We both freeze when a shadow breaks free from the doorway.
With a swollen jaw, gore-streaked hair hanging over one ice cold eye, and blood splattered over his torn shirt, Max Belov prowls into the Kozlov vault.
My heart leaps into my throat.
He came.
Max waves a knife at Dimitri, thick bits of flesh flinging from the blade. “You’re done here.”
Surging hope beats back every dark emotion and infuses me with renewed purpose.
Even after I wrote him off as dead, he came for me.
Max survived the impossible, tracked us across however many miles, and showed up ready to slaughter those who threaten the Kozlov family.
Of course he did.
After all, he’s Mad Max, the Kozlovs’ bloody berserker.
Chapter 38
Max
Did that sick bastard really think he’d be able to take Nika against her will? Does he even know her? She’d find a way to end him. That I’m sure of.
The world shifts as I try to breathe, and my broken rib grinds. Killing those four guys out front without letting Dimitri and his two chucklefucks know I was there was tricky.
One bulky guy with sunglasses actually got a hit in before I could slit his throat, so I had to break his neck instead.
Then Dimitri lost his shit, and I had to handle Tweedledum and Tweedledee at the same time as they rushed out. Which was when I broke one of the knuckles on my left hand and rebroke the rib that had just started healing.
Somewhere along the way, I got a decent cut along my chest too. Tightening my muscles, I force air in and out of my lungs, allowing the pain to ground me. Nika’s all that matters now.
Her right hand hangs useless, purple with signs of broken bones. Still, she lifts her bound hands, ready to fight.
She’s incredible. Even battered and broken, she doesn’t give up.
Her eyes find mine, and I catch a glimpse of gratitude, relief, hope, and the knowledge that she’s not in this fight alone shining in those dark depths.
“Max.” Dimitri greets me as he would an old friend, but I recognize the sheen to his expression. Stiffly casual. The sign of a man beyond pain due to all the opiates in his system. His broken arm is in a sling, tucked tight against his chest. “You’re remarkably resilient.”
The last day and a half of not knowing if Nika was alive or if I was on a mission of vengeance has nearly killed me. Seeing her, breathing and waiting for me…
I never want to lose her again.
Dimitri smirks and pivots toward Nika, and I read his intentions to hold her hostage. He and I lunge at the same moment.
She flows backward, her foot coming up to connect with Dimitri’s jaw. His momentum knocks her off-balance, but she sends him flying.
That’s my girl.
I check my forward trajectory and lash out with the knife.
Dimitri sees me and drops, rolling under my outstretched arm. For a second, I think he’s sprinting for the door. Then his good hand goes for his sling.
“Gun!” Nika screams.
Throwing myself at him, I land on top of Dimitri. His ruined arm gets caught between us, pressing against my broken rib. That’s the least of my problems as my hand finds his gun.
