Page 106 of Essence of Fear

They couldn’t assume anything.

Certainly not trust.

“Oh,” Pav said, tossing the statement to Kolya as they broke through the tree line, “and there’s dogs, yeah?”

“Fuck,” Kolya grunted.

“Watch for them. I liked them.”

“Right.”

Pav shrugged.

He had other things to do now.

Thankfully, they didn’t have to deal with the dogs. Or rather, if the dogs did come out, they attacked the others who came in from different directions. Kolya and Pav, on the other hand, came in from the back of the property with four extra men. They had no problems crossing the property, not even when they entered the house by kicking in the back door.

Pav knew that was strange …

To say the least.

Why wasn’t anyone fighting back? They were storming the fucking property, fifteen men coming in from every direction. One man for every man they knew should be in the house or on the property with Vadim, and yet, no one fought back. Not a single one of those men came out of the shadows to defend the property like they should have.

Yeah, strange.

Pav tried not to think on it for too long. He had other things that he needed to focus his attention on and be done with it.

Kolya entered the house first, but Pav was right behind him. The back hallway, darkened with dimmed lighting, also didn’t have anyone waiting to answer their attack. The men who came with them to storm the back of the house slipped in behind them, guns ready just in case.

It wasn’t until they neared the middle of the house that they finally found someone waiting for them. Or rather, three men. Pav recognized the older men as three that had been delegated to watching Vadim, like the others who had been here when he visited with Viktoria a while ago.

They hadn’t said much then.

They didn’t say much now.

Kolya and Pav already had their guns aimed, and he pulled back the trigger on the weapon easily. He wasn’t as good of a shot with a gun as Kolya was, though. Where Pav missed his first two shots, Kolya nailed each and every one of the men with clean head shots.

Pav decided he needed to learn that skill …

Another time.

They rounded the corner quickly, stepping over the dead bodies of the three men, and coming to the entryway of the grand sitting room. And there, in the middle of the room like a fucking king on his throne, sat a bored looking Vadim with a glass of vodka in his hand.

Just the sight alone was enough to make Pav want to kill the asshole. Vadim looked so smug—a grin tilting his lips upward as he offered his glass to Pav and Kolya like he was asking them for another drink.

“Boys,” Vadim greeted.

Kolya stiffened beside Pav. “Vadim, seems we have some business to handle here.”

“Do we?”

“Pav?” Kolya asked.

Pav’s gaze narrowed in on Vadim across the room. “You visited Boris often before your exile while he was in the chambers. Several visits, actually. And now he’s freed himself, has taken Viktoria hostage, and we have reason to believe it connects back to you.”

Vadim’s eyes widened. “Me, but why?”

Oh, he was going to kill this man, and he would enjoy it, too.