But Vartan’s lying dead with a bullet in his skull. Which means Arsen pulled the trigger. Killed his own father.
Maybe to stop him.
Maybe to save the girls.
Maybe because he finally realized what kind of monster his father was.
Doesn’t matter.
I grab him under the arms and drag. His weight is dead and wrong, skin sticking to my jacket where it’s burned through. Every step back toward the door scorches my lungs. My vision spots black at the edges.
Outside, the cold slams into me like mercy.
I haul him another few yards and dump him into a snowbank. He barely reacts. Just breathes. Barely.
That’s all he gets.
I don’t stay to watch.
I run.
Over the fence. Across the lot. My bike is where I left it, engine cold but ready. I swing on, kick it to life, and tear off just as red and blue lights cut through the smoke behind me.
The warehouse burns. The girls are gone.
Safe.
Vartan is dead.
A Win.
And now, Amato just has to keep his mouth shut.
Chapter 6
Ayla
21 Years Old
The door slams open with a gust of cold air and Santi’s voice cutting through it.
“We lost the shipment.”
I don’t even look up from the crate I’m prying open. My hands are already raw under the work gloves from splinters and cold steel, and I don’t have the fucking patience today. “What do you mean lost it?”
He kicks the door shut behind him, the thud echoing off the cracked concrete walls of the warehouse. This place smells like rust and dust and desperation. I found it a couple years ago, boarded up and half-burned, tucked behind the edge of the port. It became my little secret.
Santi shrugs, rain dripping off his hoodie. “Gone. Nada. Except one brick. We gotone.”
I slam the crowbar down with a curse, chest tightening. “How the hell—”
“The Russians,” he cuts in, tossing the wrapped bundle onto the table beside me. It lands with a heavy thud. “Again.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?” I rip off the gloves from my fingers, blood warm in my veins now. Fucking Russians, they’re always one step ahead. We don’t even take the full load—we skim. One box, maybe two. Enough that Gabriel doesn’t notice. Enough to survive.
“How the hell did they intercept the whole thing?”
He shifts like he’s got more. “Word is, they knew when Gabriel’s shipment was coming. So they took everything. It was a hit back.”
