“Who took her?” I asked, unnerved by something else unexpected happening when I needed to count on our arrival and rescue being something Giovanni couldn’t expect or stop.
“Some guy from the garage.” He shrugged, relaying on the footage the spies were giving us. “They left in a hurry?—”
“When this alert of a fire came in?” I asked.
“A fire that didn’t happen?” Oleg asked.
The tech shrugged. “Yeah. Seems like it. This kid from the garage ran inside and carried out this woman, and she was handed over to an ambulance parked a few houses away.”
Oleg narrowed his eyes at me. “Was it Sofia?”
I shook my head slowly. It couldn’t have been that simple… I knew she was independent, but I really didn’t see how she could save herself without any help or resources at all.
“No. Her location hasn’t moved,” the tech said.
I snapped my fingers. “The cousin. Esmeralda.”
The tech scratched the back of his head. “I think so. Because I tracked the route of that medical transport, and it ended up at a hospice.” He raised his brows at me.
“Goddamn,” I whispered softly.
She was captured. She was pregnant and vulnerable. Beaten and threatened. Andstillshe was looking out for her cousin. Saving someone else.
Reminded—again—of howgoodshe was, I felt like a hundred times more of an asshole for ever letting myself believe she’d want to hurt me, to deceive me or treat me wrong at all.
She was too pure.
Too good.
Too good for me.
I could only pray that coming to save her would reset the scales in that regard.
Because that’s what you do.
Care about everyone else. Save and help whoever else you can.
But not yourself.
That was where I came in. Where I belonged. As her savior, her guide, her support however she wanted me.
“He’ll be furious that she’s gone,” Oleg suspected.
I slid my gun into its holster and nodded. “He will be. Especially when he realizes Sofia thwarted him and got her out of his hold.”
“He’ll take it out on her,” he predicted.
I ground my molars. “All the more reason for us to get this done,” I growled.
He nodded once and ordered the small crew to get ready to move out as soon as we could.
Launching an operation like this took time and careful consideration, but once we reached our positions and communicated on the comms units we all wore, I knew this couldn’t fail.
Cutting out the electrical was the first step. Sending in smoke bombs came next. Even though the sky was gray with heavy storm clouds darkening the atmosphere, we were prepared to slip through the night and retrieve the most important treasure in my life.
Oleg and another soldier—a former special ops fighter who’d joined the family after being dishonorably discharged from service—led the mission. I wasn’t in the mood to fight with anyone about being told where to go and what to do. I was too close. I was emotionally committed to getting Sofia out. While I was clear-headed enough to contribute to rescuing her, I wasn’t so full of myself not to let “experts” lead the way.
They snuck into the house once the electricity was cut. Smoke bombs further distracted the guards. As alarms were hit, we picked off the soldiers who were there to defend Giovanni’s fortress. Night vision goggles paved a clear path for us, and we left no one alive.
