“I’m not sure. I’ll get my guys to locate him.”
“You don’t even know where he lives, but you were going to sell your sister to him for some status points?”
“Shut the fuck up, Yulian. You’re no saint.”
I shake my head, turning my back on him. I don’t need this. This is a waste of time.
“I’ll find her on my own,” I snap, walking towards the elevator.
“Not a chance. I’m coming with you. That’s my sister we’re talking about.”
“Oh, now you care about her?” I huff as the elevator doors close, trapping us together in the small tin box.
All the way down, we bicker. And as we climb into my car, we’re still bickering.
Artur slams his door closed and demands, “Go west, there are some estates there. I think he lives there.”
“On a whim? You think? I don’t work like that. I want something more concrete. This is her life we’re talking about.”
“Mikhail isn’t going to hurt her. He wants an alliance,” Artur says defensively.
“You’d betyourlife on that?” I ask coldly.
Artur swallows hard. I can see the color drain from his face. I guess that answers my question.
With little other choice for the time being, I head west towards the estates, and Artur gets on his phone to try andcontact people he knows to get information. He’s in that crowd. One of them has to know something. If I start calling around asking my enemies for information, I’ll get nowhere. Begrudgingly, I have to admit that right now, I need this asshole.
We’ve been driving for fifteen minutes. Artur got an address for Mikhail, and we’re headed there, but my phone chimes, and when I read the message, I slam on the brakes.
“What are you doing?” Artur shouts angrily.
“Someone just used Katerina’s code to enter my mansion. She’s the only one who has that code.”
“So, she’s gone back there? I don’t get it.”
“Neither do I,” I mutter, pulling up the security feed, my heart racing, my palms clammy with sweat.
Artur leans over, and I practically growl with impatience from having to deal with him.
“That’s Mikhail with her. What the fuck is she doing?” he mutters, watching the video of Katerina leading Mikhail into the mansion.
“She’s a smart girl, Artur. She’s got a plan. All we have to do is get there in time to save her before Mikhail catches on and makes her leave.”
“Well, fucking drive, then,” Artur snarls, pulling his Glock from his belt and checking the clip before putting it away again.
Chapter 24 - Katerina
My heart is pounding so heavily in my chest that it feels as though my ribs might snap from the force of it.
Mikhail drives through the security gates of Yulian’s mansion, but there are no guards anywhere. The place looks abandoned.
This is bad. But maybe it’s not. Maybe I can make this work better.
If the guards were here, the pretense would have been up already. Mikhail would have escaped with me in custody.
Mikhail stares through the front window of his car, up at the mansion.
“No security?” he asks.
