The door burst open and a man came running toward us, a gun in his hand. I spun and put Asa behind me just as a bullet hit the steel steps. Asa yelled in shock as I reached into a cabinet near the bottom of the stairs and ripped open the drawer, yanking out my Glock. I had guns stashed everywhere around this place.
Aiming the gun, I took a shot and it landed dead center in the man’s forehead, making him fall backward to the floor. Dead. Another man came rushing in, but one of my soldiers followed him and shot him from behind.
Asa buried his face against my back, shaking, and I held on to him with my free arm.
The soldier—a man whose name I didn’t remember, but he had a scar over his right eye and deep red hair—came rushing over to us. “Sir, we need to go now. We’ve dealt with all of them, but it’s possible more are coming.”
No one had ever had the balls to attack me in my Manhattan home.No one. Anger raged within me like an erupting volcano, and I pushed Asa toward the soldier. “Take him to my Hampton home immediately. Keep him safe. I’ll be there soon.”
“No.” Asa struggled against the soldier, but the man grabbed him tightly and held him. “I want to go with you. Ruslan, what’s happening?”
I shook my head because I could only focus on one thing at a time, and Asa would distract me. It was too late now, and I had to be the man I’d kept hidden, the monster. So, I didn’t speak, merely waved my hand at the soldier who dragged a screaming Asa from the penthouse. The elevator doors closed. It was torture to wait for the damned elevator to go to the ground floor, then come back, and I rushed inside the second the doors slid open again.
As soon as I made it downstairs, I noticed Cadence, beaten and bloody and curled up against the wall as he cried. The foyer was a mess, furniture upturned and bodies scattered. Empty shell casings littered the dirty floor and the sounds of sirens told me the cops were on their way. I had to beat them and get out. The men who owned this building had an agreement with me, and as far as they were concerned, the penthouse was for display only, not owned. The cops wouldn’t believe them, of course, and they would try to dig up evidence of someone owning it, but they would find nothing. I’d made sure of it. Anything else that belonged to me, including my clothes and weapons, would disappear before they even got up there.
Ana met me at the entrance, face tight as we rushed toward a waiting black sedan. As soon as we were inside, the driver swerved the car onto the street and we took off.
“Willcox is with your boy. He took over for Spader. Asa’s well protected.”
“Who attacked?” I growled out, my chest heaving.
“We’re working on it,” Ana said, and that’s all I wanted to hear.
A half hour later I rocked my head from side to side, anger beating in my chest like a drum. Blood hot in my veins, I clenched my fingers into a fist as I stared at the tall building that housed my enemy, a man who was so cocky he thought he could roam New York City without an army of soldiers.
Well, fuck that.I was many things, but stupid wasn’t one of them, and now Dobrow was going to learn the consequences. He’d brazenly attacked me in my home—something he’d made sure we knew, probably because he’d expected me to be dead—which was ballsy enough already, but to do it while I was with a date? Fuck no. That was plainrude. We were criminals, but we had rules in place for this gentleman’s fight, and he’d taken it a step too far.
“Give me a gun,” I snapped at Ana.
He frowned. “I don’t think—”
“Do not think, Ana. He came intomyhome and attacked me and Asa. I don’t care what you think I should do. I’m going to remind Dobrow why I am the boss of my organization. Give me a gun.” My tone held sting, an abundance of poison and fire that I was going to spit at Dobrow.
A soldier grabbed an AR-15 from the back of one of the black SUVs parked nearby, but Ana held his hand up to him with a shake of his head before he turned back to me. “Think rationally. I know you’re angry about the model, but if you go in there and get shot, how would you explain it to him then?”
I grunted. “How do I explain it to himnow? My place was targeted by mercenaries.” I glared at the brown brick building. “Pizda!”
Ana’s mouth twitched and he slapped my shoulder. “It’ll be fine. We’ll handle it. Go home. You’ve done enough.”
I gritted my teeth. “No.” Grabbing the gun from the soldier, I glared at Ana. “This is my battle and I’m going to take off Dobrow’s head.”
Ana sighed and the fight left him. He shrugged and gripped his AR-15 tighter. His brown hair fluttered as a gust of wind got sucked into the narrow street we stood in. “Fine. You lead, sir.”
It was quick.
We all went in, a specialized team, taking out Dobrow’s men. Bullets flew everywhere, and one grazed my left shoulder. Even though I fell under the impact, I got back up again. Pain and heat thrummed from my injury, but I kept firing until I found Dobrow.
Hiding behind a table like a coward.
One nod of permission from me, and my men headed his direction, killing every fucker standing in the way to get to the gang boss wannabe. By the time they reached him, Dobrow was trying to scurry toward the back of the room like a cockroach looking for an escape, but he didn’t get far.
Two of my soldiers grabbed him by the arms and dragged him toward me. He laughed nervously and offered what I assumed he thought was a charming smile.
“Ruslan, how lovely—”
I raised the rifle in my arms and squeezed the trigger, a multitude of bullets riddling his body until blood splattered across the floor and the walls. When I was done, I nodded sharply and passed the AR-15 to Ana, who grinned, clearly impressed by my attitude. I had no time for excuses. Dobrow deserved a brutal death.
Ana touched my arm. “We need to go. Now. He’s dead.”
