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“I wonder if that was the truth.”

“Sounds like some family insecurity to me.”

He laughed, which was actually haunting. “Yes, perhaps. Anyway. You fight until you die, or they die.”

I turned to the man to my left. “You’re willing to die for this?”

“He won’t speak to you. He doesn’t understand English, and he knows better than to interfere.” Vladimir moved away to where he was originally. “You may begin.”

At first it was simple. One guy came at me and I pivoted, able to strike him in the stomach and then the face. While Vladimir was all about the fight to the death, I wasn’t going to check for a pulse once any of them fell.

This went on for what felt like forever. I began to weaken, and didn’t know if I’d managed to take any of them out. My eyes were swelling shut, my jaw ached, my ribs were screaming at me, and I couldn’t put weight on one of my legs. I’d started seeing double and triple, so I didn’t know how many were really in front of me.

The blows kept coming. Cheek, stomach, side. I didn’t think there was a part of my body that didn’t get a fist or a foot to it. One guy kicked me square in the chest, and I flew against the wall, the air knocked out of me.

I looked up and saw the guy stalking toward me with a bloody-toothed smile. I couldn’t give up even though my bones and muscles weren’t giving me a lot of choice.

When he was maybe two feet from me he said something in Russian, which I took to mean something terrible. I tried to dodge the fist coming at my face but wasn’t fast enough. Blinding pain burst across my nose, and I gasped and began choking on my own blood.

That was the moment I knew I’d lost. I was going to die having never heard Alex tell me he loved me, too.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Alex

After the sun had set and we’d heard nothing about Danny, genuine fear washed over me. Gideon hadn’t even gotten a call, nothing. We were all at Gideon’s house and I was currently pacing around the living room, my mind conjuring up all sorts of horrible scenarios. Each one had Danny dead, and it took my breath away each time.

“Alex, sit.” Gideon blocked my path.

“We’ve heard nothing, Gideon.”

“And that can mean many different things.”

“Yeah, and one of those is Danny is dead!”

“Whoa.” Penn was coming down the stairs after putting the twins to bed. “I think if Danny were dead, we’d already know it by now. Maksim said that even though his father gave him no information he’s sure he has him, and if we aren’t hearing anything, maybe it’s because Vladimir hasn’t decided how he wants to use him.”

It was a logical hypothesis, but I still didn’t like the silence. I dropped onto the couch and buried my face into my hands.

“I can’t lose him.”

I felt the couch dip on both sides and Gideon’s and Penn’s hands on my back.

“We’ll find him,” Gideon promised.

“I know we will.” I looked up. “It’s how we’ll find him. What state will he be in?”

I got the answer to that question two hours later. I was forcing some food into my mouth that Penn had demanded I eat as Raff walked in.

“Sir, we have a problem.”

Penn, Gideon, and I were up and following him in a heartbeat. Whatever it was, it was by the gate. I could see a bunch of Gideon’s guys in a circle and something in the middle. No…not something, someone.

Two of Gideon’s men were crouched by the person. I didn’t wonder who it was; I knew it was Danny. He was almost unrecognizable, half-naked, covered in blood and bruises, his face completely swollen. I wasn’t even sure he was alive.

My heart was beating so fast, I could hear it in my ears. Everything sounded as if it were under water.

“Get the fucking car!” Gideon shouted, and it snapped me out of it.