Page 114 of The Bratva Enforcer and His Virgin Bride

I knock again, harder this time, the sound echoing down the hallway. “Ben! Open the damn door!”

Still, there’s no response. No sound of running water, no footsteps, nothing. My intuition flares violently, a dark,suffocating certainty telling me that something is horribly wrong.

My men notice the sudden shift in my posture, their hands instantly dropping to the grips of their weapons as they read the lethal tension in my shoulders.

“Boss?” the senior guard whispers, his eyes darting to the lock. “Do we—”

“Yes,” I snap, my voice dropping into a dangerous register. “Break the door down.”

When the lock snaps with a sharp, metallic crack, the heavy door gives way, and we all march in, weapons drawn and slicing through the dark room.

Ben is missing.

“Fuck!” Viktor curses loudly, his gun lowering slightly as the realization dawns on him.

The signs of a violent struggle are everywhere. A heavy wooden chair is splintered against the floor, a lamp is shattered across the rug, and the sheer linen curtains are swinging wildly in the freezing air blowing through a wide-open window.

My chest tightens into a suffocating knot of fury. It becomes instantly clear that Ben was targeted separately, a coordinated strike running parallel to the ambush at the warehouse. But as my eyes scan the wreckage, a sickening truth settles into my gut. The books we just retrieved have also been taken.

Of course.

This development shifts the stakes dramatically. The code is no longer just a puzzle Sofia needs to solve—it’s now an active, lethal vulnerability.

In the wrong hands, even a partial understanding of her father’s system could lead to unintended consequences, giving Karl the power to dismantle our entire network or unlock secretsthat would bury us all. Time is no longer on our side. Every second we waste is a second Karl spends cracking the sequence.

I turn to Viktor and the other men, my expression carving into absolute stone.

“Activate my entire network within Russia,” I command, my voice low and vibrating with a terrifying, quiet rage. “Pull in every resource, every corrupt contact, and every dirty intelligence channel we own across the country. I want this city locked down.”

The search for Karl becomes immediate and aggressive.

I look at Viktor, giving him the absolute authority he needs. “Leverage every single connection available. Squeeze our family assets. If anyone is hiding him, burn their houses down. Track Karl, find where they took Ben, and locate any stolen data. No holds barred.”

“We’re on it, Boss,” Viktor assures me, his face grim as he and the guards instantly pull out their secure lines.

Forcing myself to stay entirely calm, I mask the storm inside my chest and return to the penthouse. The elevator doors open, and I find Maxim still standing guard right outside the master bedroom, his hand resting tightly on his weapon, flanked by three other men.

“Take the men and go downstairs,” I tell Maxim, gesturing to the hallway. “Get the new brief from Viktor. Ben’s been taken. I need every single hand on deck. No one sleeps tonight.”

Maxim’s eyes widen in brief shock, but he doesn’t hesitate. He nods sharply, signals the other guards, and they disappear into the elevator, leaving the penthouse entirely quiet.

I push open the heavy bedroom door and find Sofia sitting on the edge of the mattress, her hands gripping the sheets. The moment she sees my face, she stands up, her eyes immediately zeroing in on the tension in my jaw.

“Is something wrong?” she asks, taking a step toward me. “Can we start on the code now? Have Ben bring up the books.”

I cross the room to her in two long strides, reaching out to hold her shoulders firmly. I look down into her eyes, my voice tight. “Ben has been taken. The books have also been taken. We can’t do anything until we find them.”

I brace myself, expecting to see disappointment, fear, or overwhelming pain break across her face. But the vulnerability I anticipate never comes. Instead, a fierce, blazing rage takes over her features, turning her eyes into absolute flint.

“We have to find them, Lukyan,” she says, her voice dropping into a dangerously sharp register. “I won’t let them take this from me. Not again.”

“My men are already on it,” I tell her, my thumbs rubbing soothing circles against her shoulders to ground her. “We will find them for sure. I’m burning this city to the ground until I get them back.”

I pull her into my arms, wrapping myself around her tightly, and lull her against my chest. She holds onto me with a fierce, iron grip, her breathing ragged against my neck. I hold her for a long moment, feeling the tremor of anger running through her small frame, before I gently pull back to look at her.

“Get some sleep, Sofia,” I urge softly, brushing a stray hair from her forehead. “You need your strength for when we get them back.”

She shakes her head instantly, her jaw set. “I can’t sleep. My mind is racing too fast.”