AllFreeNovel
Share Us
32
Ivan
I get the call with no prior warning.
The Red Hitters have gathered at the station, and are already moving to their meeting location. We’re sure to find the research there, but we’ll have to catch them quickly. We can’t give them the opportunity to settle in and lock their doors.
We will hit them when they arrive, and not a moment later. Catching them off-guard, when they’re still transitioning from one comfortable state to another, is going to give us our best chance of wiping them all out at once.
The tracking car is following them from a distance, but they’re oblivious to it. I made sure we chose something that’s so inconspicuous that even if they saw they were being followed, they’d assume it was only a coincidence. Ride-share drivers use them often around here because they get excellent miles to the gallon, but they wouldn’t last a second in a chase or a gunfight.
That’s why they wouldn’t expect it. The car is just too plain, and they’re used to flashing their power and money like it makes them better than everyone else.
Today, they’re getting a wake-up call. They aren’t in fact, better than everyone else. How can you be better when you’re dead?
I grab an armor-piercing rifle from my closet, slinging it over my shoulder as I charge to the door. I’ve warned Lily this moment would come, and that she couldn’t join, but she still follows me down the stairs.
“Please be safe,” she begs, grabbing at my shirt as I rush toward the front door.
I spin on my heels, planting a kiss on her lips. “Lily, I would die for you, but that’s not going to happen today. I think you and the triplets need me alive.”
Tears are already building in her beautiful eyes, but she blinks them away. “Just be careful. Don’t do anything too risky. You have a lot of men with you, and they can do all the dangerous stuff.”
“Many of them have families too,” I remind her. “But I’m not going to put myself at any greater risk than I need to. You require a partner and a father for our children, and my men deserve to keep their leader. I’ll be back.”
She nods, but I see the fear on her face as I step outside. She clings to the doorframe, watching every step I take to my car like she’ll never see me again.
It pains me in a different sort of way than usual to leave her like this. I never thought I would find myself so reluctant to take care of business, but she makes me want to give it all up just to spend the rest of my days with her.
But with everything weighing on my shoulders, that’s not possible. I must serve the Bratva. That’s my calling, my destiny, and I won’t back down from it.
I slide into the front seat of my armored SUV, shutting the door and taking one last look in the rearview mirror. Lily is still standing in the doorway, her hand over her heart and her eyes locked onto the car.
I sigh, wishing this could be different. If she wasn’t pregnant, I would even consider bringing her with me, but she’s infinitely safer at the house. Nobody can touch her there.
As I pass through the front gate, I nod at the guards. There are fifty of them outside now, patrolling the property with rifles clutched tightly like they’re anticipating war. I spared no expense to keep my precious Lily and our triplets safe.
And once we retrieve the research for Project G, I will be able to elevate us to a place where we become untouchable. Nobody in the world is going to be able to break through the power and influence of a billionaire, especially not some crummy little police force.
My engine runs hot as I speed down the highway, weaving through traffic to get to the location sent out to everyone. We have artillery vehicles on the way, hidden in shipping trucks parked in various places around the city, but they won’t be the first ones to arrive.
The first wave is a group of elite soldiers, trained from day one to deal with the Red Hitters. When they ambush them, they’ll be coming from all directions, making it almost impossible for our opposition to take cover or even shoot back.
This technique should wipe out most of them in the bloodiest massacre this side of the city has ever seen, but that won’t be the end of it. We’ll have to go in and pick off the stragglers, the ones who manage to find cover, before they’re able to call for help.
At that point, the artillery should arrive, but in an ideal scenario, we won’t need them. They’re a safety precaution if things get ugly. It would be better not to have black market military vehicles make such an obvious appearance in a place that is probably not far removed from the general population.
My GPS pinpoints it to just outside the city, meaning that we will still be in earshot of the general population. All it takes is one report of a rogue military vehicle mowing down police officers to cause a stir that will likely end in extensive news coverage and a military crackdown on the city.
I already have two tickets booked to Russia if that happens, but I pray things won’t come to that. We need to get our hands back on the research that Dimitri was doing for us and finish it. These next few days are vital to our success.
As I pull off the highway, I see another Bratva vehicle pull off with me, speeding down the same road that leads to the Red Hitters. I probably won’t be the first person to arrive, but it’s safer that way. Most of the chaotic action is going to go down within the first few seconds, and then things should be much more strategic.
We’ll be picking off the remainder of the guys one by one. There may be a few in the building, acting as security, but we’ll deal with them once we’re inside. Even surrender won’t prevent them from meeting an untimely end.
That’s the nature of this business. It’s kill or be killed out here, and I’d rather be the one going the killing than eating a bullet and leaving this life prematurely. I have kids to raise, a woman to make love to, and an empire to build.
Death can wait a little longer.
