Page 203 of Bleed with Me

“Dr. Zhumagulov—” His eyes widened in surprise.

“You know what to do.”

I stepped away from the table. The attending surgeon nodded in confirmation.

I tore off my gloves before reaching the doors. One snapped against my wrist, but I barely felt it. My surgical gown landed somewhere behind me as I ran into the scrub room. Zyon met me in the corridor.

“What the fuck!” I yelled as we ran outside. “I need—”

“You only need a gun,” he cut me off, and a minute later, I sat in the back of our company SUV, checking the magazine of my Desert Eagle.

Zyon drove like a fucking lunatic, turning every traffic light into a suggestion. My phone rested in my hand while Malin’s voice came through the speakers.

“The tracker is still,” he said, keyboard clicks filling the background. “She barely moved for the past few minutes.”

“She has a tracker?” I asked, surprise lacing my words.

“Yes,” Malin confirmed. “She knows how to play this game.”

Relief washed over me.

“How long ago did she leave the Valentino building?” I asked, my fingers tightening around the cell.

“Thirty-six minutes,” came Malin’s reply. “Twelve since the signal stopped moving.”

Twelve minutes. Bloody hell! Anything could happen in twelve minutes.

“Why didn’t you call me immediately?” My tone was more accusatory than I intended, but I barely controlled myself.

“Nina ordered me not to.” I could almost see the nonchalant expression on his face.

“Since when do you listen to her commands?” I hollered, my palm clenching into a fist.

“Since the command had a point,” he retorted.

“You’re a hothead,” Zyon interjected from behind the steering wheel. “You’d storm the location before we could confirm if Aryna is there.”

“Seriously?” I slammed my hand against the dashboard. “If I did that to you—”

“Dorian.” Zyon interrupted my growing outburst. “Focus.” I inhaled sharply as his gaze drifted to the phone in my hand. “Malin, how many people?”

“Not sure,” Malin answered. “There are two vehicles plus Nina’s car.”

“Could it be Carlile?” I snarled, fear making my chest tighten with every inhale.

“No visual confirmation.”

It was him. I knew it with the same certainty with which I knew the structure of the human heart. He lost Nina. Lost the marriage. Lost access to the Valentino family. And people like him, cowards without an ounce of dignity, always became most dangerous when humiliation stripped away their last illusion of power.

“Karen is approaching from the east,” Malin continued. “And Matteo and Lucas are close, too.”

“Tell everyone to wait,” I ordered, forcing myself to stay calm despite the storm inside me. “They might kill them if…”

My voice broke. The image struck the air from my lungs. Nina, bloodied on the floor. Aryna calling for me. My hands began to tremble.

“Malin,” I said, keeping my mind away from its worst fear. “How long until we reach them?”

“Six minutes.”