80. Kade

80

Kade

R ain falls in sheets as we approach Mashkov's estate. It's so dark I can barely see two feet in front of my boots, but that's not a bad thing. The guards won't be hanging around outside in this weather. I bet most of them are undercover or safe indoors.

Quinn's in my ear, handling the security system for us. The minute he tells me it's offline, we're going in hot.

I have 20 men at my back, including Madden and my brother. We're armed and ready to rain hell on the fucker who dared to take our woman.

And yes, I'm well aware I've started calling her 'our' woman. It turns out that the old expression, you don't know what you have until it's gone , is 100% correct.

"You're clear." Quinn's calm voice pulls me back to the present, reminding me why we're here.

We move into position. Cin and I will storm the front entrance, Madden and his team, the rear. I give the order and we move. My men take down the two guards by the gate and within minutes, we're in the house. I hear gunfire, yells, and muffled grunts.

A man appears from a side room, automatic weapon in hand, but Cin reacts first and he drops to the floor, dead. A female screams and my heart leaps in my chest, but it's not Tessa.

Kitchen staff scurry away, desperate to escape the carnage. I ignore them. They won't be loyal to Mashkov and if they want to leave, good for them.

I move through the house, checking each room systematically as I go. There is surprisingly little resistance, and no sign of Mashkov or his most loyal guards. No sign of anyone important, in fact.

"Incoming," Quinn warns in my ear.

Fuck. Someone has called for backup. Oh well. We can handle it.

I hear more gunfire and then the sound of an explosion. Outside, fire lights up the night sky as a van burns. Madden must have thrown a grenade. I guess that's one way to handle the backup guards.

As we move upstairs, I look for signs Tessa and Chloe are here, but so far, there's nothing. Every room we come across is bland. A study in beige. There are a few pictures on the wall. All the furniture is luxurious, but this house feels more like a hotel than a home.

The only room with any warmth is the kitchen. And that's now trashed with bullet holes in the cabinets and bloodstains all over the floor.

I push open a door and a man flies at me with a knife. I block him with my arm and the blade slices through my jacket, cutting into my bicep. It stings like a bitch.

"Motherfucker," Cin growls, shooting the asshole in the shoulder. He screams and drops the knife while I bleed all over the floor.

"Where's the woman and baby?"

The man on the floor laughs and then yelps when I kick him hard enough to crack a rib.

"You're too late, they're gone," he coughs, spitting up blood. Cin cocks his gun and points it at the man's head.

"Tell us where they've been taken," he snarls. My easy-going brother is long gone, leaving behind a feral creature eager for blood and revenge.

"He's taken her to the auction." Madden appears at my shoulder, blood spatter all over his face and hands. "Elena has Chloe."

"Cops are on their way. I'd get out of there if I were you," Quinn remarks in my ear. "You have 10 minutes at the most."

I drop to my knees and pull a long, viciously sharp knife from my thigh holster. "Where is the auction being held?"

The man on the floor looks at the knife and then at me. He's trying to be brave, but I can see all the possibilities of what I might do to him flutter across his face. I don't have time to eke this out, but I'm willing to slice and dice to get the information I need.

"Tell me now and you live. Stay quiet and I'll take you with us and keep you alive for weeks."

He gulps. "The Pussycat Lounge. In the basement."

The same place as before, where Madden and I spent an evening from hell.

"Is Mashkov there?"

"Yes, and Aleks."

Ah, his son . I've heard whispers on the street that Aleksander Mashkov isn't like his father, but it's hard to know what's true and what's bullshit. I hope for his sake the rumors are true. I'd prefer not to have to execute the kid.

But if he's had any role in this kidnapping, then I'll have no choice. We won't let any of the main players walk away.

I pull the trigger. The man's eyes glaze over, an expression of betrayal on his face because I didn't keep my promise. He should have known better than to trust a member of the mafia. We're all liars in this world. Every last one of us.

"Everyone out! Cops are incoming!" I yell into the comms, and my men peel out of the house, a couple of them limping from wounds sustained in the fighting.

We drive away from Mashkov's palatial mansion as the fire I started in the kitchen takes hold. It's my parting gift to the Russian bastard. He stole from us and now we're taking it back.