But I don’t feel safe. I feel like my entire world just shattered into pieces.
32
LEDGER
The penthouse issilent when we arrive.
I guide Savannah inside, my hand never leaving her back. She’s stopped shaking, but her face is white, her eyes distant. Shock settling in.
“Sit,” I tell her, steering her toward the couch.
She sits. There’s blood on her sleeve, and she keeps looking at it like she can’t figure out how it got there.
“I need to make some calls,” I say. “Don’t move. Don’t go anywhere.”
She nods but doesn’t look at me.
I walk to my office and close the door. Pull out my phone and dial Silas. “Status?”
“Three Kozlov men down. Two dead, one critical. Police are swarming the scene. We got our people out before they arrived.” His voice is clipped, efficient. “Mason Porter took a bullet to the back. Paramedics got him out alive, but it’s bad. They’re taking him to Sunrise Hospital.”
“And the restaurant?”
“Chaos. At least fifteen witnesses, probably more. News vans are already arriving. This is going to be everywhere by tonight.”
“Savannah’s identity?”
“Clean. None of our men mentioned her name. As far as the police know, she was just a civilian caught in cross fire. We’ll keep it that way.”
“Good. What about the Kozlov man who survived?”
“In surgery. If he makes it, he’ll be in custody. But he won’t talk. These guys never do.”
I lean against my desk. “They came for her in broad daylight. In a crowded restaurant. They don’t care about exposure anymore.”
“No. This was a message. They wanted you to know they can get to her whenever they want.”
“They failed.”
“So what’s the play?”
I look at the door to the living room. Savannah is on the other side, covered in blood, traumatized because she tried to handle Mason herself.
“Maximum security. No one gets near her without going through our entire team. I want men on every entrance to this building. Cameras on every floor. If someone so much as looks at this penthouse wrong, I want to know about it.”
“Done. What else?”
“Reach out to the Volkov families in Chicago and Vegas. Tell them what happened. Tell them the Kozlovs are escalating and we need a united front.”
“You’re calling in the alliance.”
“I’m calling in everyone I have. Dmitri Kozlov tried to kidnap my pregnant wife in public. That can’t stand. The other families need to know if they let this slide, they’re next.”
“I’ll make the calls. Anything else?”
“Start moving assets. Offshore accounts, property deeds, anything liquid. If this goes bad, I need to be able to disappear with my family.”
Silas is quiet for a moment. “You really think it’ll come to that?”
