Page 67 of Twisted Fate

KONSTANTIN

T he moment they took her, something inside of me snapped.

I fought like a man possessed, breaking the nose of one of Kane’s men, the neck of another, shooting several more. But there were too many of them, and by the time I managed to break free, Valentina was gone.

The minute I made it back to the car, my knuckles raw and blood streaming from my nose and mouth, I called Yuri. The only thing I needed was to know where she’d been taken.

Now, several hours later, I have that information.

Kane has a fortress on a private island, his own personal retreat, a compound where no one goes without his permission. Except I’m going to fucking go there, and I’m going to get the woman I love back.

"I need everything you have on the island," I tell Yuri, pacing in the living room of my penthouse. "Layout, security protocols, patrol schedules. Everything."

"Already working on it," he says, and I hear the rapid clicking of keys in the background. "But Konstantin—" He hesitates, which is unlike him. Yuri never hesitates. "It's a trap. You know that, right? They took her to draw you in."

"I know." My jaw tightens. "Doesn't change anything."

Another pause. "You're really going after her."

It's not a question, but I answer anyway. "Yes."

He says nothing. I’ve known Yuri for a long time. He works for me, but he’s also something of a friend. I can practically hear the smile on his face—deep down, Yuri is a romantic. A rare thing, in a world like ours.

I end the call and head down to the garage, driving straight to the warehouse where my father keeps excess equipment and weapons. The guard at the entrance takes one look at my face and steps aside without a word.

Inside, I find Damian, his enforcer, inspecting a shipment of weapons. He looks up as I approach, his face registering surprise at my appearance.

“Konstantin. I wasn’t expecting you.”

"I need a team," I say without preamble. "Five men, combat-experienced, ready to move in three hours. And that." I point to a crate of assault rifles.

Damian raises an eyebrow. “Does your father?—”

“This is my problem. And I’ll take care of it.

” I emphasize I’ll . “Don’t say a word.” I pause, seeing the skepticism on Damian’s face.

He’s served my father for a long time, and he’s loyal.

“It has to do with my wife. I don’t want interference.

My father won’t be alive for much longer, Damian.

I know you’ve served him well. I could use a man like you as my right hand. ”

Damian hesitates a moment longer. “Your wife.”

“I can’t wait to assess the situation. To get his permission for how I want to handle it. You understand?” My jaw tightens. I’ll go through Damian if I have to, and I can see that he knows it.

“Fine.” He steps back. “But if you’re gone too long, I’ll have to tell him. Send backup?—”

“I won’t be.” I look at the crate, glance around the room for anything else that I might want to utilize. “Get me the men.”

The ring of authority in my voice is one I rarely use. Damian recognizes it and nods. “On it,” he says, stepping aside as he pulls out his phone to make the necessary calls.

I leave him to it, heading to a small office at the back of the warehouse.

Inside, I find what I need—satellite maps of the Caribbean, focused on the cluster of small private islands where Kane's fortress is rumored to be located.

My phone pings with a message from Yuri: coordinates, security details, patrol schedules.

Attached is a rough layout of the main compound, cobbled together from satellite imagery and rumors.

It's not much, but it's a start.

I spend the next two hours planning the assault while I wait for the men to arrive, focused on every detail that I can think of with a cold clarity. Every contingency, every possible outcome, every angle of approach—I try to consider them all.

Except failure. I don't allow myself to consider failure.

By the time Damian appears in the doorway, I have a plan. Not a good one—the odds are still heavily against us—but the best I can manage with limited time and resources.

"The team is ready," he says. "And the helicopter, and boat."

The helicopter will take us as far out as we can without alerting the island—a faster way to get there than any boat could.

Then, each of us will drop down to a waiting speedboat, which will circle around the back of the island where it’s less heavily patrolled.

We have to time it exactly right, or else the sound will alert a guard.

"Good," I say, strapping on my weapons and shoving additional ammo into my pockets. "Let's move."

Damian nods, and together we head out to meet the team he's assembled.

Five men, as requested, all men that I recognize.

All ex-military, all experienced, all willing to kill without a second thought, all loyal.

None of them will talk about what happened tonight.

All of them are heavily armed, in black tactical gear that will keep us shrouded as we move through the darkness.

"This isn't a sanctioned operation," I tell them bluntly, stopping in front of them.

"My father hasn't approved it. If any of you want to walk away, now's the time.

" I let my gaze move from face to face. "No repercussions. No questions asked. But Nicholas Kane has my wife, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to waste even another minute getting permission and discussing how to approach this.

I make the calls, I make the decisions. We go now, or not at all. "

No one moves. No one speaks. They simply wait for my orders.

I nod, acknowledging their loyalty. I make a point of noting each of them—in the future, when this Bratva belongs to me, I’ll remember this… if we survive the night.

"We're going to get her back,” I continue. “The island is heavily guarded. It won't be easy."

"Nothing worth doing ever is, boss," one of the men—Alexei—says with a grim smile.

“Good.” I give them the details then—the plan of attack and the extraction route. They listen intently, a few of the men—including Alexei—offering a few suggestions based on their experience. By the time we finish, the plan is better than what I started with, though still dangerous as hell.

We move out, heading for the helicopter. My throat is tight with dread, my heart beating hard in my chest. This isn’t like any other mission that I’ve gone on. This is life or death for Valentina. My own life I can risk, but hers…

She means more to me than I ever thought she could. And if I can’t get her back, the life ahead of me suddenly seems bleak—colorless, and meaningless.

I should have told her how I felt. I should have said something to her, while we were locked away in that safe house. Now, I’m worried I might never get the chance.

I check my watch compulsively, calculating and recalculating our estimated arrival. We should reach the drop-off point shortly, then switch to the boat, where we’ll have to evade the other patrol boats and get to the back of the island during a guard change.

When the helicopter reaches the drop point, we each slide down the rope to the boat, dropping almost soundlessly into it. The engine seems painfully loud, but I trust that our plans will hold—that we’ve timed it all correctly, that we won’t run into trouble. That my calculations were right.

Every cell in me is tuned to one purpose, to one goal: find Valentina. Get her out. Make Kane pay.

Make sure that she is the one who makes him pay. I’m not sure if she’ll ever forgive me if I kill him instead of her.

We kill the engine as we see passing patrol boats, staying out of range of their lights. When they pass, we continue on, reaching the edge of the island just as I see the sky starting to take on that particular shade just before it starts to grey into dawn.

We need to move quickly. I see Kane’s fortress in the distance, glimmering in the darkness like a jewel in the middle of a paradise.

We cut the engines half a mile out, drifting on the current as we prepare for the underwater approach.

Diving gear is distributed, weapons are sealed in waterproof bags, communication devices checked and double-checked.

"Remember," I tell the team as we prepare to go over the side, "the primary objective is Valentina. If I can’t get to her, get her out, get to the rendezvous point. Do not take out Kane. He’s my target or hers. Incapacitate if need be, but do not kill him."

They nod, faces grim and determined behind dive masks. One by one, they slip into the water, silent as they dip beneath the water. I go last, taking one last look at the fortress. Somewhere in there, Valentina is waiting for me. I’ll get her back, no matter what it takes.

I have to tell her the truth.

I have to tell her that I love her.

The underwater approach takes longer than anticipated.

There’s a strong current working against us, and I can see the sky starting to grey as we surface, the window of darkness passing us by rapidly.

We emerge from the water onto a narrow strip of beach, with the cliff face that leads to the fortress above us.

I chose this spot for a reason—it’s not well guarded, as you’d have to be an idiot to try to scale it.

An idiot—or in love with the woman held in the building just beyond.

We shed the dive gear, retrieve our weapons, and begin the ascent.

The rock is warm under my hands, still heated by the sun even throughout the night.

Sweat soon soaks through my tactical gear, but I push on, focused only on how far we’ve come and how far we have left to go.

Every foot gained is a foot closer to Valentina.

Near the top, Alexei, who's leading the climb, signals a halt. He's spotted something above us—a guard, judging by his hand signals. We freeze in place, pressed against the cliff face, barely breathing.