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He curses under his breath, realizing the same thing I did the moment I walked into the alley and Mariya wasn’t there.
Our little sister is rebellious. She wants to dabble in danger and test her limits—but she isn’t stupid. She wouldn’t have left with some guy she didn’t know, especially with Luna waiting inside for her.
If she left Suono, it wasn’t because she wanted to.
“The list of people to kill grows longer every day.” Nik sighs.
We climb a worn set of stairs and Sergey stops in front of the first apartment on the second floor. He’s cradling his bloody hand in his shirt and tips his head towards the door. “In there.”
“This is it?” Nik asks. “You’re sure?”
Sergey double checks the apartment number. “I’m sure.”
I shove him into the door. “Knock. Tell him it’s you.”
He reluctantly lets go of his left hand and knocks softly on the door. “Hey, Ryder, man. It’s me.”
Nik is tucked against the wall next to the door, his gun ready. I wait on the other side.
“Again,” I bark when no one answers.
Sergey knocks harder. “Ryder! Open up!”
There’s movement from inside the apartment. Then a deep voice. “Come back later.”
Nik elbows Sergey. “Open the door.”
Sergey tries the knob and shakes his head. “It’s locked.”
“I don’t have fucking time for this,” I growl.
I kick Sergey over to Nik, who snares him by the neck so he doesn’t run. Then I angle back and drive my shoulder and all of my weight straight into the door.
The door frame is as rundown as the rest of the apartment building, so when I hit it, the trim splinters and rips away from the wall and we find ourselves staring through the now-open door into Ryder’s apartment.
It’s small. Which means it doesn’t take more than one glance inside to see a large man with his hands all over my sister.
He turns towards the door and Mariya slams her fists into the man’s chest. “Yakov! Help!”
The tremor in her voice is a shot of adrenaline straight to my chest. It’s that day at Nikandr’s soccer game all over again.
My father bleeding out in my arms. Nik and Mariya looking to me for help, for answers.
They saw horrors they shouldn’t have seen that day. Things I should have protected them from.
Just like it was my job to protect Mariya from this.
From him.
I leap over the shattered remains of the front door and land with both feet in the middle of the living room.
Ryder scrambles away from my sister, both hands in the air. “Whoa, man. This your girl? She didn’t tell me. I didn’t know nothing!”
He’s in his thirties, at least. He knew Mariya was way too young for him, even if he didn’t know anything else.
“She’s my sister,” I snarl.
Nik moves in behind me, Sergey still in tow, and grabs Mariya from the couch.
