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“What kind of problem?” Oleg demands.
“The kind of problem that’s been plaguing me for years.” Oleg and Zakhar say nothing, but I don’t need to. They know exactly who I mean.
“What? Stop speaking in fucking riddles, asshole, and spit it the hell out,” Alonzo yells into the line, gunfire echoing in my ear.
I’m not about to explain any of it to him. Not when I barely understand it myself. “She’s on the second floor, near her room. Bodies all over the hallway. She’s got a gun to her back and her father in front of her with one. We need to move.”
And I need to deal with this bitch who has screwed me over for the last time. She won’t be getting away from me again.
“I’m closest,” Alonzo pants, and I hear him running.
“Do not kill the woman holding her hostage,” I order, for him and the others. “She’s mine.” I don’t bother hiding the lethal promise in my voice.
Alonzo is silent, as are Oleg and Zakhar. The tension doesn’t need to be said.
“Hades, let’s go,” Alonzo barks. The giant cane corso Rori has trained to be her helper will probably be needed, but we need to play this smart.
“They’re going into one of the bedrooms,” Nikita warns. “We need to move fast.”
I nod, but before we can rush out, Pasha Antonov turns, gun raised, and fires a bullet right between Timur’s eyes.
I want to scream and rage, infuriated he took away my right, but I remain calm. Timur was only one part of this equation. The Bratva Butcher has had his filthy hands in this entire thing from the start. And he will be the one to pay.
Including his so-called daughter.
“Move,” my stalker orders Rori, and they head into the bedroom.
“We need to move, Pakhan, or we’re going to lose them,” Nikita hisses.
Alonzo and Hades burst through the door at the other end of the hall.
“We need to do this smart, or we’re going to end up dead. They’re going to start shooting as soon as we bust through,” I warn Nikita as we head to intercept the giant Italian man who looks like he’s about to go on a rampage. “I’ll handle him. Go find Oleg and Zakhar. We’re going to need them if we’re going to do this.”
“But, Pakhan—”
“Go!” I snap. He goes to argue but gives in and does what I say.
Before Alonzo can go storming in, I grab his shoulder, hauling him back. I ignore the snarl of the dog at his side. “Don’t be fucking stupid,” I warn him. “I told you, we need to be fucking careful.”
“I’m not about to stand out here and let them take my woman,” Alonzo seethes, his dark eyes boring into mine.
“No one is going anywhere. Do you want to go barging in there and get yourself shot? You won’t be of any fucking use to anyone if you do that.”
“Fuck that. If that was your woman, you’d do the fucking same. You can stay out here like a fucking pussy, or you can help me stop them. Now get the fuck out of my way.”
His words about “if that was your woman” are a sharp knife to the gut, but I ignore them.
I have to hope I can survive the next few minutes and get some answers. After everything this woman has put me through, I’m not about to go to hell without them.
Then I hear the low snarl of a dog and a gunshot. Cursing, I rush in after him.
32
ILYA
The bullet hits my vest like a sledgehammer, and I fall to the ground, a cry slipping out before I can bite it back. My ears ring, my chest heaving as I gasp for air and fight back the irrational panic of seeing Rori’s dog pinning my stalker down, ready to go for a kill bite.
Everything is screaming at me to move, but it’s not fast enough when I see Alonzo’s big body fall. Shit. This entire situation is going to hell.
