"She's on foot somewhere in this neighborhood." I'm already heading for the stairs, taking them two at a time. "Get everyone outside. We're doing this block by block." I don't care if we have to walk the entire fucking city and check every alley and subway station. I'm not giving up until I have her.
When we regroup out front, the healthy among my men are waiting for new orders. "She escaped on her own." I addressall of them at once. "She's somewhere in this area and we're gonna find her. Spread out in pairs and search every alley, every building, every possible hiding spot."
Thunder rumbles overhead and rain starts to sprinkle down over us, dampening our mood and our clothing. Within minutes, it's coming down in sheets and the visibility drops to almost nothing as the streets turn to rivers under our feet.
"This is going to make tracking harder." Lev wipes water from his face. "We could walk right past her in this weather."
"Then we search twice. I'm not leaving without her." I start moving, tucking my weapon away in my waistband and ducking my head against the rain. "Start knocking on doors. Ask everyone if they've seen a woman running through here in the past few hours."
The men pair off and spread through the neighborhood. Fyodor stays with me, and we take the street directly behind the church. Most of the buildings are abandoned, but there are a few with lights on. I pound on door after door, keeping an eye on the time. With the rain and the chill of night, Tatiana could be freezing out here. After nearly an hour of searching slowly, I can tell my nephew is getting frustrated.
"This is taking too long." Fyodor checks his watch. "She could still be several Ks away."
"Keep looking," I growl, refusing to give up. We move to the next street over where I can see Lev questioning someone outside a corner store.
The rain is relentless. It's washing away any trail she might have left and turning the whole neighborhood into a blur of gray. I can barely see my own men moving through the streets.
But when my phone rings, I answer it immediately. "What?" I snap, not interested in being interrupted. But my entire attitude changes on a dime as soon as he speaks.
"Boss, we found something," says Oleg. "Behind a restaurant about six or seven blocks east of the church. You need to see this."
"On my way." I signal to Fyodor, and we start running through the rain. Our feet splash in puddles. We're soaked to the bone now, and nothing in my life will give me greater joy than to have her in my arms again.
"She's here." He points to a dumpster. "Behind there. But Boss, I think something's really wrong."
I push past him and round the dumpster. Tatiana's slumped on the ground with her back against the brick wall. Her eyes are closed and her shirt is soaked with blood and rain. I drop to my knees beside her and check for a pulse.
It's there but on the weak side.
"My God, Tatiana." I cup her face gently with one hand and tap her cheek with the other. "Open your eyes. Look at me," I say, tapping harder.
She doesn't respond. Her skin is cold and clammy, and I lift her shirt and see deep cuts across her stomach that are still bleeding slowly.
"Get the car here now," I order, already scooping her into my arms. "Move!" I don’t know what's wrong, but I have her now.
My God, I thought I lost her, and when a man gets as desperate as I've been for the past few hours, he'll go to any length to make his agony end. I carry her in steady arms, on legs weak fromexertion, moving back toward the direction of the cars until I see them approaching, raindrops dancing in the headlights' glow.
The car pulls up, and I climb into the back with her still cradled against my chest. Not a chance in hell I'm letting her go ever again. I order, "Drive to the penthouse. Don't stop for anything."
"Should we take her to a hospital?" Lazar looks at me in the rearview mirror with concern as the car starts moving.
"No hospitals." I pull out my phone with my free hand while cradling her with the other. "Have someone call the doctor to meet us there."
My eyes focus on her precious sleeping face. It's too dark to see much, but I can see the way her lips are chapped and her eyes are puffy from crying. "I made them pay, love. Hang in there," I whisper to her.
Malcom has no fucking clue what hell is coming for him.
And Yuri had better bring in better reinforcements because if he thinks he's gonna stop me from slaughtering the whole goddamn alliance between the Kozlovs and the Veches, he's wrong.
26
TATIANA
My skull throbs with each heartbeat and my mouth tastes like dirt. I force my eyes open and find myself staring at a ceiling I recognize. I'm in Dimitri's bed with clean sheets and soft pillows and the smell of his cologne surrounding me, and I have no idea how I got here at all.
The tears come immediately, running down my temples into my hair, and I don't bother wiping them away. I turn to my side and feel the sting of the wound on my stomach, touching it lightly to find it's been bandaged.
He came for me like he said he would.
