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“No!”
Ready to toss the phone against the windshield, I noticed a voice message from Diego. Maybe they’d managed to get away. When I pressed play, I continued to try to get enough air into my lungs. Five seconds into the message and a white-hot sear of pain ripped into every cell and vein.
As I looked into the rearview mirror, I could tell the majority of my soldiers were only a few car lengths behind. I spun around the last corner, pulling the car to a jerking halt a hundred yards away from the house. The sky was lit up in orange. The fucker had torched my house.
Within seconds, several of the other vehicles roared onto the street. I raced to the trunk, grabbing another magazine of ammunition as well as my handgun. There was no need to provide any commands. They’d been through a drill like this before.
We bolted toward the estate and although my training would dictate I should take a stealth approach, there was no time to waste if I wanted to save her life. As soon as I neared, a round of gunfire sounded off into the night, my soldiers advancing without hesitation. I lunged toward the front door, knocking the heavy wooden piece off its hinges, my chest heaving from the rush of anxiety.
I heard nothing at first, other than the crackling of flames. There was debris everywhere, fire consuming a significant portion of the first floor. Shattered glass snapped under my feet, additional debris falling next to me. With both hands on my handgun, I ignored the smoke, pushing my way through the darkness. I was determined to find them at all costs. A few seconds later, a single sound caught my attention.
A moan.
Her moan.
They were in my office. As soon as I fought my way through a pile of debris, a single light blasted me, the wide beam preventing me from catching sight of them.
“Kostya,” Emily said, her voice weak but strong with her usual resolve.
“I suggest you keep your mouth shut, Ms. Shephard,” Volkov snarled as he slowly lowered the light, although not enough to allow me to catch a good look at his face.
“Fuck you,” she hissed, obviously struggling in his hold. “And that’s Dr. Shephard.”
“Finally, I meet the great Ghost. I’d heard of you before and all your… accolades. Imagine my surprise when I realized the man behind the enigma was my flesh and blood.” Volkov laughed, pissing me off even more.
When I remained quiet, he became more irritated, lowering the light enough I could see the pistol positioned against her temple.
“Then I find your security system is less than adequate. I thought you were better trained than that. Did you enjoy my warning?” he laughed, the ugliness of his tone prickling my senses.
I continued to say nothing, shifting to the side in order to cut some of the glare.
He grew angry from being ignored. “Don’t you want to know how I found you?”
Sighing, I looked away briefly, indicating my lack of interest.
“That fucking Russian you do so much business with. Yes, I know everything. Vladimir Kozlov had no trouble spouting off delicious information about you.”
Another sweep of anger jetted into my system.
“Ah, yes. It’s rough to learn when a man betrays you.” He laughed heartedly. This was getting out of hand. While extracting information was important, the time for playing games was finished. “What you don’t know is that Vladimir and I share a history, a friendship of sorts. Granted, he doesn’t know I’m the person who banished him from Russia.” Once again, he waited for my reaction.
I’d heard stories about how the Bratva patriarch had been tossed into prison, his family struggling to make ends meet, forced out of Russia during a skirmish that had almost begun a war between several countries. I didn’t play politics any longer and I certainly didn’t get involved with family issues.
“Anyway, we reconnected, my good friend asking me to become a member of a very special group of powerful men.”
The man was gloating. Why?
Emily struggled even harder, her slight whimper dragging the beast from his lair. No one fucked with someone I cared about.
“Be quiet or I will snap your neck. It would be such a shame to hurt such a lovely creature,” Volkov said, his tone more sensual than before. He was daring me to make a move.
“Why should I give a shit?” I finally threw him a bone.
“Why? Because he recommended you highly to the others. Granted, I only found that out after I was ousted. You see, I do have friends everywhere.”
That meant one of the consortium leaders was secretly working with him. I took a deep breath, watching as he eased the flashlight down onto what was left of my desk. That’s when I thought about the flash drive. Fuck.
“Imagine my surprise to find out you were my son. What a shame. Up until that point, I’d considered Vladimir a good friend.”
