Chapter 25 - Lev

"You can"t go in there behind me. He said to come alone, and I know we"ll get caught."

My pulse pounded at my temples, frustration gnawing at me like hunger or exhaustion and probably paired equally with both right now. Pieter gave me a narrowed stare as he listened to my words but was surely not planning on listening to them.

"You honestly expect us…expect me, to let you go in there alone? Unarmed?"

He shook his head, and I tracked him across the room as Pietor went to the rack of guns in varying sizes along the far wall.

Our little armory was well stocked at all times, and my fingers itched to take up a weapon of my own. But I knew Pavel would have me searched. I might be able to get away with the ultra-slim vest I was wearing, but a gun was an entirely different matter.

"Damn straight, I do." I pulled Pietor to look at me, yanking him around by the shoulder. "You'll maintain your distance until I give the word."

He rolled his eyes, his gleaming mismatched stare showing how Pietor was as furious as I was.

"And how exactly are you going to call for help? Hmm?"

"I'm going to wear a wire. I know we have one in supply right now, and it won't be noticeable under the vest."

I went to the drawers built into the wall beneath the rack of arms. Within, I found the host of technical gadgets we'd pilfered from various locations to use for our benefit. Pietor was still fuming, and when I pulled off the vest to take the wire to my chest beneath my shirt, he just glared at me.

"A wire?"

"A wire." I slipped the base of the thing down the front of my pants and lined up the thin black wiring with the natural curves of my muscles to make it even less noticeable. It was probably overkill, but I didn't care much.

Pietor cocked a brow at me. "And if they find the vest? Take it off?"

"If that happens," I held out my hand for the tape, "then we have far bigger problems than them finding the wire."

Pietor grumbled and rummaged through the drawer until he found the roll we kept in there. He snatched it up, throwing it at me with force. It was clear that he was aiming to hit me with it.

Raising my brows at him, I caught it in my palm, where it landed hard. "Asshole."

"Extremely so." He pulled the wire into place at my side, taking a bit of tape and helping me. "And I'm also the one who's going to come bail your ass out when all this goes tits up. If you end up dying, I'm taking your shit."

I smiled despite everything. "Fair enough."

Once I was good to go, the wire and vest back in place, I looked at the schematics of the building that we'd found. My men had laid them out on the long table in front of us, and Pietor followed suit.

"So, I'll enter through the main area here. You all, hang back around here and here." I gestured to the covered areas within nearby buildings or out of sight, thanks to shipping containers. "I don't want you seen. Any one of you gets noticed, and I'll kill you myself if Pavel's men don't do it."

My men nodded as one, and Pietor gave them all another scowl for good measure.

"The building is so open. There are no second levels or interior walls. I'm going to have to risk it to get to her. They're not going to bring Parker out. Make sure to keep eyes through any side windows as well in case I'm dropped before I can make contact."

Pietor left the table for a moment, going to another pullout drawer in the sterile white room full of weapons and body armor. Sliding it out, he reached inside and procured a thin switchblade that folded up particularly small. Walking back to me, he held it out, and I took it reluctantly.

"I'm not supposed to bring this." I raised a brow at him.

"Double your socks. Get it in between and hope for the fucking best. You can't go in there naked."

With a nod, I flicked my stare to one of the men to fetch me another pair of socks before returning to Pietor with a firm gaze.

My cousin had a tendency to be cruel, but in this particular instance, I was grateful for his protective nature. We clapped arms together and held each other"s gaze.

"Don't let them fuck this up. And if something goes sideways for Parker, you get her the fuck out of there."

I turned back to the group of men standing at the ready across from me. "That goes for all of you. Got it?"

A choir of "yes, sir" rang in the chrome and tile room.

Steeling myself with a deep breath, I knew I had to add a particular addendum to that order.

"And I mean that in any instance." I roamed my stare across each person gathered. "If I'm fucked, fine. You put Parker first on the priority list."

Silence hung, heavy and thick. I knew they all had to think I was nuts. But it didn't fucking care. Parker was the priority. She was the rescue target, and getting her out of there was more important than protecting me or even taking out Pavel.

"Get the car ready, have med on standby, and get more backup prepared in case this all flips on us. I don't want this getting back to the Vadim house."

The collection of assholes who I had with me in this house since I moved in did as ordered.

Loyalty, integrity and honesty among killers.

It's what I expected of all of them, and they'd yet to let me down. The world was always destined for violence and death, but having this crew by my side, especially Pietor, might make it bearable.

When it was just me and Pietor in the armory, I leaned against the long table to double up the socks and hide away the blade. I was a righty, so I went with that side, assuming I had that arm available. The metal bit into the side of my leg slightly, but my slim boot was able to slide right back into place with hopefully no one the wiser.

"You're going to get yourself fucking killed."

Pietor's tone was flat, and I scoffed.

"Well, then, you'll happily claim my belongings. Probably to light them on fire or some bullshit."

At once, he was up in my face, gripping either lapel of my suit jacket.

"Don't you dare fucking roll over and take this. You can't just be fine with dying in there. Not over some chick."

Shoving Pietor back hard, he crashed against the wall behind him, rattling the hanging firearms. I jabbed a finger at him, glaring hard as he shuffled back to his feet.

"Do not speak about Parker like that."

Tension radiated like radioactive trash, and for a few solid seconds, we just glared at each other. Eventually, Pietor broke the eye contest, shaking his head and straightening his leather jacket. When his mismatched gaze met mine again, I saw the burn of anxiety behind them.

"You need to be honest with at least yourself about her if you won't be honest with me."

I frowned, yanking my chin back as I glared all the harder. "The fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"You can't keep playing this bullshit about her just being your wife because, oops, the situation demanded it. They fucking did not. Tell the fucking truth, cousin."

Pietor liked to pull that card whenever he was especially pissed at me. He knew as well as I did that "cousin" didn't match our relationship correctly. My mother was dead when I was a damn teenager, and he had taken me in. Damned brother was more like it.

I let out a heavy sigh, feeling the gusty wind in my sails suddenly come to a stop. I slumped down onto the table behind me, using it as support so I wouldn"t fall to the floor.

This internal conversation and the vocalization of Parker's role in my life that would have to follow weren't items on my to-do list I was particularly looking forward to. I didn't want to admit dick. I shouldn't have to, and yet…

Here the fuck I was.

"This isn't the best fucking time for this, Pietor."

"It'll take you two point five seconds if you can get your head out of your ass. I'd set a timer, but…"

Cocking him a hard glance from under my brows, I sighed, my head dropping. I didn't do relationships. I didn't do any of this fucking touchy-feely nonsense that any "normal" girl wanted. I was too fucking busy and too damned tainted to believe in any of that.

But…

Even thinking about Parker tied up in some abandoned warehouse made my blood boil so hot I thought it would eat through my skin. I was enraged more than I'd ever been at her kidnapping, and yeah, I needed to examine why that was. Because you couldn't prepare for a weakness if you wouldn't accept you had one.

And Parker was my biggest damn weakness.

"Tick, tick, tick. Clock's a moving, asshole." Pietor raised his brows at me, chewing on his tongue as he played with that damned ring.

"I care about her deeply. Okay?"

He just stared at me, and I sighed, pushing up from the table and heading toward the door. As I reached the frame, very aware that Pietor was still planted by the wall, I paused. When I opened my mouth to speak, it was just a whisper.

"I love her."

I walked through the door, and the sound of Pietor's footsteps quickly followed me toward the car.