Page 68 of Bought By Sin

As my reason to stay strong.

25

LEV

The soldiers moved out with me, ready to fall into formation. They were always there to keep me safe as a higher-ranking member of the family, but they were also there to serve as the trained professionals they were.

Killers.

Hunters.

Negotiators and agents in retrieval missions.

Like now.

I’m coming, Mila.

You are mine and I am coming for you.

I’m coming.

Because I can’t lose you.

Even if you don’t want to be with me, I can’t lose you.

Guns up and at the ready, we filed out of the car and charged ahead. We’d determined in that rush of an impulsive plan that Alexei would stay back.

So would Nikolai with his car as backup on the other side of the compound.

I led the rescue efforts, all the Bratva men running through the darkness like Mila had not all that long ago. Not even an hour had passed since she left the car like a blur of a shadow, ready to sneak in and spy and get back.

But she hadn’t come back.

She’d gone offline, and no matter what my brother or anyone else insinuated, I refused to entertain the idea that she had taken this chance to escape me. To leave the Bratva she was already coming to serve and fit in with.

The men waited for my orders to proceed through the cut in the fence that she’d made. Further south, the other men in the backup vehicle headed in. Three of them there, two near Nikolai’s side, and one with me here. We met in the middle, stealthily advancing through the compound.

Whoever noticed us was dead. Despite the silencers we had equipped our guns with, there was still the commotion of our discovery.

Trespassing with speed like this, we were ensured the element of surprise.

I ran forward, aiming my gun at anyone who happened to be patrolling. I pumped my arms to sprint faster, searching every building that we could. And still, I pulled the trigger to kill anyone who crossed my path. Indiscriminately, I shot at every person I could. The Bratva soldiers with me did the same, and we didn’t let anything last long enough for combat to become an issue. Coming in hard, fast, and violent with the intention of leaving without a speck of mercy granted, we scoured the compound.

Every door we kicked in revealed another macabre scene of blood, guts, and gore.

We steered clear of the buildings we’d recognized from the feed on Mila’s camera, the larger structures where groups of men were terrorizing women.

Tunnel vision guided me to the taller building that looked like a headquarters. She’d been there last, before we lost her, and I went straight there to search for her.

Sounds of men shouting in a back room reached us as soon as I opened the door with a slam.

Whoever was in here would be dead. Red-hot rage coursed through my veins as I ran in, eager not to find intel on Yusef Antonov, but impatient to slaughter and destroy anyone who could have captured Mila.

My Mila.

The Bratva men stuck with me, rushing forward until we came upon a door that had been left ajar.

Together, we burst in. The depth of my obsession crystalized as I watched a man raise his arm, his hand flat with the anticipation of delivering a striking blow to her face.