Page 113 of Fractured Ties

In the background of the noise, he could hear screams coming from the speaker.

Feminine screams.

Maya’s screams.

14.

IT TOOK entirely too fucking long for Kolya and Konstantin to get back to the hotel where Maya was supposed to be safe and sound like he had left her with a guard to keep watch on her door. Konstantin’s car was completely totaled on the one side—there was no way in hell they were driving that goddamn thing back. Instead, they’d had to stumble down the block to make sure they weren’t in front of the blown-up building when the cops got there, and then wait for a Boykov man to come and pick them up.

Like idiots.

Like a couple of cocksuckers who were running out of time with every single second they had to wait to be picked up. The longer he had to wait, the darker his mind turned and the worse his mood became.

Konstantin was not missing it for a second. Apparently, his brother thought it would be worth the risk to talk right then. Frankly, Kolya was liable to bust anyone’s damn mouth at the moment.

His brother should have known that.

“Kolya, relax, yeah?” Konstantin said quietly. “Slow down a bit.”

He barely heard his brother—his mind was a total fucking mess at the moment. Chaotic, and crazy. Running through every single mistake he had made, playing them back again and again. Taunting him with them. It was like needles had slipped into his veins and were now traveling all over his body to prick and stab him with every movement.

Because he knew …

He just knew.

This was bad.

It was only going to get worse.

Kolya didn’t manage this sort of thing well. He liked disappearing into his already-lost mind, and letting instinct and emotion take over. He’d wake up after it was all over and done with, while standing in pile of carnage all around him. He’d feel better then. He always did.

It was enticing.

That was Kolya.

Not today.

This was … Maya.

“Kolya—”

“Shut up,” Kolya snapped at his brother.

His head was still pounding and that damned ringing in his ears hadn’t left since his head had cracked off the pavement. He was sure he had a fucking concussion. No doubt. What difference did it make? He suspected he wouldn’t be sleeping for a while … that’s all the doctors would tell him to do, too.

Kolya bypassed the bank of elevators altogether and pushed open the doorway for the stairwell. He could climb five flights faster than that elevator could take him up. He took the steps three at a time, with Konstantin right on his heels. All the while, his brother kept telling him to relax and whatever else.

Don’t go to the worst place possible first, Kolya.

That was the thing about Konstantin and Kolya. It was where they differed the most, he thought. Konstantin was willing to objectively look at even the worst situations and find a reason to think everything was going to be okay. Kolya, on the other hand, saw shit for exactly what it was.

And this was bad.

Before long, Kolya had slipped into the hallway leading to his hotel room. He could already see from way down the fucking hall that something was wrong. For one thing, the guard tasked with watching Maya for the evening wasn’t at his position. Kolya knew the man would likely never be seen from again, as that’s just how this shit usually went down. The closer he came to the dark-stained door with the brass number in the middle, the quicker his suspicions became confirmed.

A single crack in the door where it had been left open. Probably because the door couldn’t close properly. It looked like someone had kicked the goddamn door open near the knob. Splintered wood littered the threshold of the doorway.

Kolya’s chest tightened, and pain coursed through his system as he reached forward to put his palm against the door. He took one quick breath—despite the way it ached—before pushing open the door.