Chapter 52

Victor

I STORMthrough the twisting corridors of this godforsaken hellhole, my gun locked and loaded, my fury a living, breathing thing inside me.

“Where are they, you suka?” I roar, slamming a Vasiliev goon against the blood-splattered wall. “Where’s my wife? My niece?”

The bastard just grins, his teeth stained red. I smash my fist into his face, feeling bones crunch beneath my knuckles. He sags, blood gushing from his ruined nose, but still says nothing.

“Fuck this,” I snarl, dropping him in a heap. No time to waste on scum like him. Laura and Eli are here somewhere; I can feel it in my bones. I just have to find them.

Doc moves ahead of me, his usually kind face set in grim lines. The old man’s a fucking machine, cutting down Vasiliev’s dogs left and right. He may have traded his scalpels for a cause, but today, he’s a reaper in a white coat.

“Ksenia, gde ty? What’s your status?” I bark into my earpiece, scanning the hallways for any sign of Laura or Eli.

“On the way to you now,” Ksenia’s voice crackles back, icy calm despite the gunfire echoing in the background. “Vasiliev sent his whole fucking army, but they’re nothing. Just flies to swat. I’m getting my daughter back, Vitya. Seychas.”

“They’re here, I know it,” I growl, glancing at the tracking device in my palm. The red dot pulses steadily, a beacon of hope amid the carnage. “Just hurry the fuck up, da?”

Suddenly, shadows detach from the gloom, rushing at me with glinting knives. I pivot, my own blade leaping to my hand, slashing in a vicious arc. Hot blood sprays as I slice clean through the first bastard’s ear, his scream choked off as I plunge my knife into his heart.

The second one lunges, snarling curses, but Doc’s there, a silent ghost. He catches the goon’s wrist and twists viciously. The snap of bone, then a gurgle as Doc opens the fucker’s throat with surgical precision.

“Go,” Doc says, already turning to face the next wave of enemies. “Find them. I’ll handle this.”

I don’t hesitate, leaping over the twitching corpses and pounding down the blood-slick hall. “Gde ty, lyubov moya?” I rasp, my heart a jackhammer in my chest. “Where are you, my love?”

And then, like a miracle, a ghost, Laura stumbles out of the shadows, her face streaked with tears and grime. For a moment, I’m frozen, drinking her in, hardly daring to believe she’s real.

“Laura,” I breathe, starting toward her. “Slava Bogu, thank God, I—”

But before I can reach her, a figure lunges from the darkness, snake-quick. An arm locks around Laura’s throat, yanking her back against a broad chest. The barrel of a gun kisses her temple.

“Ah, ah, ah,” a voice tuts, smug and mocking. “Not so fast, mudak.”

Ivan Vasiliev grins at me over Laura’s shoulder, his eyes black and soulless. He has my wife, my heart, in his filthy grasp.

And in that moment, I know with icy certainty that I’m going to rip him apart with my bare fucking hands.

“Let her go, svoloch,” I snarl, my gun leveling at his sneering face. “Or I swear on my life, I’ll smear these walls with your brains.”

Ivan just laughs, the sound like nails on a chalkboard. “Oh, Vitya. Always so dramatic.” He nuzzles Laura’s hair, making her flinch. My finger tightens on the trigger.

“I think you’ll be putting down the gun now, da?” he says, digging the pistol harder into Laura’s skin. “Unless you want to see if her pretty head stops my bullet.”

I hesitate, my pulse pounding in my ears. This pidar has me by the balls, and he knows it.

“Victor,” Laura whispers, her eyes locked on mine.

Red mist descends, boiling rage and icy terror.

“It’s going to be okay,” I grit out, locking eyes with Laura. Tears streak down her face, but she nods, trusting me even with a gun to her fucking head.

God help me, I won’t let her down.

Ivan’s goons litter the floor, groaning and leaking blood. Whimpering girls cower in the corners, their eyes dead. This is what this suka does. Ruins lives for his own sick pleasure.

And now he’s got my wife, grinning like he’s already won. But there’s something wild in his eyes. He didn’t think I’d find this shithole. It’s thrown him off his game.

“You think you’ve won, Vitya?” he sneers, pressing the barrel harder against Laura’s temple. She flinches, a small, choked sound escaping her bloodied lips. “You think you can just waltz in here and take what’s mine?”

“Nothing is yours,” I snarl, my finger twitching on the trigger. “You stole everything, these women, their lives, their fucking souls. You’re nothing but a vor, a thief and a monster.”

Ivan’s eyes flash, his grip on Laura tightening as he takes a step back, scanning the room like a cornered rat. “Put the fucking gun down, Vitya,” he orders, his voice high and manic. “Or I’ll send your precious shlyukha straight to hell!”

Blyad. I can’t risk it, can’t watch him paint the walls with her blood. Slowly, I lower my gun to the floor, my teeth grinding so hard my jaw aches.

Ivan’s laugh is a hyena’s cackle. “Not so tough now, eh?” He swings the gun toward me, the barrel a black hole ready to swallow me whole.

Laura sobs, straining against his grip, begging.“No. No, please.”

Ivan sneers, his finger curling around the trigger. “Say do svidaniya, you svoloch. I’ll send your woman to meet you in a minute.”

“Only one saying do svidaniya here is you, mudak.” Ksenia’s voice cracks through the air like a whip, hard as steel. “Ready to reap what you’ve sown, Ivan?”

Ksenia steps from the shadows, a gun in each hand, her hair cascading down her back. She’s a vision of deadly beauty, my avenging angel in black leather.

Ivan’s eyes widen, something like hunger flickering in their depths. “Ksenia,” he murmurs, his grip on Laura slackening just a fraction. “You look as lovely as ever, myshka. Like a blade forged in the fires of hell, da?”

Ksenia smiles, a knife-slash in the gloom. “And you, Ivan, are still the same pathetic shlyukha I remember. Did you really think you could cross my family and live?” She takes a step forward, her guns never wavering. “Papa should have put you down years ago, like the rabid dog you are.”

Ivan’s face contorts with rage, ugly and twisted. “Your fucking papa is the reason we aren’t together!” he roars. “He’s the one who made you marry that mudak Dimitry! But look at him now, eh? Rotting in the ground like the worthless sack of shit he—”

A flash of movement catches my eye. Eli, darting forward, her small face set in determination.

Nyet, malyshka, don’t!

But it’s too late. She sinks her teeth into Ivan’s leg, biting down like a feral wolf pup.

Ivan howls, his gun swinging wildly as he kicks out at Eli. Laura seizes the moment, driving her elbow into his gut and wrenching free of his grasp.

But Ivan is quick, too quick.

His gun snaps up, aiming straight at Eli’s heart. Time slows, each heartbeat an eternity. I lunge forward, desperate. Ksenia blurs past me, a she-devil in motion.

The crack of a gunshot shatters the air.

I tackle Ivan down, but he’s already choking on his own blood, Ksenia’s knife buried in his neck.

“Eli! Malyshka!” Ksenia screams. My heart stops dead.

But Eli’s okay, safe in Laura’s arms. Laura slumps back, blood soaking her shoulder.

The bullet.

Blyad. She took a bullet for Eli!

“Laura, no!” I’m there in a second, pressing on the wound. She gives me a tight smile. “Doc!” I roar, my voice raw with fear. “Get the fuck over here, now!”

Doc sprints over, his face grim as he takes in the scene. Laura’s blood is hot and slick under my hands, her face pale as bone.

“Tetya Laura, please!” Eli sobs, clinging to Laura’s limp hand. Brave little malyshka, trying so hard not to fall apart.

“I’ve got her,” Doc says, pushing me aside to examine the wound. “Bullet’s still in there. We need to move her. Now.”

I scoop Laura into my arms, cradling her against my chest. She feels so light, so fragile. “Derzhi’s, lyubov moya,” I whisper into her hair. “Hold on. I’ve got you.”

Ksenia is at Eli’s side, holding her close. There’s something in her eyes I’ve never seen before as she looks at Laura. Something like respect. Gratitude.

“She saved her,” Ksenia murmurs, almost to herself. “She saved my malyshka.”

I meet my sister’s gaze, understanding passing between us. Laura’s not just an outsider anymore. She’s semya. Family.

We move quickly, picking our way through the carnage. The stench of blood and shit is thick in the air, but all I can focus on is the shallow rise and fall of Laura’s chest. The faint flutter of her pulse against my skin.

Stay with me, dorogaya. Don’t you fucking dare leave me.

Outside, the cold night air slaps me in the face. Searchlights slice through the darkness, glinting off the barrels of a dozen guns.

“Stand down!” I bark at my men. “We’ve got them. We’re coming out.”

Doc takes Laura from my arms, laying her gently in the back of the waiting SUV. Eli scrambles in beside her, taking her hand.

“Hold this,” Doc instructs, guiding Eli’s small hands to press a wad of gauze against the wound. “Just like that, malyshka. Keep the pressure on.”

I climb in, pulling Laura’s head into my lap. Ksenia slips into the front seat, slamming the door.

“Drive,” she snaps at the driver. “Get us out of here.”

The SUV roars to life, wheels spitting gravel as we peel out. I stroke Laura’s ashen face, murmuring desperate prayers.

In the rearview mirror, the compound blazes against the night sky, flames licking at the stars.

Let it burn. Let it all turn to ash.

Suddenly, my earpiece crackles to life, Misha’s voice filling my head. “Boss, we hit the motherlode. Crates of coke, heroin, you name it. And enough cash to buy a fucking island.”

I grunt, a grim satisfaction settling in my gut. Ivan’s whole empire, laid bare. “Bag it up, all of it. That svoloch won’t be needing it anymore.”

“What about the girls?” Misha asks, an uncharacteristic note of concern in his voice.

“Get them somewhere safe,” I order. “They’ve been through enough. And give them a cut of the cash. It’s the least we can fucking do.”

Misha grunts his assent. “Consider it done, boss.”