Page 80 of Prey of the Bratva

Iosif studied me carefully. “And you’re certain Volkov and Sidorov will be there?”

I met his gaze. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because men like him don’t delegate power,” I said. “They display it. These auctions are his biggest prize. He will be there, and so will Sidorov. Trust me.”

Timofey leaned back slightly, a dangerous grin forming. “So I guess that only leaves us one option. We crash the party.”

“Not crash,” I corrected. I straightened, my focus absolute now. “We dismantle it.”

***

The plan formed fast. It had to. Since time was not a luxury we had, it was important to rush through the process now. However, with everyone focused on this one thing alone, nothing felt impossible. Every single person was only focused on getting Misha back, and that was enough to reassure me that we would get her back. We had to.

“Okay, give me a list of all the possible locations?” I asked.

Viktor tapped his screen, pulling up a map of the city.

“We have narrowed all possible sites down to three,” he said. “They are all private estates under either Volkov or Sidorov with high security and limited access roads.”

“I think we should cross-reference each with historical usage,” Nico added. “Look for properties previously tied to high-level gatherings so we can easily narrow it down to one.”

Within seconds, new data populated the screen, and one location stood out immediately. It was much older and larger than the other two, but more importantly, it was also isolated.

“Given the evidence, this has to be the one,” Avgust said, scrolling through the details.

“I am not sure. This is too obvious. Why would they risk it?” Jarek asked

“Because right now they are on a winning streak, which gives them a high, and in situations like these, men tend to make mistakes. They are overconfident, and they will choose this.”

Avgust nodded slowly. “Volkov wouldn’t hide exactly. He would still fortify, but he would still do it out in the open.”

“Exactly.”

Iosif’s gaze moved to me. “You’ve seen operations like this before.”

“Yes.”

“Then you know what we’re walking into.”

I held his gaze. “Yes.”

***

The next three days blurred into motion, and sleep became irrelevant. Time started to get measured in intel, movement, and preparation. Old contacts resurfaced faster than expected, and men who had once stood at my side stepped back into place without question. Safe houses multiplied, and weapons were sourced. Vehicles rotated through untraceable channels, and it almost felt as if Saint Petersburg remembered me.

And it responded.

By the second night, surveillance nets had expanded beyond official systems. Underworld whispers began to align. And then we finally heard it. Plain and simple. A private, exclusive auction was scheduled to happen. The room went still as the information was relayed.

“Is it finally confirmed?” I asked.

“Not officially,” Viktor replied. “But multiple sources are aligning.”

“And the buyers?” Nico asked.

“All high tier,” Sera said. “Most of them are either international or political and mostly untouchable.”