Nikolai didn’t respond, but I could hear Yuri’s booming voice in the background, a sound that set my teeth on edge and sent bolts of fury ripping through my body. It was torturing me to think of Katya in there facing Yuri without me, without my protection. I would kill every man in Chicago before I’d let Yuri take her anywhere.
Callahan walked up to me, his face tight with stress and frustration. He nodded his head at my phone. “Who’s that?” he asked quietly, concerned about alerting the men Yuri had stationed at the back door.
“Nikolai. Yuri’s in there,” I growled. I put my earpiece in so I could still hear what was happening inside the bar through Nikolai’s phone but have both hands free. “Okay, we have to take care of the two guys guarding the back then you can show me this secret entrance. Any of your guys carrying a silencer?”
Callahan nodded and turned to the group of seven men behind him. One of his guys handed him the requested gun and silencer. I extended my hand. “You mind if I take them out. I need to kill something right now.”
Callahan cracked a tight, humorless grin and handed the weapon over to me.
“Thanks, give me about five minutes, then come on up the alley,” I said, then turned toward the dark side of the alley, slinking slowly toward the two men guarding the back entrance. It was easy enough to pop the closest man in the head. The man next to him startled and turned toward the sound of gunfire only to receive a bullet to the forehead.
Callahan and his men came up behind me, and I turned to see him stop at the narrow opening between the club and the building next to it.
“Here, this is how we access the side entrance.”
I nodded and walked over. It was just big enough to allow a body to walk between the two structures. He led me down a little more than halfway, and I saw it—the door. I would never have noticed it if I hadn’t been looking for it. There were two very well-disguised hinges and a nearly invisible handhold in the wall of the building.
“Do you think this thing will still work?” I asked skeptically.
Callahan looked grim. “We’re about to find out.”
I pulled on it, but it didn’t budge. I shot Callahan a thoughtful look. “Is there some trick to opening this, or is it just old?”
“I’ve never used it, it’s way before my time, but I’ve never heard that it was complicated. I think the fact that the entrance was hidden was enough for them.”
“Okay, you might have to help me pull this goddamned thing open. It probably hasn’t been used in thirty years.”
Callahan nodded, and we each gripped our fingers in the indentation and pulled, biceps bulging, jaws tight as we heaved.
I was momentarily distracted by Yuri’s voice booming in my ear, and then the phone went dead. I wanted to punch a hole in the side of the building as my adrenaline spiked. That was what I would probably end up doing if we couldn’t get this door to work. “Again! We have to get this fucking thing open before Yuri grabs Katya.”
Though we’d been followed down the narrow alley by a group of Callahan’s men, there wasn’t enough space on the door pull to have them help.
As we grabbed it one more time, I put my booted foot on the side of the building and pulled as hard as I could. A short screech accompanied the slight give of the door.
“Thank fuck,” Callahan gasped, wiping sweat off his brow.
“Pull again! We have to get this thing open,” I barked at Callahan.
He didn’t complain about my harsh tone, no doubt thinking about Anya.
We pulled one more time and managed to create enough space to move through the doorway—barely. Callahan and I squeezed through and looked around, uncertain about where we were inside of the club. I used the flashlight on my phone and saw we were in a large storeroom used to stock liquor.
“I know where we are,” I whispered to Callahan as he waved his men in the small space. “This door opens up to the right of the stage, closer to the front of the bar.”
Callahan nodded. He’d been in the club before.
I wanted to open the door, storm in there and shoot Yuri fifteen times in the face, but that probably would not be wise. I turned to Callahan to discuss how we were going to enter when my phone pinged. I looked down and found a text from one of my men who was bartending tonight.
Dimitri: We got a couple of his men. He hasn’t noticed yet. Where are you coming in from?
I gave a sigh of relief. This would be much easier if I could coordinate with someone in the room. I typed back and explained where we were and asked for feedback on how visible we would be to Yuri’s mercenaries stationed around the room.
Before Dimitri could reply, I got another text.
Boris: Where are you, boss? Yuri is coming. You have to get here before he does.
Boris, that motherfucker. He obviously didn’t know that Orlov told me he was the rat, and now he was trying to lure me into the club. Betraying bastard.
I squeezed my phone so hard, the plastic started creaking in distress, then replied to Boris.
Drago: Okay, I’m headed back. Meet me at the front door and get the girls out of there.
Dimitri: It’s clear by the storeroom door. One of our guys is there, and he will cover your entrance.
This was it. I turned to Callahan and explained that we were going to stagger our entrance into the room, one person at a time with a small gap between each to be less noticeable.
I slowly opened the door, only far enough to fit my body through and saw another of my men standing right there. He looked in my direction and nodded, indicating it was safe to continue into the room. I slid in, pressing myself against the wall and sliding down to a darker corner of the room.
I quickly turned my head to find where Katya was, and my heart stopped as I saw her leave Ivan’s arms and slowly walk toward Yuri.
Chapter 44
Katya
I turned and slowly edged to the left to avoid the gun that was now moving back and forth between Ivan and Nikolai. As I walked toward Yuri, I averted my eyes from him, unable to stare into his loathsome features.
Impatient with my slow approach, Yuri hooked an arm out and pulled me my back toward him, bracketing his forearm around my neck. I was enveloped in an overwhelming scent of sweat and cologne that had my throat closing. Reflexively, I reached my hand up to pull his forearm away from my throat.
“Katya, be still!” Yuri snapped in my ear, his hot breath on my ear making me cringe.
Ivan, his eyes narrowing and his jaw tight, snarled at him, “You are as good as dead if you take her.”
Yuri laughed in my ear. “You think I’m scared of you, Ivan? You will all be dead by the time I get to the back door. I’ve waited a long time to have everything I want, and that time has finally arrived.”
“Pakhan,” Boris nearly whined.
I wasn’t sure why I looked to the darkened corner of the room, why my eyes were drawn there. Had I seen something move? Had I sensed something? Regardless of the reason, I nearly jumped when I saw him.
Drago.
My breath drew in so sharply, Yuri tightened his arm around me, obviously interpreting my movements as an attempt to escape. Drago stood there, and as if we were telepathically linked, I knew what I needed to do.
I jerked my eyes back to Ivan, who continued to try to pull Yuri into a conversation that Boris was steadily attempting to derail. I gave him a wide-eyed look and stared at where his gun was on the floor. I was trying to get him ready to move.
Ivan noticed and imperceptibly nodded his head. I gave similar looks to Nikolai and Anya, using my eyes to motion to the corner where Drago stood. Nikolai only moved his head slightly, shifting his attention back to Yuri. Anya gave a casual look over her shoulder and turned her shocked eyes back to mine, giving a short nod.
“I feel bad for Katya, Dad,” Nikolai said sarcastically. “I mean, Mom obviously couldn’t stand you, and that was when you were young and in good shape. You think Katya wants to touch a disgusting, bloated old f
uck like you?”
I felt Yuri tense, and his chest started to expand as if filled by bellows. “Magda didn’t leave me. She worshipped me!”
Nikolai shook his head and pressed his lips together in chagrin. “That’s not what I heard. I heard she found you repulsive and that you begged her to stay, but she rejected you. She thought you were a joke, so she left.”
I felt for Nikolai, having to speak of his mother this way. I knew he didn’t have any idea why she’d left, why both of our mothers left, but we both suspected it hadn’t been their choice.
“That’s a goddamned lie! I was done with her! Then she found out about my plans for Katya and told Katya’s mother. Magda was jealous of Katya. She told Anna to take Katya and run away. I would never allow that. We had a deal, me and Sergei. I wouldn’t let her be taken anywhere. So, they had to be dealt with. And they were—by me!” Yuri thundered.
Yuri’s voice echoed in the eerily silent room. My heartbeat slowed as shock rendered me paralyzed. I stared at Ivan, and he stared back, clearly feeling the same astonishment. We had always suspected Yuri had our mother killed, along with Nikolai’s, but we never understood why. I glanced at Nikolai and found him wearing an equally thunderstruck expression.
I shot a look to where Drago was standing and saw my own shocked expression mirrored on his face. He hadn’t known about my mother, that was obvious. And a relief. He nodded at me, encouraging me to re-focus, despite what Yuri had just admitted.
He was right. This was my chance. I looked at Ivan, who was slowly emerging from his stunned state and nodded at him. Drago’s words from earlier echoed in my head, reminding me of what to do if I was grabbed from behind.
I suddenly whipped my head back, smashing the back of my skull against Yuri’s face. I heard his groan of pain as his grip loosened. I leaned all my weight on the arm he was using to restrain me and quickly fell to the floor.
Gunshots came from seemingly all directions, as I covered my ears and tried to crawl away.
I lifted my head and looked back to where Yuri had been standing, only to find his body lying on the floor, riddled with bullet holes. My head swung around, trying to figure out who had shot him, and I found both Ivan and Katya with their guns trained on him.
I looked around and observed all of Drago’s and Callahan’s men acting as a synchronized unit, taking out the rest of the mercenaries around the room. Yuri’s men were either being killed or disarmed and restrained, depending on how much of a fight they were putting up.
Boris stood with his hands up on the stage. Terror etched in every line of his face. Drago stormed over and grabbed him by the throat, pressing the muzzle of his gun to Boris’s forehead.
“I-I-I…” Boris stuttered.
“You motherfucker. You were supposed to protect her. You betray her, you betray me? Why?” His accent thickening with every word.
Boris’s eyes kept looking up to where Drago had the gun pressed to his head. “I-I wanted more. I was loyal for years, but I was tired of babysitting some teenager. It was bullshit, and I wanted more,” he said, his tone sliding towards petulance.
“This is how you deal with it, you fucker? You hand her over to fucking Yuri to be brutalized?”
“Yuri promised me—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence—Drago pulled the trigger, the booming sound causing my ears to ring as I stared in shock at Boris’s slumped body. I still couldn’t believe this was the man who had guarded me for over two years.
Drago handed his gun to Ivan and rushed to my side. “Jesus Christ, Katya, are you okay? Did he do anything to you?” Drago asked urgently, his strong hands lifting me off the floor and pulling me into a crushing embrace. I breathed in Drago’s clean, familiar scent as I clung to him, finally relaxing for the first time in years.
Tears streamed down my face as he continued to hold me, somehow aware that I needed his strength, his grounded presence, his physical touch to calm me as adrenaline continued to pump through my body. “I’m okay,” I rasped. “Just shook up.”
I cracked my eyes open and looked over Drago’s shoulder, wondering where Callahan had come from as I watched him tug Anya into his embrace.
Drago pulled back and reached his thumbs across my cheeks to wipe away the tears. His silver eyes roamed my features, searching for signs of distress. I sniffed and gave him a wobbly smile in order to put him at ease. “I’m okay, really.”
He blew out a heavy breath and pulled me back into his arms. “I’m so proud of you for getting out of Yuri’s hold, but fuck, I think it took ten years off my life.”
I gave a shaky laugh and pulled back. “Hopefully, it isn’t something you’ll have to witness again.”
“You’re goddamned right about that because I’m never letting you out of my sight again.”
I laughed at him, but he didn’t even crack a smile as he put his arm around me and pulled me toward the group. I saw several of Drago’s men check on Will and give the thumbs up to Drago. He nodded and they hoisted up Will up and carried him out the front door.
Ivan reached over and gave me a hug. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry about letting you go to him, I—”
I put my hand over his mouth. “Please don’t apologize. I completely understand what you were doing.”
Ivan removed my hand. “But the last time Yuri tried this, I had to—”
“Ivan, stop! Honestly, I don’t blame you.”
He finally stopped and nodded his head. Hannah, Anya, and Emmy all rushed over and enveloped me in a group hug that had me smiling despite the circumstances.
“Let’s go back to the apartment and at least sit down and have a drink,” I said, eager to leave this entire scene behind. Drago slid his arm around my waist as he spoke in a low voice to one of his men about cleaning the place up, bodies included.
“I need to go back to the warehouse and find out what happened with the explosion, but I’ll drop you off and meet you back at the apartment.”
I nodded and looked over to where Yuri’s body had been. Drago’s men had already dragged it out, thankfully, but I shuddered at the streaks of blood left behind. I couldn’t believe it was over, that he was gone, that I was safe.
In spite of the harrowing, terrifying events that had taken place, a weight had been lifted off my shoulders as the knot of anxiety and fearfulness I had lived with for years finally started to dissolve.
“Kotyonok?” Drago asked, his expression conveying concern.
I shook my head. “It’s over. I can’t believe it.”
He pulled me tightly to his side and kissed the top of my head as he walked me toward the door. “It’s over.”
Epilogue
Katya
“We’re late!” I exclaimed as I spun around the closet, trying to find the shoes I wanted to wear. “It’s your fault, you know,” I accused as I grabbed my high heeled slip-on sandals.
Drago shot me a sensual smirk as he folded his arms across his hard chest and leaned against our dresser, waiting for me to finish dressing. Of course, he was only wearing a black t-shirt and jeans and looked amazing. “It was worth it. You should have known better than to start getting dressed in front of me, especially when you were wearing that bra. You know what happens every time I see it on you.”
I shot him a mischievous smile as I sat down to put on the tan sandals that went perfectly with the off-the-shoulder, pale green summer dress I’d made. It was a simple design belted with a thick, brown belt made of rough leather. “Fair enough,” I admitted.
I knew exactly what I had been doing when I put that bra on in front of him. It didn’t even go with this dress.
I stood up, and he walked toward me, hooking his arm around my waist and dipping his lips to my neck, biting and sucking softly.
“Oh, no,” I squeaked and pulled away. “I just got rid of the last marks you put all over me.”
I could tell he was tempted to disregard my words and plant a bite mark on me, but he somehow resisted. “
It’s the easiest way to keep other men away from you.”
I put my hands on my hips and stared him down. “You think another man would even dare look in my direction? Admit it. You just like it because you’re some kind of caveman.”
“You know, I rarely hear you complain when I’m putting those marks on you. In fact, I remember the other night when you begged me to—”
I slapped my hand over his mouth and gave him a mock glare. “We need to go. Now.” I said as if I was getting angry, but in truth, I was getting turned on, and by his smug grin, he knew it.
The last three months had been amazing. Although Yuri was dead, Will still followed me everywhere I went. Thankfully, we had been able to get him to the hospital fast enough to save his life. He had been devastated over Boris’s betrayal, but I believe the only reason he was still alive was that Boris couldn’t bring himself to kill Will.
The warehouse had been practically burned to the ground, but a new one had been swiftly reconstructed. Another place that had carried the ghosts of Yuri had been destroyed. It seemed fitting, even though we were aware Yuri had engineered its destruction.
Orlov had managed to escape, but Maxim claimed that, in addition to extensive burn wounds, he had been shot while escaping the burning building. Maxim believed there was no way he could have survived, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable until they found out what had happened to him. Every once in a while, I had a fleeting thought of the girl he had been in love with and hoped for, for her sake, he was actually dead.
“What did you get Nikolai for his birthday?” I asked Drago as we walked out of the bedroom.
He shot me a quizzical look. “I didn’t get him a present.”
“But we’re going to his birthday party, and you guys are friends.”
Drago shook his head as he grabbed my hand and led me onto the elevator. “Katya, men don’t get each other presents for their birthday.”
“What? That’s crazy. Of course, they do.”
“Okay, let me put it like this. You are the only person I have ever bought any kind of present for, and until we have children, that is the way it will stay.”
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