Page 28 of Claimed By River

Roman’s voice follows. “Ten minutes.”

Royal doesn’t hesitate. “I’ll beat all of you there.”

“I’ll meet you there.” I disconnect, pull my Sig from the armory locker on my way past, and take the stairs three at a time.

My bike is parked out back. I leave the truck and the flowers where they are. It’s faster. Every red light is ignored. Every speed limit forgotten. I think about her arms locking around my waist, her cheek between my shoulder blades. She better be untouched, or there will be hell to pay.

The only thought in my head is getting to her before Damir decides she’s no longer useful. Because if he’s hurt her, God help him. He might be the kingpin, but I’m his nemesis.

⁎⁎⁎

I’m the last to arrive.

Royal is already waiting beside a matte black Range Rover with a backpack slung over one shoulder. Raiden stands still beside him, his expression blank and deadly, and Roman paces impatiently a few feet away. The second I climb off my bike, Royal tosses me a small electronic keycard.

“I hacked the hotel system.”

Of course, he did. “Penthouse?”

He nods. “Only one suite on the floor.” He taps the card. “Recoded this into a master key.”

I don’t waste time asking how. I don’t care. “Let’s move.”

Nobody stops us, and it isn’t because four men in black and leather look like they belong in a marble lobby. It’s because Royal walks in front. He grew up in buildings like this one. He crosses that floor the way a man crosses a room he owns, and every uniform behind that desk reads it instantly and looks somewhere else. The rest of us are just what follows him.

The elevator doors slide open almost immediately. Inside, Royal connects a small device beneath the control panel.

“That’ll jam the elevator once we reach the top.”

“No interruptions,” Raiden says.

“No witnesses,” Royal agrees.

The elevator dings softly. The doors open onto a hallway so quiet it almost feels abandoned. Raiden immediately moves toward the stairwell, positioning himself where nobody can reach the hallway without going through him first.

Roman checks his weapon. Royal hands me the master key. I slide it through the lock. The light flashes green, and the door opens without a sound. I go through first. Roman comes in behind me.

We move through the entryway without speaking, weapons raised as years of training take over. The suite is enormous, all polished marble and expensive furniture, but the voices drifting from deeper inside tell us exactly where to go.

Damir is shouting. “Do you know what a daughter costs?” His accent is thick enough that some of the words blur. “Twenty years, Food, clothes, schools, guards, drivers. Years of expense and exactly one way for a man to see any of it returned to him. And you took even that from me.”

Nadia doesn’t answer.

“You should have been a son”

Damir continues ranting. “Your mother gave me one child and then nothing. Nine years. Nine years of doctors and excuses. An expense with no return. I took care of that.”

Nadia’s voice, when it comes, is very small. “You told everyone she died from an aneurysm.”

Damir laughs. “That’s the story they believed.”

Something goes cold and very quiet in my chest.

“And now, here we are again.” Fabric shifts. He’s moving around her. “Ivan is married. There is no alliance to make, no debt left to settle, nothing about you that is worth one dollar to me.” His voice drops. “Do you understand what that makes you, Nadia? Not a daughter, not a traitor. A cost. And a man in my position does not carry costs. He writes them off.”

“I hate you.” Nadia’s voice cracks on it.

A loud crack echoes through the suite. A slap. My vision narrows. I don’t wait; I round the corner with my weapon already aimed.