Page 84 of Prey of the Bratva

“And you will attend,” he continues.

“Like hell I will,” I replied, my voice just as soft as his.

He studied my silence, then added, almost casually, “Of course you will. Your presence has increased value.”

“You think this is going to end well for you?” I asked

His smile deepened slightly at the question.

“I think,” he said, “that your Romanov has already made several emotional decisions.”

My chest tightened for half a second, but I didn’t let it show.

“He is not coming to save you this time,” Volkov continued. “He might come eventually. Of that, I have no doubt.”

Neither do I.

“But when he does,” he says softly, “he will learn the cost of arrogance, but it will be too late already.”

Something cold settled in my chest. I straightened slightly, ignoring the lingering ache in my limbs.

“If there’s an auction tonight,” I said evenly, “then you’ve already made your mistake.”

His brow lifted slightly.

“Oh?”

I held his gaze. “He will find you, and when he does, he will kill you.”

My words not coming from the window of hope but belief instead. I had faith in Kliment. For the first time, something shifted behind Volkov’s eyes, but then he smiled again.

“We will see.”

He stepped back, gesturing lightly, and the rifles remained trained on me.

“Take her,” he says calmly.

I didn’t resist when they moved in because I already knew something they didn’t. If there was an auction tonight, then Kliment was already on his way. And when he would come, all ofthis would come to an end. I just had to survive long enough to watch it happen.

Chapter 24 - Kliment

I did not wait for permission. I did not wait for the signal to be perfect or the timing to be clean or the plan to unfold exactly as designed. The moment we had confirmation, and I knew she was inside, everything else became irrelevant.

“Are we ready?” I asked through the comms, seeing everyone gathered around me.

“We are,” Timofey replied. I turned to see everyone with their weapons raised.

“Go. Now.”

The command left my mouth cold and absolute, and the world responded. Explosions tore through the eastern wing of the estate before the first bid could even be placed. The shockwave rolled outward, rattling glass, cutting power to the outer perimeter in a cascade of failing systems. Lights flickered, and security grids collapsed.

And then we moved. Everything was happening around me in a flurry of movement, yet I registered none of it. It all felt overwhelming. Snipers took the rooftops first. The shots were clean and precise, and bodies dropped before alarms could fully register. Romanov men breached from the underground tunnels that Viktor had secured hours earlier, rising into the estate like something dragged up from the earth itself. At the same time, Chernykh vehicles slammed through the main gates with brutal force, metal bending under impact as armed men poured through the opening.

“Operation Excavation has begun. I repeat, the operation has begun.” Alina’s voice came through, and I knew it was happening.

“Status?” Iosif asked through the comms. He was heading the Chernykh vehicles, firing with an intensity I knew he possessed somewhere inside him, and now it was finally out.

“Main doors broken down,” Sera replied.