Page 104 of Twisted Pact

“Here.” One of the guards hands me a pair of binoculars. “You can watch from here, but don’t leave the vehicle.”

I take them and adjust the focus until Alexei comes into view. He’s wearing body armor and carrying a gun that he looks entirely too comfortable carrying. This version of him is different from the man who makes me borscht and reads French poetry.

This is the predator I’ve only glimpsed.

Dr. Orlov wraps the blood pressure cuff around my arm. “Try to stay calm.”

“I’m watching my boyfriend lead an assault on a criminal compound. Calm isn’t an option.”

He pumps the cuff and checks the reading. “One-thirty-five over ninety. Not great, but manageable. We’ll monitor every fifteen minutes.”

Through the binoculars, I watch Alexei signal to his team. They move with coordination toward different entry points without hesitation or wasted motion.

The first gunshot makes me flinch.

“That’s to be expected,” the guard assures me. “They’re breaching now.”

More shots follow. I can’t see inside the building, but my imagination supplies plenty of details. Alexei moving through corridors. Men dying. Papa hopefully still alive.

Minutes drag on like hours.

“One-forty over ninety-five,” Dr. Orlov announces after the second check. “We’re approaching dangerous levels.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine, but I understand why you need to be here.”

Movement at the warehouse entrance. Two men emerge carrying someone between them. I recognize Papa’s build even from this distance.

“They got him,” I breathe. “They got him out.”

Relief floods through me so suddenly that I have to grip the door handle for support. Papa is alive. The rescue worked.

But Alexei isn’t with the extraction team. He’s still inside somewhere.

“Where is he?” I ask the guard, leaning forward in my seat. “Where’s Alexei?”

“Probably coordinating cleanup. Standard procedure after?—”

Gunfire erupts from inside the building. Not suppressed this time. Full automatic weapons shredding the walls.

My heart stops, and my hand flies to cover my mouth.

The guard gets on his radio. “Status report. What’s happening inside?”

Static. Then Boris’s voice comes through. “Ambush. North corridor. We have men down.”

“Alexei?”

“Unknown. Lost visual when the shooting started.”

Dr. Orlov grabs my arm as I reach for the door handle. “You can’t go in there.”

“Like hell I can’t.”

“Mila, your blood pressure?—”

“I don’t care about my blood pressure. Alexei could be dying.”