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“You’re making a serious mistake.” Sokolov looked at me for several seconds, and I could see that he finally understood there would be no agreement between us. Sofia wasn’t a bargaining chip I would surrender, and the O’Connor territory wasn’t something I would hand over simply because he’d threatened me.

Giving in wouldn’t create peace. It would prove that pressure worked, and once he learned that lesson, he would keep coming until there was nothing left to take.

“We’re finished,” he said. He turned toward his men and began walking away, but after several steps he stopped. When he looked back at me, the faint hostility in his expression had become something colder. “You should listen carefully, Ronan. The next time I take Sofia, there will be no warehouse to search. There will be no trail for your men to follow and no opportunity for you to arrive before it’s too late.” My jaw tightened, but I kept my face expressionless. “You will not get her back alive.”

For a moment, the waterfront seemed unnaturally quiet. I remained still because I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of seeing how deeply his words had reached me. Sokolov had threatened Sofia before, but this was different. He was no longer using her simply as leverage. He was promising to kill her to prove that he could.

He walked away with his men, leaving the threat hanging between us. Trevor approached, but I raised a hand to stop him. I watched Sokolov disappear into the darkness before turning back toward my own men.

I knew there would be no more negotiations after tonight. Sokolov had made his choice, and I’d made mine. He’d wanted to discover how much I was willing to lose for Sofia, and how far he could push the O’Connors before they broke. He was about to find out that he’d chosen the wrong man to test.

“Get everyone ready,” I said. I looked toward the road where Sokolov had vanished. “For war.”

As if on cue, the first shot came. The sound cracked across the waterfront, followed by a burst of gunfire from the warehouse. I saw one of Sokolov’s men raise his weapon toward us, and then everything erupted. My men returned fire as Trevor shouted orders behind me, but I was already moving. I’d expected violence, but I hadn’t expected Sokolov to start it so quickly.

Bullets struck the walls around me as I crossed the open ground toward the warehouse. I kept low, firing only when I had a clear target. Behind me, Trevor and the O’Connor men pushed forward, forcing Sokolov’s guards away from the main entrance. The waterfront became a storm of gunfire, shouting, and breaking glass as both sides fought for control of the abandoned property.

I moved through the warehouse and followed the sound of gunfire deeper inside. Two men came around a corner, and I dropped them before they could raise their weapons. Another fired from behind a stack of crates. I took cover, waited for him to make a mistake, and ended the exchange.

I kept thinking about Sofia. Sokolov had promised that he would take her again. He’d promised that next time, I would find her dead. Every step through that warehouse carried the weight of those words. I found him near the rear of the building. Sokolov stood with two men beside him. He looked at me and smiled.

His men raised their weapons, but I fired first. One fell immediately. The other disappeared behind a metal support as Sokolov moved toward me. I followed, and within seconds we were fighting at close range.

He drove his fist into my jaw. I struck him across the ribs and shoved him against the wall. He recovered quickly and swung again, catching me across the mouth.

“You should have given her to me,” he said.

I wiped the blood from my lip. “You should have stayed away from her.”

He laughed and attacked again. The fight became brutal. There was no room for distance or strategy anymore. We slammed into the walls and furniture, trading blows until my ribs burned and my vision blurred. Sokolov was stronger than I’d expected, but rage kept me moving.

“You think she loves you?” he spat. “She’ll always remember what you did to her family.”

I grabbed his coat and drove him backward. He reached beneath his jacket, and I reacted instinctively. The gun went off as I drove his arm aside, the bullet tearing into my side. Pain exploded through my ribs, but I kept my grip on him.

Sokolov tried to pull away, but I didn’t let him. I drove him against the wall and took the weapon from his hand before striking him hard enough to send him to the floor.

He looked up at me. “You’ll never escape what you are.”

“Maybe not.” The first shot went through his neck and splashed blood all over the place. I watched him fall, but I continued shooting until the gun ran out of bullets.

For several seconds, I remained where I was, breathing heavily as blood spread beneath my shirt. Outside, the gunfire was already beginning to fade.

Sokolov was dead and his remaining men were retreating. We’d won. But as I pressed my hand against the wound in my side, I knew this victory had changed everything. Sokolov’s death wouldn’t end the danger. It would create a vacuum, and men more ambitious than him would rush to fill it. I walked out of the warehouse anyway. I’d survived the fight, and now I had to get home to Sofia.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Sofia

The sound of the penthouse doors opening pulled me from the book I’d been reading. I looked toward the hallway and froze when Trevor appeared first, followed by Phil and Ronan. For a second, I couldn’t understand what I was seeing. Then I saw the blood.

It covered Ronan’s shirt and stained both of his hands. One side of his clothing was darker than the rest, and his face was pale beneath the exhaustion written across it. He was still walking under his own strength, but the sight of him injured made something inside me collapse.

His eyes found mine immediately. “I’m fine. It looks worse than it feels.”

Trevor gave me a look that told me Ronan was lying. “He took a bullet near the ribs. The doctor should—”

“Everyone out,” I screamed. “I said everyone out!”