Noises erupt upstairs, cutting him off.
My breath catches, and I jerk my chin up, my neck aching.
The loud pop of gunfire filters down to the empty basement room we’re in. Then shouting, followed by the sound of footsteps.
Dmitri curses. I stare at the ceiling, willing someone to come down. I want to scream, but don’t want to provoke Dmitri. If he knocks me out, there’s no way I can call out. No way to tell someone to save me, whoever is here.
I hope to god it’s Aiden.
Dmitri darts around me. I can feel him untie me from the wall, then a burn on my wrists as he yanks me up by the rope holding my arms behind my back. He twists the length around his hand and shoves me forward, just beneath the bare lightbulb hanging from the ceiling.
I stumble a little, tired and disoriented. Dmitri yanks until I stop beneath the light. I breathe heavily, watching the staircase.
In my mind, I imagine Aiden bursting down the stairs with his men behind him. I imagine them flooding the basement, their guns drawn, someone shooting Dmitri from a distance. I imagine him hitting the ground in the blink of an eye, the danger gone all at once.
I know that won’t be the reality.
Dmitri leans close to me, his mouth at my ear. I can feel it hot on my skin, and I try to squirm away, but he holds me in place.
“Is this what you want? You want him to come save you?”
I try to twist my hands out of the rope, but it’s too tight. Dmitri doesn’t seem to care that I’m fighting him. I can feel him looming behind me, his body close, his presence terrifying.
He leans away from my ear. His voice is low when he speaks again, but he’s calm. Darkly prepared.
“He won’t save you. No one will.”
I hear something move, then a metallic click. My heart sinks as I feel something cold press to the back of my head.
A gun.
I squeeze my eyes shut and start praying silently.Please, please let me get out of here.
“I’ll kill you before I let him have you,” Dmitri says softly.
And I believe him.
CHAPTER36
Aiden
Dmitri’s house sits on a slightly raised hill that borders a forest, perched on the slope as if it’s about to dive off and soar over the city. It looks just like him. Black, steel, everything dark and sterile. An imitation of what he thinks intimidation looks like.
There are black sedans parked on the curved driveway, and my brothers and I meet Jamie at the edge of the property.
“Watch your corners,” Lachlan says, glancing at all of us. “And watch each other’s backs.”
“Let’s go.” Jamie’s eyes burn with almost as much rage as I feel as he glances toward the house.
With grim nods, we all turn and move.
Connor takes the front door. He shoots out the lock, then slams it open, his weight a massive force that blows it in. We burst in without much care for secrecy. I split to the right. I know the others will cover the rest of the house. We know what we’re doing. We’ll go in two groups, left and right.
Connor and Jamie are at my side as we round a corner and find two guards. Connor shoots one in the shoulder, and I take the other. The man I shot is still upright, so I lunge forward and whip my gun against the side of his head. He hits the ground in a heap as we move forward.
This is just the beginning. The bulk of Dmitri’s security is probably deeper in the house, closer to where Dmitri must be.
The next corner proves me right.
