Page 27

It took far too long for me to realize that I hadn’t seen her for a while.

I had been too busy talking with Yuri to notice, and the moment I couldn’t spot her in the crowd, panic clutched my heart and threatened to crush it.

The more I thought about it, the more it felt like hours had passed since I let Andrey speak with her.

If I hadn’t been distracted, then I would have been able to pinpoint where she went or when exactly she slipped out of my sight.

But it was too late.

The longer I didn’t see her, the bigger the fear grew within me.

The energy and excitement surrounding the showcase dissolved at once as I moved through the crowd, looking around frantically for any sign of her.

I blocked out every face that didn’t resemble her, wondering if she had stepped away for a break from it all. I checked the surrounding halls and even walked the perimeter, but by the time I stepped back inside, I could feel myself starting to lose it.

“Val?” Yuri asked, dragging me out of my shaky stupor. His concern hit me at once when he approached. “What’s going on?”

“I can’t find her…”

“What?”

“Tia,” I said a bit sharper, feeling rigid from the panic. “I can’t find her. I looked all over, but I don’t know where she is. I can’t find Andrey, either.”

Immediately, the weight of that implication seemed to register, and Yuri’s features reflected how serious the situation seemed. “You don’t think he…”

“I don’t know, I can’t rule it out,” I returned, feeling furious at the thought of him harming her in any way. But at the same time, I knew he wasn’t the only one I had to worry about. “For now, I need to know where they went. Fast.”

“What about Lukyan Levov? He could do something with the cameras, right?”

At the realization, I was pulling out my phone before the thought could fully register. I mumbled while I searched for Lukyan’s contact, “Go get the others…as soon as I know where we’re going, we’re heading out.”

Not wasting a moment, Yuri nodded before disappearing back into the main room, leaving me to numbly bring the phone up to my ear while it rang.

Before long, I caught Luk’s voice from the other end. “Val? What can I do for you?”

“I need the security footage of this place from the last hour…can you trace my cell?”

“Of course,” he said without hesitation, and after a moment of typing, he hummed. “Got it…what am I looking for?”

“Tia—my wife,” I said, struggling to keep it together at the realization of what was happening, of the situation unfolding despite how hard I tried to keep her safe. “Possibly with her dad…I need to know where they went.”

Despite not digging into why, I could tell he already had a feeling, as his tone became more somber. “Just give me a minute here…I’m going through it now.”

It felt nearly impossible to wait or stay calm, not when I had no idea where she was or what happened to her…if it was a misunderstanding or if she was in trouble. Either way, I just needed to know she was alright.

Then, Lukyan’s next words made my stomach drop. “It looks like neither of them left of their own accord. I’m sending it to you now.”

My skin felt more like a coat of ice then, and by the time my shaky hand pulled the phone away, there was a notification at the top of my screen. As I clicked on it and let the clip play, Yuri and the others filed in around me.

I let Luk hang on the line while I watched my biggest nightmare unfold right in front of my eyes.

Andrey and Tia were talking before a group of men, all with their hoods up to cover their faces, stormed in, grabbing both of them. She tried her best to fight from what I could tell, but it wasn’t enough to prevent it from happening. In the blink of an eye, they were gone, whisked back out the way they came.

A moment of horrified silence lingered over the group of us, and I couldn’t find the words to say.

She had been taken…both her and Andrey. Right beneath our noses.

Despite wanting nothing more than to protect her from my world, I managed to get her ensnared in the worst way possible.

I couldn’t imagine how she was feeling, how terrified she must’ve been.

“Jesus Christ,” Alex muttered under his breath before running a hand over his mouth. “Where did they go?”

“I checked the external cameras, and it looks like they went south. Based on the direction, I’d guess they’re heading towards the smaller airport twenty minutes that way. Quite a few families keep their jets there,” Lukyan replied from the other end. “If you’re fast enough, you might reach them before they leave.”

The airport.

It all hit me at once and nearly took my feet out from beneath me.

If Francesco felt wronged by Andrey accepting the deal with me, wanting Tia for Tommaso, then it only made sense for them to try and flee with her. To get what they wanted all along.

My ears were nearly ringing then, and a sense of urgency flared within me.

After briefly thanking Luk and hanging up, I glanced between my brothers. “We need to go. Now.”

“What about the showcase?” Yuri asked, well aware there were plenty of people still perusing the place.

“Don’t worry about that,” Alex interjected, giving me a serious look. “We’ll get the girls to stick around and make sure nobody notices anything. The rest of us need to head out. I’ll get our units out.”

Despite how numb I felt, I found myself nodding.

I needed to keep it together, even if it felt like there was a painful amount of pent-up energy inside me that needed to be released in some way. My whole body was thrumming.

Alex put a supportive hand on my shoulder to keep me grounded. “Go, Val…we’re right behind you.”

Hearing that shook me out of my temporary daze, and knowing I couldn’t waste another moment, I was moving.

We all broke off, leaving the building behind while we piled into our vehicles and pulled out while various calls were made and everyone was made aware of the situation.

It likely wasn’t the best idea for me to be behind the wheel while my nerves were shot from needing to find Tia, but I knew sitting as a passenger would’ve felt like torture.

Instead, I remained tense all the while, following the trail Lukyan believed they had taken. I already knew what hangar he was talking about, given how we had one of our own there, and the private nature of the airport was ideal for someone in our line of work.

The entire time I drove, I could only silently pray that they hadn’t made it far enough to take off yet. Hoping to myself that we weren’t too late.

If they somehow got away…if they managed to flee the country with my wife in their grasp, I would never forgive myself.

There was too much for me to lose, and the mere idea of anything happening to Tia or the baby was enough to throw me into a frenzy.

The drive was a blur, yet it still felt like I couldn’t move fast enough, even while pulling up to the small airport with the others in tow, impatience threatening to make me trip over myself.

But soon enough, we found them.

The tarmac was littered with Gallo men when ours pulled up, immediately surrounding them.

With my pistol in hand, I moved with my brothers while flanked by a group of guards, taking cover when necessary while shots rang out.

Ducking behind a median as pure chaos broke out, I looked around the cement block to see the jet waiting there while Francesco was covered by Tommaso, who was firing at our forces as they rolled in to put the pressure on. It was clear they hadn’t anticipated the quick retaliation.

But just ahead of them, I could see her there—Tia, with her arms bound behind her back, was on her stomach to stay as low as possible while Andrey did the same beside her.

My blood went cold at the sight, kickstarting my determination. Anxious energy rippled within me, and I knew I had to get to her. I couldn’t wait…I couldn’t risk it.

The shoot-out was fast but violent, dropping quite a few on both sides, but it was clear the Gallo force wasn’t as big in numbers as it should’ve been to stand up to us. In fact, it seemed they didn’t have nearly enough of them ready while executing their plan.

Before long, able to see their dwindling numbers, Francesco reached forward in a brave move and grabbed Tia by the hair, yanking her up into a sitting position while he pulled out his gun and aimed it right at her.

I froze at once, able to hear his voice carrying through the last rounds of gunfire, “Shoot us and you shoot her, too!”

Panic coursed through me, and I stepped out, putting a hand up to make the others stop.

“Hold—stand down!” I yelled, able to feel as my brothers followed, approaching the scene head-on.

At once, our men stopped, keeping their positions with their guns raised despite not shooting.

With the Gallo forces being overwhelmed, few of them seemed to be left, while the others were scattered around the tarmac, bleeding out.

Even with that being the case, Francesco had Tia…and with her in his grasp, the tide was in his favor.

At the same time, Tommaso aimed at Andrey, panting while he took in the situation around him. It seemed he understood the upper hand they had immediately.

“That’s enough,” Francesco said, looking vaguely shaken up by the ordeal, but mostly angry about us intercepting them at the last moment. He straightened his back, shaking off the shock of it all.

Everyone on the tarmac seemed to go incredibly still, and a heavy silence filled the space.

As much as we had the numbers on them, Francesco had the one person I needed to make it out of there alive. If I had our men surge forward, then I had no doubt he planned on taking Tia down with them.

I hated to admit it, but I was at their mercy.

It made me furious, especially with how he was handling her, but I had to hold back. I had to contain that rage of mine and think it through for her sake.

Even if it was partially my fault for getting her in that position, I couldn’t dwell on it. Not when my entire focus needed to be on getting her out of there.