by April Lust
Alexei didn’t bother asking any questions. He simply moved—quick as lightning and heavy as thunder—striking Niko across the face. Fiona felt the blow reverberate through her body, and she cried out for her brother.
“Niko!” she screamed.
“No! It’s true,” he stubbornly insisted. “I can get it for you.”
Alexei raised his fist and punched the young man twice in the mouth.
“Stop it! Please, just stop,” Fiona said, begging for Niko’s life.
Alexei kicked her in the thigh and she moaned in pain. “Another word from you and we can go back to our earlier conversation—the one where it’s just you and the three of us,” Alexei offered darkly.
Fiona quieted immediately, biting her bottom lip.
“Now, then,” Alexei said, turning back to Niko, who was bleeding heavily from his mouth. “Niko, why do this to yourself?” he asked. “Why anger me with lies?”
“It’s not a lie. I can get the money,” Niko said assuredly.
Alexei gave him a skeptical look. “If you had this money, why didn’t you simply go get it before?” he wanted to know. “Why only now is this supposed money available?”
Niko glanced at Paul, who still had yet to look at anything except his feet. “I guess it always was, but my pride kept me from using it.”
Alexei leaned forward, intrigued. He understood pride all too well, especially the kind that developed to the point where it hurt more than it helped.
“It’s my dad,” Niko continued.
“Otva`li!” Vlad cursed, moving to strike Niko in the face with the butt of his gun.
Alexei held up his hand as Niko winced, anticipating the strike. “Wait!” Alexei cried, halting Vlad just in time.
Vlad whipped around, barely containing the fury coursing through his body. “What now?”
Alexei arched a brow at his tone and waited until Vlad took on a more respectful attitude before resuming. “Remember the first night we went to their house? The girl,” he gestured to Fiona with his gun, “she also mentioned her father. I didn’t believe her then either.”
Vlad recalled this now that Alexei mentioned it, but he was still suspicious. He also didn’t see why he couldn’t beat Niko—the boy was going to die, whether or not it would be fast or slow depended on if he was telling the truth about the money.
“You said your father was out of town?” Alexei said, now addressing Fiona. “Why didn’t you go get the money from him before?”
Fiona had to bite her tongue to keep from reminding Alexei that he had restricted the two of them from leaving the area. “We don’t exactly have the greatest relationship with our dad,” she explained. “We pretty much hate him.”
Alexei and Vlad looked at each other and laughed. “What is the phrase, Paul?” Alexei said, snapping his fingers. “Net der'ma.” He craned his neck to listen as Paul mumbled something under his breath. Alexei and Vlad doubled over into peals of laughter once again. “Da! No shit, Sherlock,” Alexei said, once he got control of himself again. “We all hate our fathers, as our sons will hate us. But never mind this, tell us, where is your father?”
Fiona shifted against her bindings nervously. She knew Niko despised their father more than she did, and with good reason, but was he really going to send these men after him? They would almost certainly murder him.
“I’ll only tell you where to find him if you promise not to hurt my sister,” Niko said calmly.
Alexei’s face grew hard. His large diamond earrings glinted in the chandelier’s light. “You will tell us regardless,” he demanded.
“You think so?” Niko said, challenging the much, much larger man. “Hit me and let’s find out.”
Alexei and Vlad looked at him uncertainly. Fiona held her breath, waiting to see what the two mobsters would decide. She had no idea what Niko was up to, but she tried to have faith in him.
“Very well,” Alexei finally agreed. “She won’t be harmed.” Vlad looked incredibly put out and swore under his breath. “Don’t worry, if the boy is lying, we will come back and then she will be for everyone,” Alexei assured him. “You are not lying, are you?”
Niko shook his head emphatically. “No, I’m not. The house I was at in Boston, it’s my uncle’s. I went there because I knew it would be empty—my uncle went with my dad on a deep sea fishing expedition. They’ll be getting back late tonight or early tomorrow morning. If you leave now, you can get there just in time to—”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?” Alexei interrupted.
Niko stopped, nonplussed. “Why would I do that?” he asked. “You’d just come back, and then everything would be even worse for us.”
Alexei looked to Vlad, who shrugged. “He has a point,” Vlad agreed.
“Yes, but all the same…” Alexei walked over to a short, white dresser that held several jewelry boxes. He turned back, now wearing a large ring on every finger. “I think I would like some insurance…”
Fifteen minutes later, Alexei was being helped out of blood-spattered clothing by an extremely pale-faced Paul. A hot pit of anger began to boil in Fiona’s stomach. Deep down, she knew Paul was as much a prisoner as they were, but she shoved that thought aside. Here was one of Niko’s closest friends, and he has helping the man who had Niko’s blood all over him. She wanted him to do something—anything—but Alexei’s reach was too great. The only people who could help now were the police, and Fiona had seen firsthand how well that worked out.
“Get together Bartolo, Egor, and Vadik,” Alexei said, wiping his hands clean. “I’m taking them to check out Boston. You stay here and keep an eye on them until I fly back.”
Vlad nodded and pulled a walkie out of his jacket pocket, barking orders into it in Russian as Alexei climbed the steps to head back into the warehouse.
“Paul, make sure Alexei gets out okay,” Vlad said, smoothly slipping into his role as acting leader all too easily. “Then I want you to check the perimeters.”
Paul reluctantly turned to walk upstairs, glancing back one last time at Niko’s limp and bloody form. It was the only time he had actually looked at either of them. His face was unreadable to Fiona, but the anger inside her quieted. Paul tore himself away, quickly shutting the door behind him, and leaving Fiona and Niko alone with Vlad.
There was a long pause as Vlad stared at Fiona. “Just you and me now?” Vlad said, his voice a mocking surprise. “I can’t say I haven’t been waiting for this moment.” He stepped closer and closer to her.
“Don’t,” Niko gasped. In order to beat him properly, Alexei had separated the siblings, tying Niko to a support pole in the basement, and Fiona to a desk leg.
Fiona and Vlad both turned to him, startled. It was difficult to believe someone could sustain such a beating and still be conscious.
“Don’t touch her,” he repeated, his voice sticky with blood. “Alexei…promised.”
Vlad, annoyed at having been interrupted, chuckled nastily. “He did, but I don’t see him around. So if he shows up, you let me know and I’ll stop right away, okay?” Vlad patted Niko sharply on the cheek, painfully hitting one of the deep gashes in his face.
“Where were we?” he said, looking back at Fiona, who began to frantically pull on her ropes.
Vlad reached forward, trying to touch Fiona’s face, but she kicked at him and struck him in the shin. Angry now, Vlad’s hand shot towards her and grabbed a fistful of her hair just behind her left ear.
“That hurt,” he growled, twisting Fiona’s hair.
“Yeah? Well, what about this?” Fiona asked just before sinking her teeth into Vlad’s forearm.
Vlad began screaming in agony, trying to yank Fiona off of his arm by pulling her curls, but that only caused her to bite down even harder. Finally, Vlad let go of his hold on Fiona’s hair, instead using the hand to punch her squarely in the face.
Red exploded in front of Fiona’s eyes, and she fell back with a hard thump. Blood dripped from her nose into her mouth a
nd she wiped her face on the shoulder of her shirt. Sneaking a peek at Vlad, Fiona noticed with satisfaction that he seemed to be bleeding a lot more than she was.
A small trail of blood drops led to the corner where Vlad was hurriedly trying to bandage his arm with a scrap of torn, expensive-looking fabric.
“You fucking bitch!” he hissed, keeping up a steady stream of what Fiona correctly assumed to be Russian insults. He practically sprinted over to Fiona. He grabbed her by the arm and hauled her up, ignoring the dangerous angle at which her elbow was bent.
Fiona refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was hurting her.
He drew his fist back, ready to beat her until she and her brother looked like twins, when there was a low rumble. The chandelier tinkled gently as the noise reverberated through the room.
“What the…” Vlad said, slowly lowering his fist, staring at the ceiling.
Urgent pounding came from the trap door. Vlad looked at Fiona with a desperate, angry desire, then dropped her and went to the stairs. Fiona tried to listen in, but whomever Vlad was talking to was speaking in Russian.
Vlad came back down the stairs to stand in front of Fiona. “There is a matter outside that requires my attention at the moment, but don’t think for one second that we won’t pick up right back where we left off.” He roughly pulled on her ropes, double checking they were secured. He didn’t bother with Niko—the boy was half dead, after all—and headed back up the stairs.
Fiona immediately began yanking and twisting at her restraints. “Niko!” she whispered, keeping a close eye on the door. “Niko! Are you okay?”
“Never…better,” Niko wheezed.
“Can you move?” Fiona tried to pretend she couldn’t see how terrible Niko looked right now.
She watched his fingers close into a weak fist. “Barely,” he said. “Walking…doesn’t look good.”
“If you can get free, and come to me, then I swear, I will carry you out of here, Niko,” Fiona said desperately.
Niko’s already thin arms feebly struggled against the coarse twine. “I’m sorry, Fiona,” he whimpered. “I can’t. I’m not…not strong enough.”
“That’s okay, Niko,” Fiona comforted her brother. “Hey, that’s okay. We’ll figure something out; we always do,” she said, turning back to her own bindings, trying to hide the tears streaming down her face.
“I tried,” Niko continued between labored breaths. “I tried to buy us some time, in case Ace…I just wanted to take care of you for once.”
“Ace’s not coming,” Fiona said after a moment. “It’s just us.”
So fucking what he’s not here to save me, Fiona spitefully thought, now tearing at her restraints with her teeth. I’m here to save me.
Chapter 13
The bikers had all perched atop the same abandoned warehouse overlooking Alexei’s warehouse; it was there they had seen Alexei and three other men peel out of the garage.
“If we go, we should go now,” Katie urged. “We will never get another opportunity like this.”
“You’re not worried about why he left, or when he’ll be back?” Ace asked.
“I’m worried about why you sent one of our best members away when there are already so few of us,” Katie said, glaring at him.
“Look, I know you think it’s a useless risk, but it might very well save our lives, so do me a favor and shut the fuck up about it. If we die, you can say ‘I told you so’ in the afterlife.” Still, he gave a low whistle, indicating it was time for The Hell Brothers to move out.
They climbed down the warehouse and split up into groups of four and two, circling the block to come up behind Alexei’s warehouse where a couple of his men were patrolling outside, William being one of them. Spotting the dirty cop, Ace looked down the block where Lucky and Riley were hiding and gave them the signal.
Lucky immediately ran out onto the sidewalk, crying for help. “Someone! Please! Oh, please, someone help me!”
William whirled around to see who was yelling. Seeing the beautiful, chesty young woman, he instantly announced himself to be a police officer. “What seems to be the problem, miss?” he called, jogging across the street.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Lucky cried dramatically. “Someone just stole my purse!”
“Why don’t you come with me and I’ll see what I can…” William trailed off as a large shadow fell across him. He turned around to see an enormous, incredibly dark black man standing behind him.
“I don’t think she’s going anywhere,” Riley said.
Ace watched as Riley physically picked up William and took him down a dimly lit back alleyway. Confident they were going to be able to handle that part of the plan, Ace decided it was time for Step Two.
Riley met up with the rest of the gang a few minutes later, holding the keys to William’s police cruiser aloft.
“Lucky?” Ace asked.
“She’s getting the rest of the information we need from our friend,” Riley replied, grinning. “Car’s parked down the block,” he told them.
The members of The Hell Brothers walked down to William’s car. They drove it around to the abandoned warehouse they had been using, and, after a few short minutes, were piled inside of it, bandanas firmly wrapped around their noses and mouths.
Ace gave a questioning thumbs-up and was met with four thumbs in return. Giving a silent prayer to whatever god there might be, Ace drove down the back passage to Alexei’s. He approached the garage door, the engine echoing loudly as he anxiously waited to see if his plan would work, or if they were all about to be massacred.
The garage door rumbled upwards, and there was a collective sigh of relief in the car. Ace pulled forward, the tinted windows casting a grayish tinge over the inner warehouse. Ace took the time to spot the security office dead ahead, then gave Diego and Lianna in the backseat the signal.
Ace pulled the trunk lever, and they leaned against the small barrel, shoving it out of the car where it thudded heavily, its contents glugging across the cement floor.
The two guards standing at the edge of the garage door craned their necks to look inside the trunk where the barrel had come from. There was just enough time for them to see Diego and Lianna waving merrily to them before Diego produced a match and threw it on the puddle in front of them.
A wall of flames erupted between them, and the guards jumped back, running out the door. They remembered how the girl downstairs had barbecued their friend Nikolai. Thick black smoke quickly began to fill the room.
All five of them jumped out of the car, Ace and Riley providing cover for Diego, Lianna, and Katie as they ran out into the room, each one of them holding a Molotov cocktail.
“Hurry up!” Ace cried. The initial surprise of the explosion was beginning to fade, and the two men were starting to get shot at in return. He bent down to reload his gun and saw a man aiming at him from above.
There was no time—Ace was considering his chances of dodging the bullet, when the man upstairs suddenly collapsed. Ace looked behind him to see Lucky, a literal smoking gun in her hand.
“Careful there, boss,” she warned, winking.
“What happened to William?” he called, finishing reloading his gun and shooting a woman creeping up on Riley’s left side.
Lucky thought back to the alleyway where she had held the cop at gunpoint.
“What do you want my keys for?” William had asked, nodding to Riley’s rapidly shrinking form. Riley had taken William’s handcuffs, and handcuffed him so that he was hugging a large telephone pole.
“None of your business,” Lucky had smartly replied, shoving the gun in his face. “Here’s the deal. I need to know some stuff, and you’re going to tell me, okay? And the more you know, the more blood you get to keep in your body. Let’s start with where all the entrances and exits are located.”
William had chuckled. “I’m not scared of you,” he had said, spitting at her.
“Well, then. We’ll just have to see what we can do t
o change that,” Lucky had said, firing the gun directly next to his ear, then pressing the searing hot muzzle to his forehead, burning his tender flesh. William had screamed, but a dull explosion prevented anyone nearby from hearing it. “How are you feeling now?” she had whispered in his good ear. “What if the next time I pull this trigger, I put that red-hot muzzle right here.” Lucky had lowered the gun and nudged between William’s legs suggestively. “Will you tell me what I want to know then?”
A dark stain had spread down the small man’s jeans as he wet himself in fear.
Lucky had laughed loudly at him. “I wanna know where Alexei went, I wanna know where they’re keeping Fiona, and I wanna know all the ways in and out of the warehouse,” she had demanded, “or I’ll shoot you right in the dick. It might take me a few tries—from my perspective it’s a pretty small target.”