“My brothers will be there with me, and several of my men. I promise to return to you, Katya. Now that your mine, nothing will keep us apart.”
“I wish there was some other way. What if I reached out to my father? Maybe I could talk some sense into him.”
“No. I won’t have you putting yourself in danger. I know he is your father, but he will do whatever it takes to amass his power—even selling his daughter.”
Katya cringed at his words. He was right. Her father had already proven power was more important than family.
“Please come back to me, Matias. I cannot live with myself if something happens to you or your brothers on account of the mess I brought to your doorstep.”
Matias threw on his clothes and kissed her goodbye. Katya couldn’t shake the feeling that he was walking into a trap.
“Brother.”
Cristian greeted Matias at the warehouse along the water’s edge. They were meeting with their men to come up with a plan to infiltrate Jorge’s property with minimal casualties.
“Cristian. What can you tell me about the winery?”
“It’s one hundred acres of various grape varieties. There are only two ways on to the property. One road that leads to the main entrance, and the other is a service road at the back of the vineyard. Jorge has approximately thirty workers on staff. Besides the vineyard workers, there are now around fifteen armed guards placed in various locations. Each of them is equipped with an assault rifle.”
“And do we have the location of the captive?”
“From what one of his employees told us, Jorge is holding someone in the storage facility located to the left of the main building. The main building serves a dual purpose. It’s his residence and business office.”
“Alright, men.” Matias slipped his weapon into the holster under his arm. He strapped a leather holster to his leg and slipped the enormous blade that had been lying on the table into the sheath. “Our goal is to get in and get out with no one getting hurt. I want Jorge and whoever he has holed-up in the storage shed brought here. I’d prefer not to take any lives, but you know the saying—kill or be killed.”
The men piled into their vehicles and set off toward the massive vineyard. Matias and his brothers knew their lifestyle held a certain amount of danger, and although they preferred handling business with the least amount of killing possible, sometimes it was inevitable.
“Let’s try not to get killed, yeah?” Bastian joked.
“If it comes down to him or us…” Matias glanced at his siblings in the rearview mirror as he spoke. “You kill him. Do you understand?”
“Of course, Brother. Nothing is more important than family.”
“What about Dmitri?” Cristian chimed in from the backseat.
“He’s next on the list. We have to deal with this problem first. Dmitri will be another headache I’m not ready to deal with yet.”
“And Katya? What is her feeling on the issue with her father?”
“She has washed her hands of him. He tried to sell her to a monster to gain power. That is not forgivable.”
“He is still her father. For your sake, I hope you’re right.”
They pulled down the gravel drive that led them to the rear of the property. An employee who had been recruited to spy for them would wait for their arrival. Matias spotted the man waiting by the rear gate.
“Alright. We ready for this?”
“Let’s pay Jorge a visit.” Cristian pushed his door open and slipped out.
Matias slammed the door and walked toward the awaiting man. “Jose, what can you tell us?” Matias greeted the man.
“You can go in here. There are four guards closer to the building you need to go to.” The man pointed in the general direction of the storage building. “I looked today. There is a man tied up inside. He is not well. I’m afraid he will die if not freed. You should knock me out. If they learn it was me, my family will pay with their lives. I want it to look as though you overpowered me, please.”
Bastian nodded towards Matias before striking him in the back of the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him to the ground. Matias bent down to check him, ensuring he was unconscious. “Gio, drag him over there and prop him against the fence.” Matias pointed to the fence surrounding the property. Once he was secured out of the way, the group of men eased through the gate and made their way to the opening.
Pedro was the first to make a move on a guard. The armed man spotted him and took aim, forcing Pedro to fire his weapon. The man fell to the ground in a crumpled heap, but not without drawing attention to them. Their once quiet approach had been busted wide open with a single shot.
“Looks like it’s about to get bloody,” Bastian joked as they drew their guns, readying themselves for a fight.
