Page 169 of Sinful Lord

“You know where he took her?”

I lift the chain in my hand, singling out the tiny key in the middle.

“I remember this keychain,” I reveal. “I know which door each one opens. Sure, there are some new ones—it’s been a long time since Yasha and I were a thing—but one is missing. Krol took it. He’s holding Melina at Yasha’s penthouse in Charlottenburg. I’ve been there plenty of times before. I regret each visit. But they were good for one thing. There’s a private elevator that leads from the parking lot up to the apartment. Clearly, Krol doesn’t know about it. If he did, he would have taken this little key here. But he didn’t, so we have it. This is our way in. This is how we save Melina.”

Rian’s hard gaze falters.

“What if he left it on purpose?” he sneers, staring at me with suspicion. “How do we know it’s not a trap?”

“Does it matter?”

Just like that, something clicks in him. It’s like he finally understand what I am, and what I’m after.

The same thing he is.

“No,” he grumbles.

“Good,” I huff, pushing him off me. “Because I don’t give a shit. All I care about is getting Melina back, safe and sound. Do you think we can work together for long enough to make that happen?”

“It’s not like we have a choice.”

“Glad to see we agree on something.”

Cranking his neck, Rian looks back down the hallway. Roz and Gabriel come racing up. Maksim isn’t far behind.

“Are we good?” Roz asks, glancing back and forth between the two of us.

“For now,” Rian grunts.

“Do we have a plan?” Gabriel asks.

“I’m working on that,” I mumble. “In the meantime, let’s get fucking moving.”

Maksim’s just barely caught up to the action when we all start racing down the stairs.

“Fucking hell,” I hear him curse.

“Hurry up, old man,” I shout back at him, my mind racing with ideas on how to get a foot up on Krol.

I stop in the doorway when a plan hits me.

“Do you think you can trust me?” I ask, turning to Rian.

He pauses, then looks over at Roz.

When Roz nods, he snarls.

“What do you have in mind?”

“A scheme,” I say, waiting as Maksim catches up to the rest of us. “I’ll give you the address to Yasha’s penthouse. We’ll split up then meet up there ASAP.”

“Where the hell are you going?” Maksim questions.

The scheme isn’t fully formed in my mind yet, but I know one thing for sure. Krol already has the advantage. If we’re going to get past him, I’ll need to outsmart him.

Fortunately, I know that I can.

“I need to pick someone up first,” I say, heading toward Roz’s truck. “Gabriel, you come with me. Roz, you keep Rian and Maksim focused. Let’s go get our girl.”