“And your staff is getting a call in five minutes. But Katya wasn’t supposed to be inside. I can’t risk something happening to her.”
“But I can get blown to pieces.”
“This isn’t the time to have feelings,stronzo! Get my wife the fuck out of the building.”
“You don’t need to worry, Andriani. I’ll keepmy sistersafe from the bomb your people planted.”
Then the line goes dead.
I stare at my phone. “Cazzo!” Then I dial him again. No answer. And again.
But Dmitri Sidorov doesn’t pick up.
If anything happens to Katya, I’ll never forgive myself.
Federico rolls up at last, fighting for a spot in traffic, and I walk in front of two lanes of honking, angry cars, not giving one single shit about their impatience or the fact that I’m causing a clusterfuck.
All I care about is getting to my wife.
Katya
“A bomb?”I repeat, my heart kicking into overdrive. “Are you kidding me?”
Dmitri is grim. “I wish I were.”
I swear I recognized the voice on the other end of the line. But I’m also having a difficult time wrapping my head aroundall this. Dmitri’s phone rings, but he looks at who’s calling and doesn’t answer.
“Was that Enzo?” I ask, going into full-blown panic.
“Yes. You have him and his stupid fucking minions to thank for this little stunt.” My brother calmly goes to his desk and packs up a laptop, stuffing it into a case. Then he moves to a safe on the back wall.
His movements are measured and steady, his face completely unconcerned. As if it’s every day that he’s told a bomb is about to explode inside his building.
As if this isn’t an emergency.
“What are you doing?” I demand, rushing over to him. “We have to leave.”
“Getting some things I can’t afford to lose,” he tells me as the safe beeps and pops open.
Inside, rows of cash and uniform-size bricks wrapped in plastic are neatly stacked. The thing is full, from top to bottom. I instantly know what’s in those bricks.
“Drugs? This place is about to explode, and you’re getting money and drugs out of the safe? Are you insane?”
“Absolutely, but this is necessary.”
He opens up a dark bag and starts dumping the bricks and cash into it, emptying the safe.
“Did he say how much time we have until the bomb goes off?” I swear I heard ten minutes, but my heart was beating so loud, I’m not sure I made out Enzo’s voice properly.
Dmitri doesn’t even spare a glance in my direction as he methodically cleans out the safe. “About eight minutes now, give or take a few seconds.”
“Dmitri, we have to go.” I grab my brother’s arm and pull. “Right fucking now.”
His phone starts ringing again, but he ignores it and me. Instead, he finishes clearing out the safe, emptying all the moneyand bricks of drugs into the bag. Then he takes up the bag and his laptop case and looks at me.
“Now we go. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. First door to your right, then go to the end of the hall.”
I don’t waste any time in following his directions. We’re in the stairwell, his phone still going like crazy, my breath ragged not from exertion but from fear as we rocket down the steps. In keeping with the mood of the club, the stairs are dark and lit with a black light. When I reach the base on the floor below us and move to keep going, I miss a step and land hard, twisting my ankle.
