Page 4 of Scarlet Sins (Yegorov Bratva #2)

Chapter Four

DEMYAN

Sergio isn’t with me. But his men are. Along with mine.

I’m fine with that. He never takes part in this kind of action if he can help it, but the fact it’s the joined forces serves me—and him.

I look at Pavel.

“No lookouts, sir, nothing. I’m not sure they’re expecting us.”

The house is way out in the suburbs, a run-down part where half the street’s abandoned.

First glance says this isn’t a Niko-type place, but it didn’t take much of a dig to find out who bought up the street and got all the permits for development.

A company of Niko’s. A new, legit one that Sergio knows all about.

“Maybe he is, and maybe he isn’t. Which place would you choose, Pavel?”

The man shrugs. “The community center that’s closed down is so obvious that most would rule it out. He doesn’t strike me as subtle. And he seems like a man who gets off on the double bluff. That’s where I’d choose. If I was him. ”

I nod, and I’d be smiling if this wasn’t about the safety of Erin.

But Ilya’s right about him. He’s got a bright future with us.

Because it’s the exact spot Iwould storm.

“Sir?” Another of my soldiers turns up. “There’s a bunch of cigarette butts out back. Fresh. And big-ass boot prints in the dirt. And two doors over? An armored SUV.”

Pavel and I look at each other. “Okay. Let’s do this,” I say.

“Remember the boss’s woman is in there, so shoot to kill… carefully,” Pavel says to the soldier. “Number one priority is to rescue her. Got that?”

“Yes, Pavel.” The man nods, then nods at me. “Sir.”

“Anton?” I ask. The man waits. “Make sure everyone gets that message.”

He might be in there waiting, gun to her head. But I know she’s alive. Otherwise, Niko would’ve made a show of her already.

And he won’t kill her right away. He wants me to suffer.

I’m hoping for the element of surprise, but I’m going in like they’re ready.

Finally, I give the signal.

I want to be up front, but Pavel holds me back, a hand on my arm that’s borderline tantamount to a bullet to the head. Ilya would be no different, and he’s standing in for him. So I let it slide.

Just like I ignore the nerves that eat at me.

The gunfire starts, and I pull away, striding up, my own weapon at the ready.

One of the felled men on the ground moves, but I shoot him in the head and continue on, down to the basement that’s been modified like it’s a small Gitmo.

There’s a door at the end, but in the basement with torture hooks and chains is the last man standing.

I grab him and slam my rifle butt into his face, sending a spray of blood upward. The place is littered with bodies, and my men are exploring Pavel to my right.

“Where the fuck is she?”

“Who?” the man says, spitting blood.

“Erin. Where the fuck is she?”

The man doesn’t answer.

I nod to Pavel, who steps in to hold him as I punch him in the gut, then I punch him in the head. Pavel releases him and he crumbles. The moment he’s down, he starts laughing.

“The bitch is probably dead after she tried her little escape attempt. Elbowed the boss. Doesn’t take kindly to cunts that do that.”

I lift my leg and slam my foot down on his junk, hard. And then, as he screams, I shoot him in the head.

“The offices above are clear, but there’s a sub-basement,” Pavel murmurs.

The door. I race off toward it and take the stairs two at the time.

Fuck, there’s a whole corridor of doors. I start kicking them in, praying she’s okay. My men are behind me, but I don’t wait. Then I kick in once more.

“Erin!”

She’s fucking chained to a wall, sitting on a bed, battered and bruised and looking terrified.

“Oh my God, Erin.”

“Run, Demyan,” she rasps. “Run.”

Run? I’m not fucking running anywhere. I’m not leaving without her. Is?—

I’m halfway to her when I take her in. And as my gaze locks on her, I take in the state of her. What that sick bastard did. I catalogue the bruises and marks on her throat, like she’s been strangled.

It takes a second, maybe less, to do that.

But it feels like forever. Like time has stopped .

Niko is a dead man, breathing. And when I get him…

I take one more step when something, a flicker of a shadow, makes me whirl around.

Niko. He rushes me, face an ugly mask of hate, gun out, but I kick it from his hand, my rage taking me over.

He swings at me, and the blow glances off my shoulder as I turn to block him. He’s strong, yes, but he’s indulged in the good life a little too much, relied on his men a little too much to keep up with skills he should.

Skills like defending himself.

Not that it’d be a fair fight, even if he had.

I’m bigger, stronger, nastier, and angrier. I slam my fist into his face, then the other, and he reels back, somehow righting himself, and he comes at me again.

I’ve time to pull my weapon.

But I don’t.

I want him to feel pain. The depths of what he put me through.

So this time I deliver a hard uppercut, then I grab him around the neck and, holding him close, I deliver short, nasty punches to his balls, his liver and kidneys, his stomach.

Then, as I step back, I deliver a hard punch to his throat.

Not enough to break his hyoid, but enough to make him feel like he’s dying.

He tries to breathe, but I beat him senseless in earnest now. And I snarl and growl words with each punch. “You take my son. You take my woman. You put hands on her.”

He falls to his knees, face bloody, but I kick him hard in the belly. Then I send him to his back with a kick to his chin. He groans and I lay my boot in the fury, giving me strength, stealing all reason.

I want him dead. I want him to suffer. I want this fucking bastard’s brains splattered everywhere. I slam a foot down on his ribs, not even enjoying the snap of them. I kick him in the head, a cheekbone snapping. I stamp down on him with my heel, destroying his nose.

He flails feebly and I step on his arm and bring my other foot down in a hard stomp and crush his arm beneath my foot.

Niko’s a mess, a fucking mess. He’s wheezing with long pauses between each one, my own breath harsh and loud.

I kick the fuck a few more times. He lets out a horrible high-pitched sound, blood everywhere. But while I could keep him alive and in agony for fucking days, I’m not about to subject Erin to more of this.

I need to get her out of here.

He twitches.

Fuck him.

“You don’t deserve to even take another pain-filled breath, Niko.”

And then I pull out my gun and shoot the fucker in the head, killing him instantly.

Blood’s pounding through my ears, hot, wild, and there’s a sound, like a keening from the anger and adrenaline.

I drop and search the body for the key to free her.

When I find it, I turn and it’s her, not my anger, making that noise. Erin’s hysterical.

Fuck.

She’s going to think I’m a monster.

I am a monster.

But I free her, and she flings herself into my arms, sobbing. “I thought… I thought he’d kill you. A-a-and Sasha?” Her voice rises in pitch and hysteria. “My boy? Oh my God, my boy, is he…?”

“He’s okay, I promise, Erin, Lyubimaya, ” I say, holding her close, lifting her in my arms to take her away from the mess. “And I’m hard to kill. ”

That sets her off, into deep, heart-wrenching sobs, me telling her Sasha’s fine.

“Are you sure? I was so terrified,” Erin says between sobs.

“I got him back myself. He’s okay, he’s good. Unharmed. He misses you, but Alina’s watching him. The entire house is. He’s safe.”

Now.

But someone got in.

He’s dead and I’ve fixed the hole in security, but… fuck.

“And Ilya… he got shot. Because?—”

“He’s in surgery.”

“He’s alive?”

“Yes.”

She grabs my face. “I tried to get away b-because N-niko wanted you dead and I couldn’t…” She dissolves again.

I kiss her forehead. “Ah, Erin, I’m hard to kill, like I told you.”

I hold her tight, letting her trembles melt into mine, hoping like fuck she doesn’t notice.

With her face pressed deep in against my jacket, so she doesn’t see the carnage, I walk out of the room, away from the dead man who hurt her, who stole my son, and out of that cesspit of a place.

There’s going to be a feeding frenzy over his territories, over this, and right now, I don’t care.

I don’t care about anything other than getting her home.

Safe.