Page 129 of Hunt Me

“Use every goddamn man available.”

“I’m sorry, Mikhail. We’ll find her.”

Another call ended. More bad news. I pressed down on the accelerator, zooming around traffic. Why the hell had I left her alone? What the fuck was wrong with me that I hadn’t followed my instincts? No more dangerous games. No one was ever going to hurt the woman I adored again.

She was mine.

Mine. Mine!

As soon as I slammed my hand against the steering wheel again, the screen lit up. A message. Exhaling, I tried to calm down as I pulled it up, rage inhibiting any coherent thoughts.

As I rushed onto the interstate, barely avoiding a collision, the voicemail connected.

Then I heard her sweet voice, the concern in her lilt not for herself, but for me and everything I’d been through with Sergio’s death.

When she said two words in Russian not once but twice, images flashed in front of my eyes.

Young brother.

The phrase had been said in respect when I was a boy, the one honoring my abilities and my loyalty.

The one used for Sergio’s protégés, the only soldiers he considered worthy of the title.

This was the man who’d been in the parking garage. Blond hair. How was it possible I hadn’t noticed the resemblance? Because in my world, he’d yet to become someone of importance. Of course Sergio had opened the door to him. Maksim was trusted. Maksim was important to Sergio.

And he’d betrayed his mentor.

The fucking bastard who’d accosted Bristol at my sister’s wedding, Maksim Sokolov. The man who would die by my hands.

She’d seen him at the funeral, recognizing him immediately. The motherfucker had planned on kidnapping her at the wedding. She would be used against the mayor. Because he refused to play their games.

Why the fuck hadn’t her father confided in me?

For fear she’d be killed. No wonder he’d wanted her to come work for him.

I hit redial, connecting to Alexsey. “Maksim Sokolov. I need his address. Now. He betrayed us all.”

CHAPTER 32

Mikhail

Maksim Sokolov lived in a seedy apartment far removed from the glitz and glamor of the entertainment mecca. A fitting location for a cockroach.

I’d never been to his home. I hadn’t spent any time with him. And I couldn’t care less why he’d betrayed Sergio and my family. In truth, his reasons just didn’t matter.

What did was Connor’s location.

And he would tell me one way or another.

Tonight, I was Pakhan, ruler of a powerful Russian Bratva, and he would learn what to expect when he dared cross a Dmitriyev.

By the time I pulled my car to the curb, a dozen others had arrived including Alexsey and Kazimir. Every soldier was armed, but they knew better than to interfere.

This was my interrogation.

“Is he inside?” I asked as Kazimir came close.

“He is. And he’s alone.”