by Zoe Blake
The sound of shattering glass was muffled by my terrified scream.
Chapter 10
Mikhail
Time slowed. I could feel every pump of blood in my veins, every breath of oxygen in my lungs. Each and every nerve ending was sensitized. As I raced through the half empty streets of D.C., nothing escaped my notice. Every flickering light, every dark doorway, every laughing bar patron. I tried over and over to call her cell, but it kept going to voicemail. Every fiber of my being was primed and ready for a fight.
I hadn’t felt this much on high alert since my days in the Russian army, when my life was in the hands of sadistic, cold-hearted officers who didn’t give a fuck if I came out of a sniper mission dead or alive. Being expendable had a way of energizing a person’s desire to survive, just so they could have the satisfaction of saying fuck you to the person who sent them into hell, not caring if they returned, but not this time. This time it was stone icy fear that spurred me on.
I had seen firsthand the types of sick retribution some of the animals we did business with could do to a person. The fact that Nadia was a woman would only make it worse. I didn’t see the road ahead of me. The traffic lights, occasional cars, and street lines all faded to black. Instead, I saw her pinned down getting raped by several men taking turns. I saw a knife cutting into her beautiful pale skin as her mouth opened on a gut-wrenching scream. And worse, a vision of her lifeless body on the floor of her beloved jewelry store.
Then, as earlier, other visions flashed across my mind’s eye. I saw Nadia in a wedding dress, then lying next to me in bed, then holding our child, then laughing at something over breakfast. Those excruciating three minutes it took me to reach her apartment tortured me with both futures, and I would beat back the Devil himself to make sure it was the latter that prevailed.
Seeing the SUV still parked in front of her store up ahead, I hung a quick right on the street before hers, then left down the alley. That these assholes pulled up to the front told me they were either brazen as fuck or stupid as fuck. That was the problem. I could deal with an experienced hit team, or a couple of expendable rent-a-thug nobodies. Idiots were unpredictable and therefore more dangerous. Kicking down the front door guns blazing was not an option. It was a good way to get shot, and then I’d be useless in saving Nadia. It would be better to enter from the back alley door. As much as I wanted to kick down the door, I took a deep breath and used my key, not wanting to arouse anyone to my presence.
Despite my raging emotions right now, I needed to play this smart. There had been no time to alert my team or her brothers. Besides, they wouldn’t get here in time anyway. It was up to me, and me alone, to save her, and when it was three against one, the element of surprise was my only asset.
I silently navigated around the piles of old typewriters she used for her jewelry designs, which littered the back workspace, as I listened for sounds of movement or a struggle. First there was the high-pitched sound of shattering glass, then my gut twisted as Nadia screamed in terror.
Racing to the front, I was just in time to see her struggling against the grip of one of the men. His arm was low around her upper arms, pinning them down. He was dragging her backwards as she struggled to break his grasp. The store was completely trashed. Shattered glass littered the floor as they had knocked several display cases over. My girl had put up a fight.
The man holding her exclaimed to the other two, “Help me with this bitch!”
I leapt over the counter that separated us and slid my arm around his neck, crushing his windpipe. He dropped Nadia. Her small body crumpled to the floor. Pressing her hand to her throat, she looked up at me. My jaw locked when I saw her wide-eyed frightened stare and the bloody scrapes on her hands and knees.
They would pay for that.
With a vicious twist of my hands, I broke the man’s neck. He fell to the floor, dead. I reached for Nadia.
Looking behind me, she called out a warning. “Mikhail!”
Crouching low, I turned in time for the second man’s swinging arm to miss. After two quick punches to his kidneys, I rose to my full height and used my elbow to dislocate the man’s jaw. As he shifted back on his heels from the blow, I gave him a punch to the gut and a final uppercut. He took out several shelves of necklaces as he fell back against the wall before crumpling to the ground, unmoving. Grabbing the gun from his belt, I pulled the slide release back on his Glock, aimed and pulled the trigger, shooting him straight between the eyes.
I turned to Nadia.
I wasn’t successful in quelling my rage when she shimmied backwards, shying away from me. She had never seen me kill a man in cold blood, and now she had just seen me do it twice. Still, the thought of her frightened of me caused an irrational burst of anger.
She was looking at me as if I were no better than those monsters who just attacked her.
She was right. I wasn’t any better, not really. The Ivanovs may have a strict policy about never going after women and children to seek revenge against a man, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t done my fair share of despicable things. I couldn’t be the head of security for one of the most dangerous crime families on the East Coast and not get blood on my hands. I guess it was foolish to hope she would never learn the actual truth. The problem was, we didn’t have time for any of that right now. She needed to trust me. I couldn’t have her hesitating or cringing away from my touch.
I snatched her by the upper arm and growled, “Don’t you ever pull away from me. Do you hear me, Nadia? Let’s go.”
Just then, the third man appeared. He must have come from her upstairs apartment. He had stupidly lifted the ski mask partially off his face. I didn’t recognize him.
In the time it took to race over here, I had gone through all the possible scenarios of who would be stupid enough to make the extremely dangerous move of going after Nadia to get to the Ivanovs, on the night of Gregor’s wedding no less. There were several candidates, anyone from a client to someone closer to home, like the Novikoffs. The Ivanovs had a great deal of enemies. Either way, no matter who it was, it meant a death sentence for them and anyone close to them. Going after Nadia? Their little sister? And a woman? No, that was forbidden. All bets were now off. They had crossed a fucking dangerous line. The Ivanovs and I would instigate a scorched-earth retribution for this night.
The man twisted his head, brushing his ear on his shoulder, before rubbing the tattered sleeve of his shirt under his nose. He then pointed his Glock at me. “Look, Mikhail, I don’t want any trouble. Just hand over the girl, all right?”
I pushed Nadia behind me. I now knew two things about the man. One, judging by his twitchy mannerisms and hollow-cheeked, dark-eyed look, he had a nasty coke habit, and it had been at least a few hours since his last fix. Two, he knew my name. It meant this definitely wasn’t a random crime.
I tried to edge Nadia back closer to the front door. If I could keep Twitchy here distracted, maybe she could escape. “If you know my name, then you know what a mistake you just made by pointing a gun at me.”
He sniffed again. “I’m not looking for trouble. I just want the girl.”
My mouth twisted into a sadistic grin. “Over my dead body.”
He gripped the slide release on the Glock and pulled it back, racking a bullet in the chamber. He ran his sleeve under his nose again, inhaling loudly. He then turned the gun to the side, like an idiot in a gangster movie, before saying, “Whatever, man. Your choice.”
Three things now. He obviously wasn’t trained, or he’d know how to hold a fucking gun, which means his aim was probably shit even at this close range. Anyone with half a brain knew holding a gun at that angle weakened your grip on it, which increased the chance of a harsher recoil that would dramatically affect the accuracy since the gun would kick to the side not up.
“Who hired you?” I asked, fairly certain this coked-out flunky was just a foot soldier and probably not privy to the details of who was really behind this power play against the Ivanovs.<
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He rubbed his ear on his shoulder again. “I don’t know, man. I’m just following orders. This is just a payday.”
My eyes narrowed. “Nadia is my property. You tried to take what’s mine. Let me show you what happens when someone tries to steal from me.”
I could feel Nadia tense against my back.
That’s right, my property.
Mine.
She might as well know it all now.
Things had changed.
I was done denying what I felt for her.
She was mine, and no one was going to fucking take her from me.
Reaching my arm behind me, I placed a reassuring hand on her hip. “Close your eyes, baby.”
Her hands fisted into my tuxedo shirt as she buried her face against my back.
With my other arm, I struck out, slamming the edge of my palm against the top of the assailant’s wrist, knocking the gun from his grasp. I caught it mid-air, flipped it around, and fired, hitting him in the throat. He staggered back, both hands trying to stem the flow of crimson blood that poured from his jugular. He then pitched forward before slipping in his own blood and falling to the ground where he would bleed to death inside of two minutes.
I flipped around to embrace Nadia, holding her close, blocking her view of the dying man and thanking God and all that was holy that she was still alive. I would have lost my damn mind if I had arrived too late.
As I caressed her hair, I whispered against the top of her head, “What the hell were you thinking, kroshka? Leaving the safety of your brother’s house telling no one, without even telling me?”
I deliberately tried to soften my voice. She already looked unsteady on her feet and facing the full force of my anger would not help the situation.
She stayed silent.
“Answer me,” I commanded.
She shrugged her small shoulders. She looked as fragile as a bird in that moment.
I muffled her voice against my chest as she rambled, “I honestly don’t know. I just couldn’t bear to be in that house. Everyone was so happy. I said I was going upstairs, but I caught a ride back into Georgetown with one of the departing guests, an old friend from high school. I didn’t think it would be a big deal. I just needed space. I—”
That explained it. In our world, I had to walk a fine line when it came to security at events like a wedding. I had to have enough security there as a show of force and power, but not so much the normal guests felt uncomfortable or worse, the criminal guests felt insulted at my presumption of violence. Even after all the years that had passed, I was still amazed at how easily the ego of a third-world warlord got bruised. So Gregor’s house was guarded during the party, but certainly not to the point where guests leaving were questioned or searched. She probably blended in and one of the new extra guards, who was not familiar with who she was, just let her pass right through the gate.
Now was not the time to yell at her. I did not know if there were more hired hitters waiting outside. I reached out to run the back of my hand down her soft cheek. I leaned down to look her straight in the eye, wanting to make sure she heard me and understood. “We have to get out of here. You do exactly as I say when I say it, no questions asked.”
She nodded in response.
I grabbed her by the hand and headed to the back. Leaning down, I reached under her workbench and grabbed up the Bushmaster AR-15 rifle I had hidden there. I ignored her indignant exclamation when she saw the fire power I had secreted into her shop without her knowledge. If I had learned one thing in the Russian Army, it was to always be prepared. As we neared the back area, the heavy thud of a car door slamming was just on the other side of the exit door. I pushed Nadia against the wall and raised my finger to my lips to signal I needed her to be quiet.
“It’s probably Massimo,” she whispered.
Who the fuck was Massimo?
Chapter 11
Mikhail
With the rifle butt braced against my shoulder, I ordered, “When I give the signal, open the door and then stay behind it.”
She nodded. Her hand trembled as she reached for the knob, but she took a deep breath and waited for my signal. I was so proud of my babygirl. She was showing her Ivanov blood. She was obviously terrified, but still a fighter.
The moment she swung the door open, I stepped over the threshold and out into the predawn light, gun drawn.
Despite the odd hour, the man was fully dressed in an expensive, tailored suit. He had the tanned, swarthy complexion of an Italian with the black hair and dark eyes to match. He also seemed completely unshaken at having an AR-15 pointed inches away from his face, which spoke volumes.
There was a metallic click, and I didn’t need to look down to know he had pulled a handgun on me. Not like I needed a reason to kill him, but he just made it easier.
“No, Massimo!” Nadia cried out as she ignored my explicit order to stay safely behind the door. “It’s okay!”
Casually ignoring the barrel of my gun now pointed squarely at his chest, Massimo looked past my shoulder to Nadia. “Dolcezza, are you okay?”
Dolcezza.
My Italian was not great, but I was fairly certain he either just called her sweetness or sweetheart. My chest tightened as I sized up the man who presumed such a familiarity with my girl. My anger boiled over when Nadia hastened to assure him I wasn’t the threat.
Casting a nervous glance in my direction, she waved off his concern. “I’m fine. He’s with me.”
Massimo lowered his gun and placed it back inside a hidden shoulder holster under his suit jacket. It was a power play, and more of an insult to me than him actually trying to diffuse the tension of the situation. “When you texted and said come over, I thought you were alone. I did not know you had a friend visiting. Should I come back later?”
I recognized him now. Massimo Agnello. His family had carved out a vast territory along the east coast and southern states. They mostly controlled the ports, an extremely lucrative proposition when there were countless criminal enterprises trying to smuggle endless kinds of contraband into the states, including the Ivanovs. He was in my employ last year as a show of good faith, while the Ivanovs and Agnellos worked out a deal. We sent over a cousin of Nadia’s, and they sent over Massimo.
He had only been a guard under Gregor’s roof for maybe eight months. How the hell did he establish a relationship with Nadia without my noticing? More importantly, Nadia had reached out to this man? Tonight? After she had finally decided to move on from me.
My upper lip curled. “That won’t be necessary. She’s with me now.”
Massimo’s gaze wandered over Nadia. It was clear he noticed the bloody knees from when she fell to the floor on some shattered glass. His voice held just a hint of an Italian accent. “Yes, I can see what good care you are taking of her.”
I lowered the rifle and took a step forward. Fuck the gun. I was going to beat this bastard to death with my fists.
Nadia placed a restraining hand on my upper arm. “I’m sorry, Massimo. My plans have changed.”
You’re goddamn right they have.
“That’s fine, another time.” Massimo shrugged with a knowing look in my direction. Still, he dared to lean in and whisper to Nadia. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
The man was playing with fire.
Then Nadia did the worst possible thing she could do in that moment.
She stepped away from me and touched him. “Thank you so much for ask—”
I didn’t even try to contain the territorial feral growl that rumbled from deep inside my chest and stopped her cold.
Immediately, she lifted her hand off Massimo’s arm. She nervously stammered as she stepped back to retreat once more to my side, “Yes… yes… I’m fine.”
Too late, little girl.
I was already thinking up punishments.
Wrapping my arm around her waist, I pulled her possessively close.
My message to Massimo was clear. Back the fuck off.
/> I didn’t know if he or the Agnello family were involved in this mess. There was no reason to believe they were, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I didn’t give a damn what his relationship was to Nadia. As far as I was concerned, it was over.
He inclined his head. With a smile and wink in Nadia’s direction, he returned to his car and backed out of the alley.
Leaning down, I gave her my only warning. “Now you really are in trouble, kroshka.”
Before I dealt with Nadia, I needed to send a message to Gregor. I punched his number into my phone. I only used burner phones, switched out every few days. All the numbers I needed to know, I had memorized. My call went straight to voicemail, as I expected. Gregor was probably occupied at the moment. It was, after all, still his wedding night.
“It’s Mikhail. Someone just crossed a fucking line. They went after Nadia. I’m taking her to a safe house till I can confirm yours is secure. We cannot trust any of the additional guards, not even the ones Dimitri brought in. We will need a cleanup crew at her store.”
I then called Damien and left the same message. Finally, I got ahold of Ilya. He was paid extremely well to always answer his phone no matter the hour. I trusted him to do his job, but only that. Without telling him the true nature of the situation, I instructed him to run a Red Alert protocol on the property’s security and wake up both Gregor and Damien. They would listen to my message and get someone to take care of the mess I just left behind. They would understand my priority would be to secure their sister.
Ignoring Nadia’s startled reaction to my messages, I took the phone in my hand and smashed it against the nearest brick wall, destroying it. Plastic shards pierced my palm. I welcomed the calming sting of pain.
“Mikhail, listen,” Nadia started.
“Don’t speak,” I warned through clenched teeth.
Logic, discipline, and cold hard reason, my only constant companions my entire life, deserted me. I knew I had no real reason to be angry at her for turning to someone else for companionship. I had denied her for years.