Page 61 of Break Me

Mikhail gritted his teeth. “I can think of a few reasons.”

Which could mean we had a mole. “You need to double check the personnel. Especially the recent hires.”

The Pakhan looked at me, finally nodding. “You’re right. Let’s finish this up and get out of here. No phone calls on the way out of here. You’re injured. Are you okay?” He narrowed his eyes when he peered at me.

While it burned, I gritted my teeth when answering. “I’ll live.”

He chuckled and shoved his weapon into his jacket. “That’s good to hear, brother.”

A strange noise caught my attention, one so slight that none of the others heard it. But my hearing was keen, much more so than the rest of my family. When I threw up my arm with my weapon in my hand, driving it like a wedge among the group of us, the others remained shocked.

Pop! Pop!

The single gunman had his weapon pointed at Mikhail. I took a deep breath while there was utter silence surrounding me.

“Well, it’s safe to say you haven’t lost all your skills,” Kazimir teased while patting me on the back.

I wasn’t honestly certain whether to take that as a dig or a compliment.

Either way, Mikhail had his eyes open wide, offering a silent thank you with a solid nod of respect. That’s all that was necessary.

Anything for family.

Anything.

Ten minutes later, we stood outside the warehouse at a safe distance. For whatever reason, we’d remained quiet since leaving the building. It certainly was not out of reverence to the lives lost.

Our near anxiousness was caused by the knowledge someone had tipped off Papadakis that we’d ascertained the location where he’d housed most of his drugs. I was shocked at this point there weren’t other men employed by their organization swarming the area.

Maybe Petros and Viktor truly believed it would be that easy to gun us down.

Or perhaps they had another enemy intent on destroying their empire.

We couldn’t rule out a single option, several we’d explore in the upcoming days.

At this point, we were about to finish playing our hand. If the Papadakis brothers didn’t take the hint, then God help them.

“We’re ready,” one of the soldiers said by way of two-way radio.

“Then get out and detonate,” Mikhail told him.

“This should be a showstopper,” Vissarian muttered, laughing as he did.

I didn’t give a damn about the fireworks as much as I did about providing a clear statement. We would see how well received that turned out to be.

My thoughts drifted to Halle. At minimum I’d need to find out if she’d made it home alright. I was antsy. There’d been too many people at the hotel, a few having seen us together. The last thing either one of us needed was full exposure. And why? Certainly not because I didn’t want to be seen with her.

Just the opposite.

I longed to show her off to the world, even though she wouldn’t allow any such actions of grandeur. I could only imagine her reaction if I tried.

Why was it with every thought my cock ached more than ever?

While there should be no taste of her left when I licked my lips, there was. And even after being covered in smoke, her fragrance still lingered on my skin.

“You’re thinking about her. Aren’t you?”

Sasha’s question amused me. “How can you tell?”