I dashed toward the door without thinking twice and kicked it down. My scowl deepened when I saw her strapped to a chair with a man holding her at gunpoint.
“Ah, ah, ah!” he warned me. “Take one more step, and I swear to God, I’ll blow her brains out.”
I stopped in my tracks, my gaze dropping to her face. She was afraid, yet she remained calm even with a gun to her head. When we locked eyes, I saw a hint of relief in her gaze, as if she’d been waiting for my arrival.
“Let her go.” My fingers clenched into fists at my sides. “I won’t ask a second time.”
“You’re in no place to make demands, Tarasov,” he said, leaning in toward her. “I’m the one with the gun.”
Ellie glanced at me in silence, her face twisting in a way that said she was about to make a bold move. Before I could blink, she headbutted the man in the nose with all her strength.
In a heartbeat, I reached for the pistol in my pants and fired three times at him. The first bullet knocked the gun out of his hand, and the second hit him in the arm. And the third clicked empty. I was out.
He groaned, stumbling backward with a broken nose and a bleeding arm. My men stormed into the room, guns aimed at him as he raised his hand in surrender.
I rushed over to the chair, went down on one knee, and took her face in my hands. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? Did anyone touch you?” The words tumbled out of me, my voice laced with worry and concern.
Tears welled in her eyes, her lips quivering without producing any sound.
“Knife!” I barked, glancing at my men.
A blade was shoved into my hand, and I began cutting her loose. The moment the last rope slipped off her skin, she slipped into my arms, her arms around my neck.
“You came,” she breathed in my ear, holding me tightly like she’d never done before. “Thank you.”
I smoothed her hair backward, a wind of relief blowing across my face. “You’re alive. That’s all that matters to me right now.”
She sniffled and let go, her eyes locked on mine. I wiped away the tears trickling down her cheeks, my thumb caressing her skin.
“Karik…Agata…” she whimpered, pain etched in her gaze. “She’s….”
“She’s alive, Ellie.”
“What?” Her brows arched, a glimmer of hope dancing in her eyes.
“She’s in a critical condition,” I said. “But she’s alive.”
She pursed her lips, nodding as she fought back her tears.
Sergei cleared his throat conspicuously, as if to remind us of the situation on the ground. “Boss, what do we do with this imp?”
“You know….” The idiot looked up at him. “That’s really not a nice way to describe people like me.”
“Son of a bitch,” Ellie mumbled under her breath as she rose to her feet, her expression dark with fury.
His eyes widened in horror when he saw her approaching him with murderous intent. “Oh, boy,” he whispered. “Somebody stop her, please.”
Ellie grabbed him by the collar, forcing him to his feet. And right there in front of all of us, she struck him hard in the face with the back of her hand.
His head snapped to the side, and he spat out blood. Then a single tooth. “Fuck, that hurt.”
“That’s for all the people you hurt today!” she snapped at him, her chest heaving with labored breaths.
I’d never been more proud of anyone than I was of her. She was fierce and feral. I liked it.
I stepped closer, my eyes boring into the man’s as he knelt on the ground. “Kill him.”
Sergei cocked his gun, ready to pull the trigger, and the idiot had already closed his eyes when Ellie stopped him.
