I rushed to her and dropped to my knees, my hands trembling as I brushed her hair from her face.My chest cracked open at the sight of her swollen cheek and split lip.And it was all my fault.If I’d told her the truth, if I hadn’t kept her in the dark, none of this would have happened.She wouldn’t have tried to free herself from me.Wouldn’t have left.And these assholes would never have found her.
I pressed my fingers to her throat, exhaling a sigh of relief when I felt a pulse.I cradled her in my arms, touching a soft kiss to her forehead and breathing her in, relishing in the feel of her.
But there were more pressing matters.
Like the three dead bodies.
I pulled my phone from my pocket and hit Blake’s contact.
“What’s the status?”he answered on the first ring.
“I took care of our infestation problem,” I replied, looking around at the bodies.“But I may need a cleanup crew.”
“Already on it.”
“There are two inside and one out back.”
“I’ll let them know.”He dropped his voice.“How is she?”
I looked down at Ariana.“She’s unconscious but seems stable.”
“Do you know who was behind the hit on her?I looked into the company that owned the plane.It’s essentially a holding company.I’m still digging, but knowing how the Bratva operates, I won’t find much.”
“I figured as much,” I exhaled.“I just?—”
A shrill ringing cut through, and I tore my attention to the man I’d just killed.
“I’ll call you back,” I told Blake, then carefully set Ariana onto the floor before moving toward the body.I rummaged through his pockets and pulled out his phone, staring at the screen.
There was no name.Only a letter.
V.
I hit answer and lifted the cell up to my ear.I didn’t even have a chance to say anything before a voice came over the line.
“You were supposed to call me an hour ago.”His tone was sharp.Arrogant.
Familiar.
VictorfuckingKane.
The smug bastard’s voice was burned into my memory.
Ever since realizing the same man who tried to abduct Ariana was the same man walking on the beach in the background of Sarah’s last posted video, I knew there had to be a connection between the two events.And Victor was that connection.
Hearing his voice on the other end of the phone solidified the feeling in my gut that Victor was involved in both Sarah’s murder and Ariana’s attempted abduction.
But why?
Why would he hire someone to abduct his own wife?
“What the fuck is going on, Dmitri?”he continued.“Do you have my wife?Was she there?I paid you good money to take care of this so it didn’t come back on me, and you’re fucking everything up.We had an agreement, and you’re not sticking to your end of the bargain here.I essentially served her on a silver platter for your team.And it’s been one fuck-up after another.I need some good news, and I need it now.”
I didn’t respond right away.Just waited.
“Well?”he barked out, obviously impatient.“Are you going to say anything?I’m not paying you to fuck around.I’m paying you to get the job done.”
“I’m sorry,” I finally said.“Dmitri’s unavailable to come to the phone.But don’t worry.Your wife is safe with me.”I smiled, cold and lethal.“If I were you, I’d be more concerned about your own safety.”
