15. Nikolai

15

NIKOLAI

T hey drove us to a building I'd never been in before, but it seemed small with how prosperous the Cartel had become. We all visited on official business—or to attack like we had at the warehouse where we'd taken their women. But this location wasn't familiar.

I knew what its purpose was, though. This was somewhere they brought enemies to torture and kill. Dmitri and I were the only ones down here in this simple concrete room. We were roughly shoved down to sit in hard, stiff chairs, and the impact sent reverberating shockwaves of pain through my body.

Others had been here before. Their blood still stained the walls. Vomit, shit, and piss stank from every corner, and I had no doubt countless people had lost control of their bodies from the stark terror and fear they'd felt as they were tortured to the last slight inch of their lives.

They'd do the same to us now. There was no question in my mind that Dmitri and I had been kept alive for a purpose. Torture would be commencing soon, but I would never fucking break .

Dmitri caught my attention, making eye contact after they'd removed the hoods over our heads. I blinked, acknowledging my brother before facing forward. Our silent communication was all that we needed to know we were on the same page. We wouldn't cave, no matter how badly they beat us.

Duty. Came. First.

They didn't keep us waiting for long. Once they bound our hands behind our backs, over the stiff chair backs that forced us to keep our shoulders spread apart awkwardly, they came at us.

I grunted and tensed for every hit. I couldn't deflect anything. They'd taken our guns and knives, and with four men taking turns to punch, kick, and hit us with batons, they whaled on us with no mercy. Nothing was off limits, but I did manage to keep my legs together, straining in my thighs, to protect my crotch. The batons didn't strike me there. Everywhere else was fair game. My face bled from the strikes and punches. My gut ached from the kicks. Each time I heard Dmitri grunting and breathing hard from the same treatment, my anger rose to a fever pitch. Listening to my brother get beaten did something to me. Defensive and furious, I fought the ropes at my hands and desperately waited to get free and kill them all for hurting someone in my family.

What felt like hours of agony and pain were likely only minutes. They'd only begun, it seemed, before others entered the room and called them off in Spanish.

"Stop. Stop right now!"

Whoever this slick-looking fucker was, he had to be in charge of the grunt guys who'd taken their time to beat us. Immediately, they backed up, obeying their superior.

Two more men filed in, and they both sported the same fancier attire of suits. These were higher ranking men, and I swore I recognized one as a cell leader .

"The Valkovs think to trespass and steal from us, eh?" the shorter, bald one taunted. He shook his head. "Eh, you motherfucking Valkov? Answer me."

Dmitri and I remained silent, breathing hard. I stared at the Ortez asshole through the less swollen eye they hadn't punched hard enough. In reply, I spat out a mouthful of blood, then licked my dry lips.

"I hope you see with your business burning to the ground what happens when you fuck around with the Ortez operations."

Still, we said nothing. We were trained in how to tolerate and survive torture and interrogations.

"Likewise," I said. "You attacked our club first." That wasn't giving them any information they didn't already know.

"You think I give a fuck?" He snarled, picking up a baton and rushing to bring it to me. The weapon wasn't raised. He didn't strike. Fuming and frustrated, he gritted his teeth and shook his head at us.

"This isn't some little tit-for-tat bullshit," he warned. "You went too far!"

By taking one shipment of women to be transported? I doubted it. They'd probably shifted their efforts elsewhere and already had another crew kidnapping women in another area of the city.

"This is more than just a business deal ruined," he growled.

Dmitri cleared his throat. "Quit talking in riddles."

I didn't blame him for the attitude. If they'd kept us alive this far, they had a message for us. We were alive to bring news back to Alek. It was obvious. Otherwise, they wouldn't have gone this easy on us. Knives, guns, and other instruments would have been used in this room where real torture occurred.

"Fuck you. Fuck you all. You?— "

He straightened, losing the glare of bravado that shone in his eyes. As the door opened, squealing slightly as the heavy metal panel into this soundproofed room swung open, he wizened up to this newcomer.

Another clean-cut Cartel leader entered, but with him was a man I'd never seen before.

In a gray suit, tailored to perfection to frame his thin body, a distinguished, older man stepped in. His face was blank, and he didn't show a sign of being bothered about the evidence of blood and violence.

Silvery black hair had been gelled and smoothed down. His cufflinks reflected the light from the single bulb overhead. Steadily and quickly, he strode right into the middle of the room and held his hands in front of him. Like this was any other business meeting. Just another day in the life.

He held power. He had to if the Cartel members all went quiet and stepped back to defer to him.

"These?" He gestured at me and my brother, waving one hand before folding it with the other again. "These men have her?" He spoke in clear English, not the broken Spanish the other men did.

I detected a trace of something else, something foreign, and I knew this man was a stranger to the organization, or at least a more remote person from afar.

"Yes, Diego. They are soldiers within the Bratva."

He tilted his head to the side, eyeing Dmitri but settling his narrowed gaze on me. "I demand to have her returned. Immediately."

I raised my brows, uninterested in telling him that we wouldn't plan on doing any such thing.

"You took our women," said the Cartel leader I recognized. "All of them, and our acquaintance here has already purchased one in particular. "

I spat again, removing the blood from my mouth.

"You will return her," Diego ordered, staring at me for a long, terse moment.

Suspense grew thicker, but I didn't blink. I didn't budge at all, staring right back and letting him see how little his words or bluster impacted me. They didn't. He wasn't in any position to tell me what to do or how our family should care about his wishes.

I didn't give a fuck what he wanted.

With a glance at the Cartel leader, he nodded once, then turned to leave.

I didn't understand how that fucker could have so much power over all these men, but the fact that he did told me he had to be an influential player they wanted to appease.

Or feared.

"You're going to bring back that fucking blonde," the leader said once the door was closed once more. "I don't give a fuck about the others. Kill them. I don't care. But you bring that short blonde with the hazel eyes back."

Amy. My blood turned to ice.

"No." I knew better than to negotiate or talk back. Silence was the goal here. The less we said, the better. It was less for them to use against us.

He's talking about Amy. That creepy old fucker had paid for Amy.

"He's not going to stop," the leader said. "He's already had his personal security slaughter my men."

"Cry me a goddamn river," Dmitri retorted.

"Diego…" The leader looked up at the door, almost as if he feared being overheard. "He will not stop until he has that blonde again. He's already paid a significant amount for her, and every minute he's de layed…" The man shook his head, showing clear fear as he rubbed his hand over his mouth. "The sadistic freak doesn't like being told no."

"Too fucking bad," I said dully, without any emotion. I had to force myself to keep this mask of indifference. Inside, I was roaring and heaving with fury at what he was suggesting.

"He won't rest easy until he's got that bitch." The Cartel leader scowled. "He had one look at her and it was a done deal."

"I don't care," I growled.

"You wanted to hit us, you wanted to give the message to the Ortez." He tapped his chest and nodded. "Noted, motherfucker. Kill the women. Do whatever you want. It won't stop us. You haven't shut us down and you never will, but you need to give that woman back so he can have what he claimed."

Over my dead body.

"You done wasting our time here?" Dmitri sneered.

"You tell your brother." The leader focused on me. "You explain this to him. Your Bratva is weak, going through a change of power, but Diego will not wait. He will not stop until he has what he's bought."

If I hadn't seen the fear and respect all these violent men had for that old creep, I wouldn't have believed this power play. I knew not to take this man's warnings lightly. They had an entire organization to run, but Diego posed a threat severe enough that they were worried.

My worry for Amy skyrocketed, but with it, my anger burned hotter and fiercer.

There was no fucking way on earth Diego was getting Amy. I didn't care how much he'd paid for her. She would not end up as his possession .

I didn't have a chance to explain that to the Cartel members within this room. Gunfire peppered through the silence, coming nearer and nearer until the metal door was kicked in.

Valkov men swept into the room, firing at the Cartel members.

The leader hid behind his men, sneaking away, and I knew Ivan would be livid that one escaped.

"Hurry," he told me and Dmitri as more Valkov soldiers cut the ropes at our hands. Once we were free, he handed us both guns, and we ran out of there.

I wasn't shocked that he'd found us. We both had trackers on us, small devices that Alek had all five of us wear just in case. Only the six of us—Mila included—knew of the locating software. It was only a matter of time until he'd come for us. Ivan was at the Harrow's fire, and when Dmitri and I were taken, he'd probably arranged a team to chase after us and get us out.

He didn't need to urge me to hurry. I knew I had to go . Limping and running, I fled the building and joined the Valkov forces rushing toward the cars. I threw myself into the car with Ivan, yelling at him to step on it. Dmitri climbed into the back.

"Nik." Dmitri groaned as he shifted in the backseat. "They were talking about the one?—"

"I know!" I shouted back at him.

"—the one you took. Where did you stash her?" Dmitri asked.

"I—Don't worry about it."

Dmitri smashed his hand to the back of the headrest, sending me forward. "Don't worry? Fuck that."

"I'll explain."

"Where is she?" Dmitri asked .

I wouldn't say. He could not be thinking about giving her over. "I said I'll fucking explain. She's at the mansion. Safe. In my protection and custody."

He snorted. "Don't try to tell me to keep this from Alek, Nik. I won't."

I glowered out the windshield. "I don't expect you to. Tell him." In fact, that was better. Dmitri could start explaining to Alek while I went to my wing and found her. I had to see her. Now . "Fucking go, Ivan!" I yelled, angry that the drive was taking so long.

"We're going." He scowled at me, breathing hard from the exertion of that run. "Are you shot?"

I shook my head. "They wanted us alive. They have a message for Alek."

He nodded, grim-faced and speeding home. "What do they want?"

Even though I would need to report to Alek, I could tell my brother here in the car. We didn't hide intel from each other. We operated with Alek as our Pakhan , but we were always a team, just like our father would have wanted.

Dmitri scoffed. "Simple. One of the women from the warehouse was already bought. And they want her back."

I shook my head. They can't have her. Diego will never have her. "I…"

"Breathe, Brother. Breathe." Ivan shrugged out of his jacket as he drove, tossing it to me to compress the bleeding at the gash on my head.

I couldn't. I felt like I wouldn't drag in enough air to fuel my lungs until I saw Amy again. Only once I saw her and held her in my arms would I be able to reset my brain from this stark panic. The idea of losing her was terrible, but the thought of that sick fucker getting her was abominable .

I had to see her. Now. As Ivan sped us back home, I struggled with the deep-seated need to be in Amy's presence and see with my own eyes that she was away from the Cartel and their backer, far from that deranged customer hellbent on having his way and retrieving his purchase .

Amy had to be safe at the mansion. No one could breach the security there, and I tried to comfort myself with that fact. Alek was there. We had so many loyal brothers, ready to defend our headquarters. Amy had to be protected there, locked in my wing.

The sooner I could reach her and feel her within my embrace, the sooner I could figure out how to keep her out of that man's clutches for good.