Page 52

CHAPTER 52

CILLIAN

She’s here. I know she is. I can feel it in my bones. The overwhelming need to find her, to touch her, to tell her how sorry I am for not being there to stop this, consumes me.

This is my fault. I will never forgive myself for letting her down again.

A bullet zips past my head, snapping me back into the fight. I force my focus onto the only thing that matters now: killing every last bastard tied to her father. There are dozens of them, but we have more.

I fire one clean shot straight between an enemy’s eyes. He drops instantly.

“Behind you!” I shout to Konstantin.

He whirls, kicking a man in the chest before putting a bullet through his skull. Blood splatters, and the body crumples.

“Where are you, Leo?” Konstantin bellows, his voice cutting through the chaos. “Face me like a man! I cannot wait to rip you apart with my bare hands and feed you to my pigs!”

“He’s here somewhere!” Aleksei calls, stomping a man’s face into the ground before firing two more rounds into his chest for good measure.

I keep moving, cutting through bodies like they’re nothing. I don’t know how many men we’ve lost. Not yet. This is war, and casualties are inevitable. But if she’s one of them…

No.

I’d trade my life for hers if it came to that. I just need to get to her first.

I grab one of her father’s men, slamming him against the wall and pressing my gun hard into his temple. “Where is she?”

He spits blood, muttering a curse, then swings at me.

Wrong move. I pull the trigger and kill him instantly before moving on to the next. This one, I kick in the stomach, sending him to his knees.

I don’t give him time to recover before I press my gun to his forehead. “Where the fuck is Dinara?”

The bastard lifts his hands, shaking. Before he can answer, a gunshot rings out behind me.

I pivot, my Glock raised, only to find Tynan standing over another lifeless body.

“Watch your damn back,” he grunts before moving on.

I return my focus to the cowering man at my feet. “You have three seconds.”

“Upstairs! Please, man!”

I nod. Then I put a bullet in his head.

As I reach the stairwell, something slams into my shoulder, fire tearing through my flesh. I stagger, but keep going, one mission on my mind.

Get her and her siblings out.

Pain rips through my arm as I reach the top, blood soaking through my shirt. I ignore it.

Then I hear her.

“It’s okay. They’ll be here. Don’t worry.”

Relief crashes over me. She’s alive. My baby’s alive.

I take a few quiet steps forward, peering inside. The second she sees me, her eyes widen. Just for a moment.

Her face, though…it’s badly bruised.

Rage explodes inside me. Someone hurt her. And they’re going to pay. Slowly and painfully.

Gregory sits slumped in the corner, while Tatiana is tied up on the floor.

That sick bastard really did this to his own kids. If Konstantin hasn’t already ripped him apart, I’ll do it myself.

Scanning the room, I spot a lone guard watching them, his back turned. I meet Dinara’s gaze and press a finger to my lips.

The second he moves away from her, I fire. A single shot to the back of the head.

He drops instantly.

“Cillian!” she cries as I rush to her, cupping her face in my hands.

“Fuck, baby. I’m so happy to see you.”

I kiss her, pressing my lips to her forehead, then pull out the flip knife attached to my keychain.

“Who hurt you?” My hands are steady, but my fury is a storm inside me.

“Don’t worry about me,” she says, but her expression shifts when she sees my arm. “You’re shot!”

“Tell me who hurt you.” My jaw clenches, muscles burning with the need for vengeance.

“My father. Roman. Take your pick.” She tries to laugh, but winces, her pain twisting like a knife in my gut.

“Where does it hurt?”

She silently gestures to her stomach. As I lift her shirt just enough to see, a sharp, searing rage claws its way through me, tightening my chest and setting my pulse hammering. Deep, ugly bruises stain her flesh, a stark contrast against her pale skin. My jaw locks so tightly, it feels like my teeth might crack.

“It’s okay,” she says quickly. “I’m okay.”

But it’s not.

Gunfire rages beneath us. We can’t leave yet, and that fucking kills me. She could have internal injuries. I need to get her out now.

“Are you two okay?” I glance at Gregory and Tatiana, having forgotten they were here for a minute.

Gregory nods weakly from where he sits, knees curled to his chest. Tatiana’s eyes are filled with fear.

“When can we go?” Gregory asks in a shaky voice while I massage Dinara’s wrists.

“We have to wait until your father’s men are gone.”

He nods, arms tightening around his knees.

I stand to free Tatiana, but before I can reach her, Dinara suddenly screams.

“Gregory!”

Everything happens in a flash.

One second, I’m kneeling beside Tatiana.

The next, I’m charging toward the door.

Roman is there, gun raised.

The shot fires.

I throw myself in front of Gregory without thinking.

Pain tears through my side, burning deep, but I don’t stop. I raise my gun and fire.

Roman jerks back, collapsing onto the floor.

I fire again. And again. And again as I get closer. I want him to suffer. I want him to feel the agony she’s felt.

But the sound of her cries rips through me, stopping me cold. “Gregory! No!”

I turn.

He’s on the ground. Blood pooling.

And I know…

I was too late.

* * *

DINARA

I can’t let him go. I won’t.

Clinging desperately to my little brother’s lifeless body, I hold him as tightly as I can, as if I can somehow will him back to me. His blood seeps through my shirt, soaking into my skin, but I don’t care. My mind refuses to accept the brutal truth.

He’s gone. This is how his story ends.

How is that fair? He was only ten.

“Dinara.” Konstantin’s voice cuts through the thick silence, and that’s when I realize they’re all here: my cousins, the Quinns.

The gunfire has stopped. The battle is over. While all I can hear is the pounding in my head, my own ragged sobs, and Tatiana’s broken cries beside me.

“We have to get you and Tatiana out of here,” he says gently.

“No.” I shake my head, fresh tears spilling down my cheeks. “I can’t leave him. I can’t leave him here.”

Cillian stands beside Konstantin, grief etched into his face. He reaches for me, a comforting palm on my shoulder, but it does nothing to soothe this agony.

“He won’t be left behind,” Konstantin promises. “We’ll take him with us. We’ll give him a proper burial.”

My chest caves in on itself as a sob tears through me.

“I hate them,” I choke out, my words raw with pain.

Konstantin’s expression darkens, his jaw tightening. “I have your father. Believe me, he’ll pay for this. I’ll make sure of it before I end his miserable life.”

It should bring me some relief. Some satisfaction. But it doesn’t. Because no matter what he does to my father, nothing will change the fact that I’ve lost my brother.

That he’s never coming back.