying something heavy, usually Alek. He was somehow in the ninety-nine percentile for his height but fairly middle of the road for his weight. Still, he would jump at Ria like he was two instead of five. Then, it started to get bad e
We pulled up to the airport in record time. Keenan dodged more than one cop and ran every red light on the way. Throwing open the doors, Lec and I made sure to do a quick sweep before letting Keenan and Ria out just in case he needed to take off with her.“Well, well. It took you long enough.”Lorenzo rolled up on us, smiling as he leaned forward in his wheelchair. There was a guy next to him and he stepped forward, grabbing our luggage as we took it out. Reaching in, I helped Ria step out of the car. She smiled and hugged Lorenzo, kissing him on the cheek.“I’m surprised you agreed. Having to leave all your women behind.” Ria chuckled but it sounded far more malicious than happy.“Yeah, yeah. I had to sell Terrance too. But I plan on getting one just like her. Terrance 2.0 wherever we end up.”I shook my head. “We are supposed to not stand out, Lorenzo.”“See here, cognato, I’m doing this out of the goodness of my heart. For my little sister.”Lorenzo handed me a folder and I opened
The speed limit wasn’t even a suggestion at this point. We didn’t have time to wait. I’d managed to get First Class tickets out of the country that would be just under the three hours but we needed to leave as soon as we could. Pulling up to the penthouse, I double parked next to the elevators. Ria was already unbuckling but she’d been quiet the entire ride from the house.Getting out, I slammed the car door shut. I’d speak to her when we got onto the plane. When I felt like we were safer than walking into a building filled with my brother’s men. Stepping into the elevator, I pulled Ria to me. Holding onto her tightly, I tightened my hand on the gun I’d grabbed from the glove box.The elevator dinged and I raised the gun, only to see Keenan in regular clothes. His eyes widened and he put his hands up immediately. I took a breath and nodded to him, dropping the gun.“Keenan? What…?”Keenan flashed Ria a smile. “I’m coming with you.”Ria looked from him to me. “But…you have family…and…”
Juri threw his head back and laughed. “You can’t leave the bratva. This is your family, Marek.”“I can. The contract we signed when you became head of the bratva allows for me to request leave once in my lifetime.”Ria looked at me, shaking her head. “Marek, it’s…it’s okay. You don’t…”I smiled down at her and brushed her cheek. “The both of us have done our time, zhena. I’ve been thinking, what it would be like for us to live normally. The two of us, raising a family, without the darkness looming over us.”“Request denied. Now, moving on.” Juri waved his hand but Kaz caught his wrist.“That’s now it works, Vor.”Juri yanked his hand out of Kaz’s grip. “Why the hell not? I’m Vor. I decide who comes and who goes. Who can leave and who can’t.”“Right. But there are consequences to saying no when one of us asks. Marek’s contract being the severest one of all of us.”Kam nodded from her lean against the bookshelf. “Da knew that if Marek was forced to leave, forced to invoke the contract,
I stared at the papers in my hand. Ria, somehow, had finagled an early release from the hospital. With the condition that she would come by every week to make sure she was healing properly. Now though, we were facing the black SUV that would take us to my brother. Her hand slipped into mine and she squeezed it. Really, it should have been her that was afraid. Instead, I was the one hesitating.Kam came up behind us. “Come on. I have to go too.”I helped Ria into the back seat with Kam before I walked around and got in the front with Wren. He was one of Juri’s men who did a lot of his driving. Keenan had been the only one to come to the hospital. Lec or Boris hadn’t shown up, which disappointed me a bit. Still, their oath was to the bratva, not to me directly.The ride was quiet and I kept glancing back at Ria. Her elbow was on the windowsill and her chin resting in her hand, looking at the city. I never really thought I would get here. Where I would put someone above the bratva, above
*** Marek’s POV ***I ran my hands through Ria’s hair. She was sleeping soundly next to me in my hospital bed. Kam had warned her multiple times that she was not to walk anywhere. Ria still snuck into my room after the night shift and crawled into bed with me. I’d never kick her out though. I don’t know why they didn’t just put us in the same room.In the past, I never really worried about things. If something bad happened, I just fixed it. End of story. The lack of light in Ria’s eyes made me add her emotional wellbeing, not just physical, to the list. She was still trying to force herself to not feel. Part of it I knew was because she was waiting to hear what Juri had to say. I wish I could tell her she didn’t need to go that far but I knew better. Even I didn’t know what was going happen next.The door opened and I heard an exaggerated groan. “YA klyanus'. Yesli ona budet prodolzhat' v tom zhe dukhe, ona naneset nepopravimyy vred svoim nogam.” [I swear. If she continues like this,
Three of us stepped over the debris of the hole we made of the entrance. After a quick debate, Lorenzo told us he could cover himself and not to worry about him. He deployed the drone he had left and it was hovering above us. Keenan and I were leading while Marek was just behind us.A few shots came from the second floor and I adjusted, looking up and taking quick shots as I moved. If anything, I knew this place like the back of my hand. I knew every squeaky board. Every blind corner, every room and every loud hinge. It was easy to know where the guys were coming from but there were only a few.“They are holed up in the study. Only a few guards left. Most are injured or confused. They aren’t organized and aren’t poised to attack.”I motioned for the guys to follow me as I raced up the stairs. Turning to the left, I walked down the open walkway before I turned down the very last hallway. At the end of this hallway was my father’s study. It was where he brought men after they had done b
I unbuckled the seatbelt and stood up, looking out the windshield. Sure enough, Lorenzo had pulled up against a brick wall that was part of the closest neighbors boundary. Tapping him on the shoulder, I walked to the back between Keenan and Marek. With a flick of a button, the top of the van started to retract back. I pulled down the metal ladder and climbed up.I had a perfect view of the guards house and the gate . My lips pursed and I stepped back down a couple stairs.“This will be fine. Their numbers went up though.”“Cause he’s back.” Lorenzo pulled out a laptop from the door and opened in. “Yeah, it’s nearly empty inside the house.”I nodded and looked over the top of the van again. “Confirmed location?”“In the study. Ferrari is also in there.”Smirking, I shrugged. “Two for one I guess.”“You need to ensure that he doesn’t run.” Marek added and I looked down at him.Frowning, I dropped down and took hold of the bulletproof vest he was putting on. I shook my head.“You’re not
I couldn’t tell if he was angry or if he was just pouting. Either way, Marek refused to look at me the rest of the drive. He did end up falling asleep and I worried we would need to drop him off with Kamilia but he waved us off when I told him the plan. We were quiet as we drove through the city and back up the way to the hell I literally had just escaped.It sent of jolt of nerves through me but I knew if there was a time to do it, now would be that time. Enzo was gone, we confirmed that. With Juri blowing up locations and knocking in doors, the security wasn’t what it normally was. If we waited even a day, Enzo could regroup and come back to bolster Father’s forces. That and with Marek in hand, Juri would probably stop his assault. He wouldn’t have the excuse of trying to find Marek anymore.“Set up where you can be covered and I can see the entrance from the top of the van.”“I know!” Lorenzo snapped at me.“If you don’t want to do this…” I turned my head to him. “It’s okay.”He gr