Boots thunder behind me as several men fall into step. My blood is roaring, my vision tunneling. My heart is a weapon of its own and deaths of men that cross it are inevitable.
They touched her.
They took her.
They dared to use her against us.
Against me.
A mistake they will not survive.
I push through the warehouse door into the night, fury tearing through my bones like wildfire. Halfway to the cars when my phone vibrates harshly against my thigh.
One glance at the caller ID and fury sharpens into ice.
It’s Marko. One of the men stationed at the café.
I answer instantly.
“Talk.”
There’s shouting in the background, metal scraping, muffled curses, wind rushing past the phone.
“Boss—fuck—Viktor, listen…” Marko’s breath comes fast, uneven. “We messed up.”
My shoulders lock. “Explain.”
“We were on guard but a cyclist suddenly came out of nowhere and crashed right into our table. Took both of us down with him. Knocked everything over. We thought it was an accident but—”
“It wasn’t,” I grind out.
“No,” Marko says, his voice breaking. “We know that now. While we were getting untangled, two men slipped into the shop. By the time we realized, we heard shouting, then nothing. When we got there, the door was already locked.”
Rage drums behind my ribs like a second heartbeat.
“And Natalya?” My voice is deadly flat.
“We haven’t seen her,” Marko says. “We think they grabbed her and forced her into the back. We tried the doors, but—”
Another voice cuts in Pavel, the second man.
“Boss, they barricaded everything. We can’t get in without making noise. Or breaking something.”
“Which could get her hurt,” Marko finishes.
I close my eyes for half a second, swallowing the instinct to roar.
“Where is Alexei’s second unit?”
“North and south entry,” Pavel says. “We’re all in position. But, boss…”
“Say it.”
“We don’t know what’s on the other side of that door. If we force it, and they’re armed, she could be caught in the line of fire.”
A long, violent silence stretches between us.
My men are good but they’re blind right now. And they’re panicking.
