Chapter 28 - Aleksandr

Katie wasn't back yet when I arrived home, but I broke every speed limit and took every shortcut to avoid traffic, so I forced the anxiety away. I called Sergei first and got no answer, which didn't help matters, but I was still only pacing the library at that point. When Katie also didn't answer, I nearly went ballistic.

This wasn't right. I could feel in my gut that everything was about to go to hell, and I'd never been so close to losing it before. It hit me then that I could lose almost everything in my life and be fine, as long as I had Katie. And I couldn't reach her to make sure she was all right.

Checking the location on her phone, I saw she was still in the office building they'd been close to when I last spoke with her. Okay, that seemed like longer than she needed, but with the way LA traffic was, they could have been stopped half a block away for most of that time. There was no way Sergei would have let her walk. He was too wary to have her be out in the open like that.

Or she might have been chatting with the people in the office. She was friendly and valued her customers enough to want to put in extra time since she hadn't seen them in a while. I knew where she was. There was no reason to be so panicked.

I poured myself a shot of vodka to ease my shredded nerves and was about to call the guys I'd sent to tail her, when one of them beat me to it.

I answered the call abruptly, demanding to know what was happening over there, and cursing myself for not going to collect her myself. I'd imagined setting up a romantic treat for her and making amends. I didn't want to show her this side of me, the side that had to keep order. The Bratva king side.

"I've got eyes on their car, it's in a covered lot across the street. So far, no sign of them. Do you want us to breach the building?"

Yes, of course I did. "Not yet," I said. "Give them a little bit longer before busting in and making a scene."

Katie wouldn't like that at all. Some foolish part of my mind still hoped that I could get her home without raising her suspicions and continue to keep my secrets. Continue to have a happy, innocent wife who wouldn't look at me with contempt and scorn.

"How much longer?" he asked.

We agreed on ten minutes, which crawled by like years before I called back.

"Still nothing," my guy said. "I'm in the lobby, and I've got one man with their car and two outside covering the entrances."

And neither Katie nor Sergei were answering their phones. I had been staring at her location as each minute slowly ticked by, and it hadn't moved.

It was time to give up the ruse that everything was fine. Time to give up propriety and make the order to begin sweeping the building. I wracked my brain to remember if I had any contacts in that particular building when he spoke up again, his voice tense.

"We've suddenly got a large police presence converging outside on the street. You think this is a setup, boss?"

There wasn't time to swear. "I don't know, but something's wrong. I can feel it. Get the rest of your team and find her before the cops shut it all down."

I ended the call, struggling to breathe as I paced up and down the length of the library. More minutes ticked by, and I finally threw the shot glass I hadn't noticed I was still gripping. It shattered against the fireplace, and my eyes focused on the glittering shards against the dark marble.

No. This couldn't be my life going to pieces. That's not how this ended. My phone rang again, and I lunged for it. It had felt like an eternity passed, but it had been just shy of three minutes.

"Tell me," I snapped, putting it on speaker so I could resume pacing and tearing out my hair.

"There's been a murder in the building," my inside man said. A howl rose in my throat, but he clarified before it ripped free. "It's Sergei, but we can't do anything with him because the police are entering and starting to search."

"Fuck," I said, both devastated and relieved, a bizarre mix that made my stomach churn.

When did I become so emotional? I knew when—my wedding day. I had to keep it under control now and be the steely leader I'd always been before this soft spot appeared in my heart. The relief that it wasn't Katie's body was quickly doused. I still didn't know where she was.

"We don't know where she's at," he said in answer to that question. "But we found her cell phone by Sergei's body. Maybe she dropped it trying to get away from the attacker."

"She could be hiding somewhere in the building," I said hopefully.

The thought that someone might have her, be doing unspeakable things to her in order to hurt me, made me want to tear something apart.

‘We've got to hang back for now," he said. "Cops are locking the place down."

I let him go since there was nothing more he could do. I never thought I would have been grateful for any kind of police presence, but if they found her first, I'd donate a fortune to them this year.

Like a lightning bolt, I remembered the necklace I'd given her and hurried to open that app. The relief that washed over me made me sway as I honed in on her coordinates. Even if someone had taken her, I'd know exactly where to go to get her back. And then kill every last one of them who'd taken her. And not quickly and painlessly, either.

My blood ran cold when I saw it was very close to the building. And not moving. I fumbled for my phone and got my guy back on the line. I was no longer pacing but frozen in place as I waited for him to answer.

"Get around to the back of the building," I told him. "Search the whole perimeter. Hurry, before the cops end up back there, too."

As soon as I heard him say he was on it, I sparked back to life and headed toward the garage. I needed to be closer to Katie. In the car, I had it started before the door was even fully closed so I could race toward the woman who had taken over my entire world.

There was no way in hell she was dead. They knew she was worth more to me, alive and well. Surely, they had to know not a single one of them would be left standing if they harmed her. I kept the tracking app open and glanced at it as I swerved through the other cars on the road, ignoring anyone who beeped at me.

Why was she staying in that one spot for so long? Was she that badly hurt that she couldn't move? Was she so scared after witnessing her guard being killed that she didn't think it was safe to come out of her hiding spot? Not knowing made me grip the steering wheel until my knuckles were white. The anguish of thinking about her being in pain made me want to tear at my own skin.

I got another call, and the notification sent the tracking app to the background for a second. I answered, neatly swerving someone who thought a yellow light meant to stop. As I skated through the intersection just in time to miss the red light, my man at the building gave me his latest update.

"We found her necklace outside."

"What do you mean, her necklace?" I demanded. That wasn't what I wanted to hear.

But it was all he could offer. "The chain is broken. There's no other sign of her."

"I'll be there shortly," I said, ending the call and tossing my phone onto the seat beside me. There was no more need for the locator. She'd lost it somehow, maybe had it ripped violently from her neck.

Slamming my hands against the steering wheel and pressing my foot harder on the gas, I let out a primal roar. I was still miles away, but I told my phone to call Lev. It was time to get every last man in our organization out looking for my wife.