Page 32

O livia

W ith my back to the wall, I face the door and try to work out a plan.

The heavy steel door is the only way in or out of this stark little room.

The window is too high for me to reach and even if I could get up there, it’s too narrow for me to squeeze through.

There are no heating vents that might provide a means of escape and no loose bricks in the wall. Believe me, I’ve checked.

Playing dead as we were driven here allowed me to focus on gathering information that might be useful.

The men who took us are Eastern European.

They’re doing this for a payday, not because of some loyalty to an organization.

That could be useful. Perhaps the promise of cash will persuade one of them to help me.

I’d be willing to offer the diamond necklace I’m still wearing as a down payment.

As far as I can tell, there are six people involved in our abduction.

Their leader is an older woman with an accent.

When I was carried out of the truck, she spat at me and said something about getting payback for her son’s murder.

I don’t know who he was, but it’s a safe bet one of my brothers disposed of him.

We’re at a warehouse close to Newark Airport, I think.

I’ve heard planes taking off and landing.

The time we took to drive here would be about right, and I know we drove across a bridge.

I don’t know how long we’ve been here, but I haven’t seen Leo since we arrived.

I have no idea if he’s still alive. There was a heart-rending cry of pain a while back that I’m sure came from him and then it went quiet out there.

I can’t bear the thought of Leo being hurt or worse, so I do my best not to dwell on it.

If I’m going to get out of here, I need to keep calm and look for the right moment to act, just like Jimmy taught me.

If I can get my hands on a gun, I’ll use it without hesitation. In the meantime, the spiky metal heel of my shoe will make a decent weapon if I can swing it with enough force. That might be difficult. My shoulder is bruised from where the seatbelt restrained me in the crash.

I console myself with the knowledge my brothers will look for us.

I wonder if they told Piotr what happened.

Is he out there frantically searching for me?

I hope he is because I know he’ll find me.

What happened between us tonight was horrible, but I intend to put it behind us.

There will be no recrimination, no postmortem of what was said and done.

I want to draw a line under it and move on.

My heart flutters as a scraping of metal signals a bolt being slid across. The door opens and Leo is shoved into the room. Unable to hold himself up, he stumbles forward and hits the floor hard.

“Leo!” I scramble over to him.

“We’ll be back for you soon, princess.” The short, balding creep winks at me.

As he slams the door, leaving me alone with Leo, I quickly scan my brother, trying to work out how badly he’s hurt.

He’s only wearing boxer shorts. There’s blood everywhere.

The marks on his back tell me he’s been whipped.

There’s barely an inch of him that isn’t bruised, and he has several knife wounds.

The cuts all look shallow, but his breathing is labored and I’m worried he has internal injuries. His face is a mess.

“What have they done to you, Leo?”

“Liv.” He’s never called me that before and it’s not a good sign.

The lack of focus in his eyes as he peels them open tells me he’s in pain, suffering.

I grab his hand and squeeze it tight. Leo and I have had our differences over the years.

I’ve even claimed to hate him, but that’s all bluster.

I love him and seeing my big brother so weak, so helpless, tears me apart.

“Who are these people, Leo? What do they want?”

“The woman.” Leo inhales sharply. “We tortured her son. Piotr killed him, I think.”

“You think?”

“It was after we left. I don’t know what happened, but Balogh wasn’t around anymore, so…”

“Okay, I get it.”

“They’re going to bring Piotr here. Make him watch while they hurt you.”

“The only thing he’ll have to watch is me washing the blood off my hands when I kill anyone who tries to touch me.” I speak with more conviction I feel. “Now, focus, Leo. How many of them are out there?”

“Three, including the woman.”

“There were more.”

Leo nods. “Probably outside.” He coughs violently. “Watching.”

“Yeah, makes sense.”

“Save yourself, Liv. If you get the chance, run.”

I carefully stroke his hair. “And leave my fourth favorite brother to die?”

He chuckles. “Edged out Antonio, did I?”

“By a hair. You’re both insufferable brutes.”

Leo closes his eyes and takes a deep, shuddering breath. He goes still. Too still. I put my hand on his shoulder and give him a gentle shake. “Leo.”

“Vinnie,” he says suddenly. “She’s pregnant.”

“I guessed as much.”

“You need to tell her…”

I tighten my grip on his hand. “No, Leo. You can give Vinnie your half-assed declarations of love when you see her. Now pull yourself together because we are getting out of here and I’m not carrying your dead weight.”

The ghost of a smile plays on his lips. “I wish I saw this side of you sooner.”

“If you missed me being a bitch, you weren’t looking close enough.”

Leo shakes his head. “Not a bitch. Strong, capable, a fucking warrior.”

He coughs again, and this time he spits up blood. Shit. I need to get help for him soon.

“Don’t get sentimental on me, Leo. I need you to be your usual asshole self if we’re going to get out of here.”

Letting go of his hand, I head to the door. I have no plan other than to get the attention of the assholes out there. I lift my fist to bang on the door and then pause. There’s a loud popping sound. Gunfire?

I turn to Leo. “I think the cavalry’s here.”

Leo says something, but his voice is faint and I don’t catch it. I run over and crouch next to him. “What was that?”

“They’ll try to use you to get out of here.”

“It’s okay.” I slip my shoes off my feet and grasp one in my hand. “I’m ready for them.”

The chance to test the truth of that statement comes sooner than I’d hoped. The metal bolt scrapes and the door flies open.

“On your feet, kurva .”

He grabs my upper arm and instinct takes over. As he pulls me to my feet, I use the momentum to swing around, driving the heel of my shoe into the side of his head with enough force that I hear a sickening crack. My assailant loses his grip on me as he stumbles backward.

Not giving him a chance to recover, I bring the shoe down hard on his right wrist. The gun he was holding goes flying.

I dive for it, but he’s on me before I can reach it.

I try to wriggle out from under him, but he’s too strong for me.

He spits curses at me in a foreign language as I struggle to throw him off me.

His hands wrap around my throat, but he barely has a chance to squeeze before he’s suddenly ripped away from me.

Rolling over, I see him and Leo wrestling on the floor. The blond-haired man is shorter than my brother, but they’re evenly matched for muscle and Leo is hurt. The asshole ends up straddling Leo. He grabs a knife from his belt.

“Run, Liv,” Leo yells.

There’s not a chance I’m leaving him now. I reach for the gun, aim and fire, hitting the blond asshole in the chest. He slumps over Leo, who pushes him off before collapsing back on the floor.

Footsteps thunder in the hallway outside.

I raise the gun, ready to take out whoever comes through that door and then lower it when Piotr runs into the room.

He’s wearing all black clothing, a bulletproof vest and is carrying a handgun.

Matteo, who’s dressed in similar fashion and wielding an AR-15, is close behind.

“Help Leo,” I instruct Matteo as Piotr pulls me to my feet and wraps his arms tight around me.

“Fuck, Olivia. I thought I lost you.”

His obvious relief tells me everything’s going to be okay between us. I step back from him as the room fills with people. Antonio comes in, followed by Jimmy and Dante. They take turns to hug me, and I assure them I’m fine. Leo is the one who needs their attention right now.

“Fuck, Livvy.” Jimmy shakes his head. “I was so scared for you.”

I nod toward the body on the opposite side of the room. “I remembered what you taught me.”

“You took him out?” Piotr asks.

“Yes, and I’d do it again,” I say firmly, seeing the look of concern on his face. “It was him or Leo.”

“This bastard’s still alive.” Dante crouches over our assailant.

“Keep him that way,” Antonio says. “I want to question him.”

Dante nods. He motions for Jimmy to help him and together they carry the man from the room.

I almost feel sorry for what he’ll endure at my brothers’ hands.

I watch as Antonio and Matteo get Leo up off the floor.

They put their shoulders under his arms to support his weight.

He’s barely holding on, but as they drag him past me, he reaches out to pat my cheek.

“Fucking badass,” he murmurs.

As the room clears of people, I sway on my feet.

I’m tired, hungry, and my entire body aches.

Piotr tries to lift me into his arms, but I wiggle free.

If Leo can walk out of here on his own two feet, more or less, then so can I.

Slipping my shoes on, I slick back my ponytail and hold my head high as Piotr leads the way out of the warehouse.

Our path out to the car is littered with bodies. I try not to look. I don’t want the images of these people ingrained in my memory.

“Are any of these ours?” I ask Piotr.

“No. One of your brothers’ men took a bullet to the thigh, but he’ll live.”

“Good.” I hate the thought of anyone dying to save me. Piotr would no doubt say they should consider it an honor, but I don’t think that way.

Piotr helps me into the back of a black Mercedes SUV and settles on the seat next to me. He wraps an arm around me and I rest my head on his shoulder. I groan as I try to make myself comfortable.

“Are you hurt?” Piotr asks.

“I’m a bit banged up, but I’ll live.”

“You fought in there?”

“Yeah, I channeled my inner Mila Lenkova.”

Piotr laughs as he caresses my cheek with his index finger. “Should I be concerned about you fangirling over Mila?”

I sit up and arch an eyebrow at him. “Should I be concerned about you using the word fangirling?”

“Why? What’s wrong with it?”

I shrug. “Just doesn’t sound like something you’d say.”

“Okay, should I be concerned about you hero-worshiping her?”

“Don’t worry. I’m not about to start hacking off men’s dicks because they look at me the wrong way. I just think she’s a good role model. There aren’t many strong women in our world.”

Piotr curves his hand around my cheek, the way I like. “Compared to you, Olivia, she’s nothing. Like your brother said in there, you’re a badass.”

“When I have to be.” I lean my head on the back of the seat as the driver, one of Antonio’s men, starts the engine and drives us away from the warehouse. I look up at Piotr. “Why did you kill that woman’s son?”

Piotr sighs. “He helped the people who tried to kidnap Emilia. Your brothers and I tortured him for information, and he offered me a deal. The photos of you for his life.”

“Why did he have them?”

“Gallo left them with him for safekeeping.”

“So you got the photos and killed him anyway?”

“Yes. Once I saw those photos and knew he’d seen them, I couldn’t let him live.”

“Why?”

“Because no man gets to see you like that, Olivia. I knew as soon as I saw the photos you were mine.”

I frown deeply. “I don’t understand. Those photos are horrible. Why would you want me after seeing them?”

Piotr shakes his head and shrugs at the same time. “I don’t know. I saw something in them. There was a mix of vulnerability and strength. I wanted it for myself.”

I nod, though I don’t really get it. I suppose it’s not important when he first realized he wanted me. The fact is we’re together now and we have something worth fighting for. “You realize there may still be copies of the photos out there?”

“There might be, but I will kill anyone who tries to use them against you.”

“That’s quite the declaration.”

“I mean it, Olivia.” He takes my hand. “Nobody will hurt you ever again.”

I raise an eyebrow. “Not even you?”

“I will put a bullet in my brain before I ever treat you as I did last night.”

“You were awful to me, but I should have told you why Dario was sniffing around from the start.” I sink my teeth into my bottom lip. “What will happen to him?”

“Your brothers will take care of him.”

“Good.” I snuggle up closer to Piotr, enjoying the comfort his warmth brings me. “I’m so glad you came for me.”

He gazes down at me. “Did you doubt I would?”

“No, but I wasn’t waiting around for it to happen. I planned to get myself out of there if I could.”

“Good girl, but just so you know, I will always come for you. I’d walk through the fires of hell to get to you.”

I sit up and cast a glower at him. “Why would I be in hell?”

Piotr laughs. “You wouldn’t be. You’re a fucking angel.”

“Damned right.” I slap his shoulder and then groan as pain fires through me.

Piotr’s expression immediately turns to one of concern. “Are you okay? We need to get you to a doctor.”

“No. What I need is to go home and get into a nice, warm bath.”

Piotr nods. “And then you’re going to bed for a week.”

“Uh, no, I don’t think so.” I roll my eyes when he gives me a questioning look. “We’re choosing my puppy on Sunday, remember?”

He shakes his head. “That can wait.”

I stick my bottom lip out. “The cute ones will all be gone if we wait.”

Piotr pulls me onto his lap, and I cuddle close. He kisses the top of my head. “I despair of you, Olivia Rezanova.”

“No, you don’t.”

“No, I don’t.” He strokes my shoulder. “I love you more than I ever thought possible.”

Tiredness overwhelms me, and I yawn. At some point, it will hit me just how much danger I was in tonight and I’ll crumble. But I know Piotr will be there to catch me when I fall. Safe in my husband’s arms, I close my eyes and let sleep claim me.