His men understood. This wasn't a negotiation or a warning. This was extermination.
They moved in synchronized silence, taking out the exterior guards before they could raise an alarm. Then Sidharth kicked in the door, and all hell broke loose.
The firefight was brief and brutal. Sidharth moved through the warehouse like death incarnate, his aim perfect, his fury absolute. Men fell before him, some dead before they hit the ground.
And then he saw her.
Advika, tied to a chair in the center of the space, her face bruised, her clothes torn, blood on her wrists. But alive. Conscious. Her eyes found his, and relief flooded her features.
The scarred man—the one who'd orchestrated this—had a gun to her head.
"Stop!" he yelled. "Stop or I kill her!"
Sidharth froze, his gun trained on the man's head. Around them, his men held position, weapons ready.
"Let her go," Sidharth said, his voice eerily calm. "Let her go and I'll make your death quick."
"Quick?" The man laughed, the sound slightly hysterical. "You're not exactly in a position to negotiate—"
Advika moved. Despite her bindings, despite the gun at her head, she threw her weight sideways, tipping the chair. The sudden movement made the man's aim falter for a split second.
It was all Sidharth needed.
His shot was perfect. The man fell, his gun clattering away, a neat hole in his forehead.
Sidharth was at Advika's side in seconds, cutting through her bindings with a knife, his hands shaking.
"Are you hurt? Did they—" He couldn't finish, couldn't voice his worst fears.
"I'm okay," she said, her voice hoarse. "Bruised, but okay. You came."
"Of course I came." He pulled her into his arms, crushing her against his chest. "Of course I came. Did you think I wouldn't tear the world apart to find you?"
She was crying, her face pressed against his shoulder. "I knew you would. I knew it."
"We need to move," Rishabh said gently. "This place isn't secure."
But before they could leave, a sound from the corner—one of the kidnappers, still alive, reaching for a gun.
Sidharth moved fast, positioning himself between the threat and Advika. He emptied his clip into the man, rage making his movements vicious.
When it was done, when the threat was eliminated, he turned back to Advika. She was staring at him, at the bodies littering the warehouse, at the blood splattered across his clothes.
"Did I scare you?" he asked quietly.
She shook her head. "No. You saved me."
He carried her out of the warehouse, refusing to let her walk. His men formed a protective barrier around them as they moved to the vehicles.
In the car, he finally allowed himself to really look at her. The bruises on her face, the rope burns on her wrists, the way she favored her left side.
"I'm going to kill everyone involved in this," he said, his voice cold. "Everyone who planned it, funded it, participated in it. They're all dead."
"Okay," she said simply.
He blinked. "Okay?"
"They hurt me. They took me. They threatened to kill me." She met his eyes. "I want them dead too."
