Chapter 24 - Benedikt

Sighing as I ran my fingers through my hair, I blinked back the exhaustion from my eyes and silently pulled myself together.

The meetings had been long and tiring, and I wanted more than anything to just get back home to Gemma so that I could get my fill of her attention and affection. So that I could siphon that addicting calmness from her touch and presence.

That was how it tended to be as of late. By the end of the day, I just wanted her. I needed her, regardless of how foreign it still seemed at times.

All of us were out of steam as we got up from the table and could barely manage a word after deliberating for so long. It seemed the day had done us all in, and we needed the chance to get out of there and decompress.

Reaching for my phone to see if Gemma had any success with her typewriter mission, I was surprised to see an alert instead. Immediately, my brows furrowed as I scanned over the notification.

Apparently, one of our drivers had been killed in broad daylight. It happened only twenty minutes prior. My heart sank immediately.

There was a chance it wasn’t Mikhail, given how many drivers we had. It could’ve been any of them.

At least, that was what I told myself to keep from absolutely losing my mind right then and there.

But as much as I wanted to believe it was someone else, and only they had been affected by it, that sinking feeling in my gut was too strong to ignore.

It was like I already knew without having to read the confirmation.

Standing there next to the conference table, I was quick to respond to the alert, demanding to know if it was, in fact, Mikhail. I had assigned him to Gemma since day one, as I found it easier to keep track of, and should anything like this happen, I wouldn’t have to guess if she was involved.

Silently pleading, I waited for a reply. Sure enough, a text came back with the usual notification sound, and my skin went cold.

Confirmed: Mikhail, Driver ID #047 deceased. Passenger unaccounted for.

My hands shook as I registered what that meant, but couldn’t fathom how it happened. How such a simple task had ended in his death.

Beyond that, Gemma was unaccounted for. That meant the recovery team couldn’t find her at the scene. She either ran from the accident or was taken.

As much as the latter brought me a deep sense of dread, I had the feeling it was the most likely answer, and that sent my mind into a state of complete frenzy.

“What’s going on?” Ari asked me, voice cutting through my panicked trance.

I swallowed hard and looked up at him, not fully able to see him as the genuine alarm seemed to mess with my entire body. “The driver I sent with Gemma…he’s dead.”

Ari’s face reflected his immediate concern as he took the phone from my shaking hand and inspected it for himself. That worry only deepened as he processed it. “How could this happen? In broad daylight?”

“I don’t know,” I murmured, trying to regain my bearings.

It was so rare for me to be reduced to such a helpless, questioning state, but having someone be as important to me as Gemma was, knowing that she could be taken away so easily, shook the entire foundation of my being.

The disbelief and shock had its grip on me, and even as Ari put a steadying hand on my shoulder, I could barely register anything going on around me.

“This has to be the Ivanovs,” Ari muttered, turning to Kir, who was standing in the doorway apparently watching me fall apart. “Get Lukyan back in here, now!”

Kir nodded once before he was out the door, flagging Luk down.

Everything around me seemed to spin as that name sank into my skin and made me bristle.

The Ivanovs. It had to be them. Nobody else would be ready to launch an attack like that, and they were surely angry I took away their potential access to Gemma by keeping her at home.

Their name was never removed from the article, and because of it, they were forced into hiding. They had to be just as fired up about it as the day they confronted her. Even considering that they likely had my wife in their possession was enough to shift that panic into raw, unavoidable anger.

The twins thought they could move on our turf, steal our payload, and finish it off by killing my driver and taking my wife. They thought it was well within their rights, and that they would be able to get away with it.

But I wasn’t going to let that happen.

Pulling myself together, it was like a switch had been flipped in my mind, and I knew I couldn’t stop until I had her back. No matter the manpower, gunpowder, or the relentlessness required to get it done, I was going to find her.

“If it was them, then they’ve likely taken her as leverage,” I said, hands clenched hard as I looked at Ari. “We have to locate the street where the killing happened, see where Gemma went, and hunt down whoever did this. Should it be the Ivanovs, this will be the last thing they ever do.”

As Ari met my gaze, visibly registering the serious determination in my voice, he nodded. “She is your wife, Benedikt. Take the lead on this one, and we will back you up.”

Feeling the silent trust and faith he had in me to see to it, I pushed away a slight flicker of gratitude and nodded. As disappointed as he had been in me for causing problems, I knew Ari felt I was capable. I knew he was aware of my competence even if I forgot about it myself.

With urgent steps, Kir and Luk re-entered the room, the latter carrying a tablet and hurrying over to us.

“The recovery team sent me the coordinates where the incident took place,” he said, tapping away until he pulled up a map, then switched to street view. “The engine had barely been turned off before it happened.”

Taking a closer look at the map, the location immediately registered in my mind. “That’s right outside Gemma’s old apartment building. She probably didn’t make it inside before it happened.”

Luk nodded and tapped on the screen again to pull up the surveillance footage. “Take a look at this. It should show us if someone took her and what direction they went. We’ll be able to move from there.”

“Kir, send some units out to that area now and have them on standby as we get updated on the footage,” I directed, watching the tablet as Luk pressed play.

Doing as instructed, Kir pulled his phone out and immediately started calling our drivers, alerting them of the situation and what their objectives were. At the same time, he was accessing the live camera feeds from his laptop.

Zeroing in on the footage as it played, my heart was in my throat. I knew I had to watch for Gemma’s sake, but the idea of anything happening to her made my heart ache. There was no telling what I might see, and that was terrifying.

But she needed me. She needed me to be unwavering in that moment, and even if she wasn’t there to see it, I was determined to show her just how prepared I was to get her back home.

The clip began with the usual movement of traffic before Mikhail pulled up to the curb in the SUV. The engine turned off, there was a brief pause with no movement, and then both doors popped open. Mikhail and Gemma both stepped out and made their way to the sidewalk.

Even seeing her in the footage made my heart squeeze. While I was afraid of what would happen next, we had eyes on her for at least a moment—long enough for us to know she made it to the building.

As Gemma looked up at the building, the pedestrians around her immediately parted, and a single shot was fired. It hit Mikhail’s chest, and he remained standing for a moment before he succumbed and hit the ground.

There was chaos and movement, but Gemma could only stand there as she watched in complete shock. It almost looked like she was about to approach Mikhail's side before several men ran up, and one of them slammed the butt of their pistol against her head.

My stomach dropped as I watched her go down, caught by the masked figures as they snatched her unconscious body up and dragged her away. At once, a vehicle pulled up to the curb, and they put her inside before piling in and driving off.

The rage was coiling within me and wrapping around every organ as I watched it all unfold, aware that my suspicions had been confirmed, and my worst nightmare had come to fruition.

My voice, while lower and quieter than one might expect, held the true depth of my fury within it. “It has to be the Ivanovs…those bastards have done it now.”

They had done the unthinkable.

They targeted one of the most important people in my life in broad daylight, and for whatever reason, they believed it would help them somehow. As if I would surrender everything, and they would manage to get what they wanted.

The Ivanovs likely thought we would simply lie back and take it, but they were wrong.

While I would give my life for Gemma at that point, that didn’t mean I’d roll over and let it happen. We had the manpower to wipe them out, and after witnessing what they had done to my wife, I was more than willing to see it through.

Blood boiling, I had to fight back the urge to hit something. To let that anger come out.

As tempting as it was, I had to save it for when it counted.

“They were heading west,” I said to no one in particular, feeling the immediate need to jump into action. “If we scan the cameras and manage to find that vehicle, then we’ll have a better idea of where they’re going.”

They already had a lead on us while we were putting the pieces together, and I knew we couldn’t waste any time. We had to get as close to her as possible, as soon as possible. The less time I allowed them to have with her, the better.

At once, Lukyan slid in next to Kir at the table with a nod. On the tablet, he was shifting through the old feeds as he tried to track down the plateless vehicle, while Kir tracked it on the map in tandem.

All the while, my whole body was rippling with nervous energy, itching to get out there and find her for myself. I needed to lay eyes on Gemma personally and to find out if she was alright after being knocked out like that.

“There!” Luk said as he zeroed in on one of the cameras while the vehicle passed through the frame. “They’re still westbound. If the teams are out there, it shouldn’t take long for them to close in. These are a bit delayed, so we’ll have to be quick.”

“I’ll send the general location out to everyone,” Kir added, immediately sharing the coordinates with the drivers and teams. “I’ll have them flank that area, and someone should be able to track them down.”

“Tell them to watch out for that street,” I said, recalling how the scene had unfolded in daylight with more than enough witnesses. “It’ll be congested with first responders. Tell them to go around and avoid the cops like the plague. If we can slip by without anyone else getting involved, we’ll be able to handle this ourselves.”

Everyone seemed on board as they focused on the task at hand, and as I steeled myself against the worry and fear that consumed me, I silently reminded myself that it was all for Gemma. Nothing else mattered at that moment.

“I’m heading out,” I said, putting my phone in my pocket as I headed toward the door. “I can’t wait around here until they find her.”

Understanding, Ari nodded. “I’ll come with you.”

Not willing to argue or waste time, I met his gaze in a silent acknowledgment, and we both headed for the door.

With my heart in my throat, I could only hope we weren’t too late.

After everything we had been through and the connection we started to build together, I wasn’t willing to let Gemma go.

She was my wife—a Levov—and I wouldn’t rest until she was safe and sound.