Page 25

The plan went to shit the moment it began. We thought they’d take her when she walked out, but I clocked her at the window paying the bill, then lost her to the back of the restaurant. We had Luka at the back alley, but they blew past him, and for the longest minute of my life, we lost sight of her. Tracking on her phone showed her still at the restaurant, so obviously, those bastards had thrown her phone in the parking lot when they’d grabbed her.

We trailed them to their hideout, a warehouse in the middle of nowhere. Watching them drag her into the house and not being able to do a goddamn thing had me ripping my hair out. Now, we’re in deeper shit for waiting.

“I told you we should’ve gone straight in,” I hiss at Viktor.

He insisted we wait and assess the situation before charging in, just in case the place was set up for an ambush. Tucked against the side of the building, we had front-row seats to another group driving up. Four men climbed out and walked into that warehouse with Ella. The surveillance we managed showed eight total inside now. Against three.

“And been in the middle of a firefight when these guys showed up? Yeah, that would’ve gone well. This way, we at least know what we’re walking into.”

“Were those fucking Abashins?” I clocked one of the men from a dossier on the family.

“Looked like it,” Viktor says with a nod, before glancing at his phone. “We’ve got back-up coming. Shevchenko's in the area. Just hold for another five, and they’ll be here.”

There’s no way I’m sitting here for another five minutes doing nothing while Ella is in there, in danger. Anything could happen in that much time.

“Bullshit, Viktor, that wasn’t the plan.” And I’m done with chatter.

I stay low and slink around the front of the house, drawing the pistol I’ve got strapped to my hip. There’s another on a shoulder holster, and a knife strapped to my other hip for when distance closes.

Viktor curses behind me, but I block him out, focusing on whatever stands between Ella and me. Fear roils through me, and my heart races with a feeling I’ve only felt once before: that day in the hotel with Ella, when something more important than life itself was at risk.

Best guess is that the first room inside is where they took Ella, since the other windowed rooms were empty, and I’m praying that’s true because the seconds it takes me to find her could cost me everything.

I kick the door open and hit the man standing guard in the entrance with full force. He staggers backward, and I’m on him before he ever recovers, driving my knife into his throat. He’s dead before he hits the ground, and I’m past him, barreling down the hallway to the first doorway I see.

Luka and Viktor shout behind me, but I ignore them as I knock the door open with my shoulder. It unlocks and swings open more easily than expected, my momentum carrying me deeper into the room. That’s what I want, because there’s Ella in the corner.

Two men turn, surprised. One goes down with two gunshots in his chest before he has a chance to react, and the other draws his own gun, but I don’t give a fuck, because it’s pointed at me and not Ella. He’s frightened and wastes time with a shout, jerks his gun because he’s tense when he shoots, and the shot goes wide, hitting the wall behind me. My shot doesn’t miss. The first takes him in the face, and the second in his stomach. He’s down.

“Behind!” Luka shouts from the doorway.

He and Viktor are back-to-back. I run to Ella and check her for injuries as I slice the ropes binding her wrists.

“Stay here,” I tell her when I find none.

I glance out the hallway between Luka and Viktor and see two bodies on the floor—men they took down on their way in. No injuries on our side, but they’re down to three. Even odds, but I know where I’d place my bets.

“So much for your Shevchenkos,” I say to Luka.

A man peeks around the corner down the hall, and two shots follow: one whizzes by us and hits the front door, while the other, Viktor’s, takes the man out. Footsteps pound somewhere in the back of the house, and a door slams.

“Shit, they’re running,” says Viktor, taking off after them.

I’m not leaving Ella. “Go with him,” I tell Luka. “I’ll bring her out when it’s safe.”

He takes off after Viktor, and I spin back to Ella. She’s on her feet, flushed, and I sweep her into a hug. God, I’ll never get enough of having this woman in my arms. And those bastards who touched her? I’d have ripped their arms off if I’d had more time to play.

She leans into my chest. “I’m okay, I’m okay. Are you?”

I drew back just to kiss her. “Better now.”

Something moves behind me. I turn, keeping Ella behind me, and kick a pistol that’s aimed at my face from the man’s hand before he can fire. Idiot never should’ve gotten that close, but that’s his loss.

I follow my kick with a punch to his face and send him reeling backward, clutching his jaw. Drawing my blade costs me a moment and he’s back, charging me, as I bring it up. He’s quick. I can’t sidestep and risk him getting to Ella, so I brace and take the charge, grunting at the impact but bringing my knife up into his side in three quick jabs.

He screams and rips away, clutching a hand to the gaping wounds, but I’m not done. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I register Ella’s gasp as I lay into the man, slicing his face and neck and stomach, everything I can reach, until ribbons of blood coat his body and he goes down hard.

I wipe the blade on my pants and check the hallway. Clear, for now. Shit, I’m covered in gore, and maybe that attack was a little much. Ella’s going to be fucking terrified of me.

It’s a hopeless case, but I wipe at some of the blood on my front before turning back to her, succeeding only in smearing it more. Warm arms wrap me from behind, and the sweet vanilla scent of her overpowers even the iron tang of blood.

“You saved me,” she murmurs into my back.

She’s not running? My heart starts to beat again. I palm my knife and grab hold of her with my other hand, kissing her longer and deeper than I should, given the locale, but she tastes like heaven. Only the sound of boots in the hall makes me stop.

“It’s us, Anton!” Luka calls.

“Let’s get out of here.” I grab her hand, and we step out into the hall. My head’s still on a swivel because I’m not taking a single chance.

Luka and Viktor stand with a handful of Shevchenkos, none looking worse for wear, though a few blood spatters tell me there was more action than just what I saw.

“Car?” I ask. I don’t give a damn if it’s curt, and I should be thanking them for helping out, I just want to get Ella out of here. Alliances can wait.

“Out front,” Viktor says. “Take it. We’ll clean up here and meet later.”

I take the keys and lead Ella past the men, out into the car. Once she’s buckled into the passenger seat beside me, I finally feel the fear start to fade. She’s safe. She’s here. She’s mine.

“You’re so fucking brave,” I tell her, starting a circuitous route to our new hotel for the night, checking the rearview constantly in case we’re being followed. All clear. “Have I told you that? Brilliant and brave.”

“And you’re…” she trails off, and my heart skips a beat. Did I completely freak her out again? Is she going to run? “Incredible.”

“Incredible?” I glance at her from the corner of my eye and find her eyes already on me.

She wraps her hand around my arm and sets mine in her lap. The touch quiets my fears.

“In every way—you saved me. There were so many of them, and I was terrified they would hurt you, but you were simply unstoppable.”

“I told you I’d save you. Wherever you are, Ella, whatever the situation. I’ll always come for you. There’s nowhere they could take you that I wouldn’t find you.”

When I look at her again, her eyes shine with tears, and her brown eyes are so big. “I know.”