But not the peaceful kind.
The lethal kind.
Alexei is the first to move. Not much…just a shift of weight, a tilt of his head. Small. But I know him well enough to read the signal.
He’s giving permission.
Nicky keeps running his mouth. “Look, you’ve spread yourselves thin. You can’t watch everything. We’re small, but we’re smart. Strategic. We saw an opportunity and—”
The next sound is my safety clicking off.
Nicky freezes.
His two men go for their guns.
But Dmitri and I are faster.
Two shots crack through the warehouse like thunder.
The two men beside Nicky drop instantly, dead before their bodies hit the ground.
Nicky staggers backward, eyes wide, scrambling too late for the weapon tucked at his waist. Alexei moves like a ghost, silent, deadly, unhurried—and slams him face first onto the table with a force that echoes across metal. He wrenches Nicky’s arm up behind his back and presses a hunting knife to the man’s throat.
“You made a mistake,” Alexei murmurs, low and cold enough to freeze bone. “A fatal one.”
“S-she’s leverage!” Nicky wheezes. “I—”
“No,” Alexei cuts in. “She’s family.”
Nicky pales. Sweat beads across his forehead.
He should be afraid.
He should be terrified.
Because I’m the one he needs to fear most.
I step forward, vision edged in red, already imagining how long it will take him to die.
Dmitri’s hand clamps around my arm. “Viktor. No.”
“Let go,” I snarl.
“Listen to me.” His grip tightens. “You want to kill him? Fine. Later. But right now? We need information. And you need to get to Natalya before anything happens. That’s your priority.”
My muscles tremble with fury, but the logic hits through the fog. Every second here is a second she’s locked away, terrified, alone.
I grit my teeth so hard my jaw pops.
Alexei meets my eyes over Nicky’s bent form. “Go. I’ll deal with this trash.”
Nicky starts to protest. Alexei slams his face into the table again. Hard.
“Viktor,” Dmitri says quietly, “take men with you. Move now.”
I don’t waste another second. I shove away from the table and stride toward the exit, calling out orders.
“Five with me,” I bark. “Now.”
