Page 86 of Prey of the Bratva

“Yes, you are, but you can still—”

I didn’t let him finish, not interested in hearing whatever stupid plan he thought he could sell me. I had nothing but hatred for his man after what he had done to Misha and even if none of it would end with his death, he still needed to die. That was the least I was going to make happen. The gun in my hand came up and I placed the trigger on his hand.

“Where is Misha?” I asked, nothing but coldness in my gaze.

“In one of the compounds at the back,” he choked out, blood gushing out of his mouth.

“And where is Sergei Volkov?”

“I don’t know, but he should be… he should be here,” Sidorov replied, fear clearly visible in his eyes. “Kliment, I can hel—”

I pulled the trigger and all it took was one shot. Clean and final. His body went slack instantly, and I let him drop. I waited for a sense of satisfaction to fill me, but it never came. I still needed to find Misha, and I needed to kill Sergei Volkov. Gunfire still echoed through the estate as I moved deeper into the hall, stepping over debris, shattered glass crunching under my boots.

And then, everything narrowed, just as my gaze fell on her.

“Found her,” I whispered into the comms, but nothing mattered in that moment.

She was there at the front platform, restrained and guarded but appearing unharmed. For a single second, the worldstopped, and all I could focus on were the four days of silence when she had been gone. Four days of imagining the absolute worst that could possibly go down with her. I already knew Volkov would never touch her or harm her, but it didn’t stop me from wondering about every awful scenario there was.

She was alive. Several guards moved to reposition as they saw me, raising their weapons, but I was already firing. With a few shots, three of them were dead before they could even react, and the fourth lunged at me. I allowed him to come to me before slamming his head with the back of my gun until he fell down. I took him out with a shot straight to the head. Despite the chaos, they were still trying to shield Misha from us, which meant that Volkov was still around and giving orders.

And he would not let his prized possession go so easily.

I closed the distance through smoke and chaos, the sound of everything else fading into nothing but the rhythm of my own heartbeat as I neared her. She lifted her head as I reached her and our eyes met, and for the first time since this began, something inside me settled.

“Misha,” I whispered her name, my hands inching towards her.

“You took your sweet time in getting to me,” she said, her voice steady despite everything.

I almost laughed. Instead, I cut through the restraints with one clean motion. The moment the last binding fell away, she didn’t hesitate. She stepped into me, bridging the distance. Her arms came around me, and I pulled her against my chest with enough force to feel the reality of her. She was warm, real, and alive. And most importantly, she was mine. My hand came up to the back of her head, holding her there for half a second longer than necessary.

“Are you hurt?” I asked, low and controlled.

“No,” she said against me. “I’m fine. They didn’t touch me.”

Relief hit harder than anything else had. I pulled back just enough to look at her properly. Her gaze was clear and focused. Unbroken.

“Where is Sidorov?”

“Dead,” I replied, and a smile tugged at her lips. “We need to find Volkov now.”

“He is there. At the top,” she replied, motioning with her eyes.

I looked up just then and noticed Volkov standing on the balcony, watching everything below him. He appeared calm and untouched and our eyes met across the chaos. For a moment, everything else faded and was replaced by the bloodlust I had for that man. He smiled and with a flash as everything around him darkened, he disappeared. Rage flared sharp and immediate, but I had expected it. He had not gone untouched for so long without having a few tricks up his sleeve. He was always prepared, but despite that, I stepped back instinctively, scanning the upper levels.

“He’s gone,” Viktor’s voice cut through the comms. “There is a hidden corridor somewhere on the upper levels, but we are tracking.”

“Find him,” I said.

But even as the order left my mouth, I knew that he would not be found. It wasn’t over yet after all. The compound was secured within minutes and the remaining resistance collapsed quickly under the combined force. Survivors were detained oreliminated without hesitation. The illusion of control Volkov had built here was gone.

It was burned out and broken, even if he had managed to escape. For now. Outside, the night was lit by flashing emergency lights and the distant glow of fires still eating through parts of the estate. Smoke drifted through the air, ash settling over everything like a quiet aftermath. I stepped out with her beside me. Alive and still here. That was all that mattered.

For a moment, neither of us spoke, and then I reached for her. My hands came up to her face, framing it, grounding myself in the reality of her.

“I thought I had lost you,” I said. There was no pride or restraint in my emotions, just truth. Where I had shied away from expressing myself before her earlier, I no longer cared. I needed her to know what I felt for her because it felt as if time was running out for us.

Her gaze softened.