"I didn't train her. She's smart. Brave." My hand tightens on my weapon. "She did what needed to be done."
"And you left her at the hotel with Jasmine and Laney," Yakov says, grinning. "Smart move. Keep her away from this mess. Though I'm sure she wanted to be here."
"She doesn't need to see this." I won't let her watch me kill her father. Won't let that image live in her mind forever. It’s bad enough she has to know it happened and I’m the one pulling the trigger.
Jasmine and Laney will keep her distracted, keep her safe. Adrik's wife Jasmine has a gentle way about her, and Yakov's wife Laney is fierce enough to protect Ava if anything goes wrong.
Not that anything will go wrong.
"Movement," Adrik states. "Single vehicle." He waits a moment, watches as the car approaches. “Dariy’s make and model.”
"Positions," he orders, and we all melt into the shadows.
I watch from my vantage point as Dariy pulls up at the entrance. The engine cuts off. For a long moment, nothing happens.
Then both front doors open and my brothers step out, rounding to the trunk, the open it and drag out the man we’ve been looking for for almost a month now.
He looks terrible. Gaunt, unshaven, the kind of worn-down that comes from weeks of running and hiding.
He knows he's here to pay for what he did.
"Clear," Dariy says. "No backup. No tail. There’s no one who actually wants to protect his sorry ass."
Michael is dragged into the warehouse and dropped at my feet.
"Ava?" His voice echoes in the empty space. "Where’s my daughter?"
"She's not here."
He makes to stand, but Yakov pushes down hard on his shoulder, keeping him on his knees. His hands shake. "Where is she? What did you do to her?"
"I took care of her." I keep my weapon lowered, relaxed.
His face goes purple. "You son of a—"
"Careful," Adrik says. "You’re the one who brought the Bratva to your family’s door. You can’t get angry when we come knocking."
Michael's head whips around, and I see the moment he realizes he's surrounded.
Five Korolyov brothers. One dead man walking.
“Your daughter set you up. She kept you on the phone long enough that we could trace you, find you, get to you. She is a better person than you could ever dream to be.” I pull the plastic aside and jerk my head towards the space inside.
His eyes dart between us, calculating odds that don't exist.
"You can't kill me," he says, trying for confident and landing on desperate. "You need me. I have information. Names. Locations. I can—"
"You can die," I interrupt. "That's all you can do now."
"But I can help you! The people who paid me, they're planning something big. An attack on your territory. I can tell you everything!"
That gets Adrik's attention. He tilts his head slightly. "Who paid you?"
"The Albanians. Kreshnik Doku's crew. Something about payback for some girls…" The words tumble out fast. "They want to weaken you. Destabilize your operations. They paid me two hundred thousand to leak the safe house locations."
Rage burns through me, cold and controlled. "And you took it."
"I didn't have a choice! They would have killed me!"
