That crazy bitch! My fist slammed the table. I felt no pain.
"Pakhan," Marcus looked at my expression, his voice heavy. "What is it?"
"Anthea and Olei have been taken by Tomaso and Vanessa." I handed him my phone, then pulled the gun from my waist and set it on the table. "I have to go get them. Now."
Marcus's face darkened. He scanned the message quickly, brow furrowed. "Pakhan, this is clearly a trap. You can't go alone. Let me bring men—"
"No." I cut him off, striding toward the door. "I won't gamble with their lives on any possibility."
Marcus fell silent for a moment.
"At least let me position men on the perimeter," he finally said. "We'll stay hidden. They won't know we're there."
I stopped, considered it briefly.
"Fine. But no one moves unless I say so." I said.
"Understood." He nodded.
I crossed the threshold, rushed downstairs, and threw myself into the car. The two-hour drive got cut down to ninety minutes. Soon enough, I saw the gates of the steel mill. At night, the abandoned factory looked like a sleeping beast, its rusted steel frames castingjagged shadows in the twilight. I parked at the entrance and walked in alone, hands spread wide to show I was unarmed.
Tomaso came to meet me. The old man looked even more haggard than before—losing his headquarters had taken its toll—but the madness and hatred in his eyes hadn't dimmed one bit. He patted me down, checking every possible place I could hide a weapon. I let him.
"Good, Silas. You didn't try anything stupid." Tomaso stepped back, mouth twisting into a grin. "Follow me inside."
I followed him through the mill's doors. Then I saw them.
Anthea was tied to a chair, face pale. When she saw me enter, she shook her head sadly. Olei was bound beside her, teeth clenched. The moment he spotted me, his eyes lit up. Both their mouths were gagged, silencing them.
My heart felt like it was being carved out with a knife.
Vanessa stood beside them, red hair loose, a smug smile playing at her lips. And in the corner stood someone else. Julian Voss. My gaze lingered on him for a moment. This pathetic waste was here, too? He'd thrown in with Tomaso and Vanessa, helped them kidnap Anthea and Olei?
Julian avoided my eyes, his face written with unease and evasion. Pathetic.
Vanessa stepped forward, heels clicking sharply across the empty factory floor. She stopped in front of me, eyes burning with barely contained resentment.
"Silas, do you know how long I've waited for this day?" she said, voice soft and venomous. "You should've known this was coming when you destroyed my family."
I stared at her coldly. "So what does this get you?"
"I want you to suffer." Vanessa's voice turned shrill. "I want you to watch everything you care about get destroyed. You took everything from me. Now I'm going to make you taste that same pain!"
She turned to look at Anthea bound to the chair, voice dripping with malice. "You know what, Silas? When she was unconscious in the car earlier, I thought about letting those mercenaries have a turn withher body. After all, didn't you say my private life was a mess? If Anthea got passed around by those men, would you still want her?"
This bitch. I'd underestimated just how vicious she could be. If she'd actually done that, I'd make her understand what hell really meant.
"Touch her, and I'll make you beg for death." Each word carried undeniable killing intent.
Vanessa flinched back at my expression, but then forced a cold laugh. "You're in no position to threaten me."
"Never thought I'd see it, Silas." Tomaso's voice dripped with mockery. "The great Pakhan of the Bratva, completely devoted to some woman. Your father would be so disappointed."
"Enough talk." My voice was ice. "They have nothing to do with what's between us. You want me. Let them go."
"Let them go?" Tomaso let out a grating laugh. "Do you know what it feels like to lose everything in one night?"
He stepped closer, voice edged with madness and desperation. "You killed my men, destroyed decades of my work! How the fuck could I just let your woman and your brat walk away? I'm going to make you taste that same pain."
