Page 12 of Pregnant Bratva Wife (Vadim Bratva #13)

I punched Vincent Esposito right beneath his nose. His head snapped back, and blood spattered down his face, across my shirt.

He howled in pain, wheezing to catch his breath.

I thought he would break, but the way he looked at me next, with defiance and scorn despite his swollen face, told me this was going nowhere.

“I’m going to ask you one more time,” I growled. “Where is Salvatore?”

Vincent spat a mouthful of blood onto the concrete floor right next to my feet. “Fuck you, Lebedev.”

Behind me, Dante hissed. He’d called me an hour ago in excitement. Our men had grabbed Vincent Esposito outside a strip club in Lincoln Park. Told me they were taking him to a storage facility where his screams wouldn’t be heard.

Vincent was important. A breakthrough. It wasn’t every day we got our hands on the right-hand man to Don Salvatore Esposito himself.

And I had a score to settle with Don Esposito. We all did. He’d helped that bastard Ricardo move against my brother-in-law, Gastone. His family kidnapped my sister Elena and Gastone, leaving scars none of us would forget.

And then? After we rescued them? The Espositos took it one step further. They had been attacking us, left, right, and centre.

They didn’t just cross a line. They shattered any hope to begin with.

All because the Espositos vied for our power. Wanted to break us down.

I couldn’t let that happen, could I?

“You know, Vincent,” I said, circling his chair. “You’re loyal. I’ll give you that. But are you willing to lose your life to protect Salvatore?”

I nodded at Dante, who stepped forward with a car battery and jumper cables. Vincent’s eyes widened in fear. It was proof we were on the right track.

“I figured you’re smart enough to realize that loyalty has its limits,” I continued, watching as Dante attached one clamp to Vincent’s metal chair. “And I think we’re about to find yours.”

“You’re wasting your time,” Vincent rasped. “Kill me if you want. I’ll never—”

I slammed my fist into his jaw, cutting off his words. “The Espositos declared war on my family. Your Don sent men to kill my brother-in-law. To take my sister. And for what? You think I give a fuck about your silence when my family’s safety is at stake?”

Vincent laughed like a madman. “Heard you got married, Federico.”

My blood turned to ice. I knew a threat when I heard one.

“What did you just say?”

His split lip curled into a smile. “Autumn, right? Blonde. Beautiful. We’ve been watching her. Pretty girl. Don’t you think?”

Rage boiled up inside me, white-hot and blinding. My fist reached for his face over and over until Dante pulled me back.

“He can’t talk if he’s unconscious,” my brother reminded me softly under his breath. “And he’s giving us something. We know they’re following us now. Tracking us. If they know you got married…”

I took a deep breath, forcing the rage back down where I could control it. Dante was right. We needed information, not vengeance.

Not yet.

“The battery,” I said, nodding to the jumper cables. “Let’s see if electricity improves his memory.”

Dante picked up the second clamp. “Where should I—”

A small sound interrupted him.

A gasp.

Soft, barely audible, but unmistakable in the silence of the warehouse.

I spun around and froze.

What the fuck?

Autumn.

She turned ghostly pale, her hand now smacking against her mouth. Her eyes darted between me and Vincent’s battered body, to the cables Dante held.

She looked like she’d been transported into a living nightmare. Horrified.

Fuck. What was she doing here? What was she thinking? I hated seeing her this way, looking at me like I was a monster.

“Autumn,” I tried speaking to her softly, taking one step forward. “Just listen.” I took one more cautious step forward, afraid she’d bolt, but needed her to listen. “I can expla—”

But that’s all it took for her to turn and run. I was about to follow when Vincent lunged from the chair, grabbing the gun right out of a shocked Dante’s hand.

Fuck. We had been so distracted by Autumn that we hadn’t noticed he’d worked his hands free from the bindings.

“Federico!” Dante shouted.

I threw myself sideways as the shot exploded through the warehouse. The bullet passed right past me. I rolled forward and tackled Vincent before he could fire again.

We crashed to the ground, and I kicked the fallen gun away. Dante picked it up immediately, but Vincent slammed into my jaw. It was a weak blow, given his state. I pinned him, smashing my elbow into his face. His head snapped back, rendering him unconscious.

I shoved him off and got to my feet, turned to Dante. “Secure him properly this time.”

Dante nodded, already moving to bind Vincent again.

My eyes went to the doorway where Autumn had stood.

“Fuck,” I hissed. “She’s gone.”

I moved toward the door. “Take care of him. I need to find her.”

“Federico. What do I do?”

“Just get what we need from him,” I snapped, already breaking into a run. “I’ll deal with Autumn.”

I ran out of the warehouse into the night outside, looking for her everywhere. I screamed her name, but never heard back.

Where could she have gone?

“Autumn!” I called out again.

Nothing.

I checked along the perimeter of the building, searching every nook and cranny. She couldn’t have gotten far, and I doubt she brought a car because the keys remained with my drivers, and they wouldn’t have driven her here.

She must have followed me by taxi. There’s no way a cab would come here so fast.

Unless she had the last one waiting?

I was about to turn around, thinking she might have left in the cab she came in, when I saw three men quietly moving like shadows past buildings about a hundred yards away.

Like they were chasing something.

These men? I didn’t know them. They weren’t mine.

Where the fuck were my men? My eyes scanned around, and I saw them. Unconscious. Fallen.

Fuck.

These were Esposito men. They must have hunted down Vincent when he disappeared and attacked my men.

What were they doing now? Were they trying to find Vincent? I picked up my radio. Warned Dante of the trouble outside. Ordered him to call for back-up before I followed.

It looked like they were tracking something.

And that’s when I saw what they were chasing.

Not what.

Who.

Her.

Autumn.

She was running toward the chain-link fence at the edge of the property.

My heart stopped. They’d seen her. They were hunting her.

I moved quickly, using the shadows for cover, and cut across the complex to break their route. Autumn hadn’t seen them yet from how she ran. Panicked, but not panicked enough. She was focused only on escaping.

From me. From what she’d witnessed.

But she was running straight into something worse.

I watched as one of the men raised his hand, pointing at her. They picked up speed, breaking into a jog. Fifty yards separated them from her now. Forty.

I couldn’t call out to warn her without alerting them to my position. Couldn’t fire from this distance without risking hitting her in the darkness.

I ran faster, staying low.

The first man reached for Autumn just as she neared a gap in the fence. His hand clamped down on her arm, spinning her around. I heard her terrified scream as the other two closed in.

“Let me go!” Her voice carried across the empty lot.

“Mrs. Lebedev,” one of them said. “The boss wants a word.”

And that’s when I stepped out from behind a dumpster, and they never saw me coming. They had their backs to me, but Autumn saw me. Her eyes widened just as I raised my gun and fired. The first shot caught the man holding Autumn in the back of the head.

The other two men swirled, their eyes now on me.

Autumn screamed, the sound tearing through the night. She stood frozen, spattered with the blood of the man who’d grabbed her.

“Autumn,” I called, moving toward her, but she took a step back, turned, and ran through the fence.

I didn’t have time to go after her.

Because the other two were on me.

One of the men charged and slammed into me before I could fire again. His shoulder caught my chest, the sheer force of it forced the gun from my hand, letting it skid across the pavement.

I tried to reach for it, but from the corner of my eye, I saw the third man draw his own weapon.

Fuck. There was no time.

I dove behind the dumpster just as the shot rang out, the bullet sparking against metal inches from my head.

Fuck.

I was unarmed.

The second man came at me behind the dumpster, swinging a crowbar he must’ve grabbed from the ground. I blocked the first hit with my forearm, and the pain exploded like fire, but I held my ground.

I twisted, grabbed the shaft mid-swing, and yanked it free from his grip. Then I drove the end into his jaw until I felt bone give way. He collapsed in a heap at my feet.

I dropped low and rolled, reaching for my pistol.

Came out from behind the dumpster. The man shot at me, but I ducked to the floor, rolling up to my knees, and that’s when I took my aim.

I fired straight at the target. It got him clean through the chest. He staggered and hit the ground. Dead.

I didn’t give myself time to even catch my breath.

“Autumn!” I screamed, making my way through the broken fence.

She was out there. Alone. Scared. Running blind. The Espositos could have been in any number and anywhere.

Where the hell was she?

The alleys ahead twisted into a dark maze of crumbling buildings. My boots hit the ground hard as I ran, eyes scanning, ears straining.

Then, somewhere to my left, I heard footsteps. I gave chase.

If anything had happened to her, I would never have been able to forgive myself. I needed to find her. Now.