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“I’m going to tell you to pull it together.” Luca pushes himself upright, his face going slightly grey with pain as he gets to his feet, but he manages it anyway. “Every minute that we stand here fighting instead of tracking Alexei down is another one that he’s using to put more distance between him and us, another chance for him to make sure we don’t find him until it’s too late.” He glares at Liam. “That goes for you too, son. Keep that smart mouth of yours to yourself.”
Liam’s green eyes glitter at that, and I catch a glimpse of the man under the careless, cocky exterior, someone who doesn’t appreciate being told what to do any more than Luca or I would. He has a backbone and balls of steel; I know that much from how he stood up to Alexei. But I’m not about to be questioned by a boy still wet behind the ears, leader of the Kings or not.
“We can get some men together,” Levin says from where he’s sitting on the edge of the couch, his dark hair matted with dried blood at one temple. “We’ll call into Moscow, get reinforcements. Hell, we’ll take a page out of Alexei’s book if we need to. I still have some contacts through the syndicate, I might be able to find some mercenaries who would be willing to back us up for a decent payday—”
“I’ll leave you in charge of that,” I tell him firmly. “Liam, you have connections with hackers in DC, right?”
Liam smirks. “Ahacker,” he says casually. “She’s come in handy a time or two.”
“She?” Levin glances up, and Liam grins.
“Yeah,she. Women know how to use computers, Petrov. She’s not hard on the eyes, either.”
“Focus,” Luca snaps. “Liam, you should see if this hacker friend of yours can dig into any transactions Alexei might make in the next few days, see if we can pinpoint a location. We’ll have you and Max stay here while Viktor, Levin, and I take some men and go as soon as we have—”
“Absolutely fucking not.” Liam narrows his eyes. “You think I’m staying here behind these walls while Ana is out there suffering, being kept captive by that monster? Fuck no. I’ll be coming along as well.”
Luca frowns, and his face suddenly goes very serious, almost fatherly. “You’ve got feelings for her, son?”
Max rolls his eyes. “I think anyone with decent vision could tell that.”
I let out a heavy sigh. “I think it’s been quite clear that Liam here has an attraction to Miss Ivanova. But this is hardly the time—”
“No, I think it is before this goes any further.” Luca doesn’t look pleased. “How much do you know about her, Liam?”
Liam has gone very still, his expression suddenly guarded. “Enough,” he says curtly, the cocky boyishness gone in an instant. “As Viktor said, I think this is hardly the time—”
“Ana has been through a lot.” Luca crosses his arms, his eyes narrowing. “She’s my wife’s best friend, and I’ve come to care for her as well, like a sister. Since—”
“What happened?” Liam interrupts, his brow creasing. “Did someone hurt her?”
“That’s not my place to discuss,” Luca says firmly. “But she has been badly abused. It’s taken a toll on her, physically but also mentally. Whatever your feelings for her are, she’s not in a place to return them or even to consent to them. She’s barely able to take care of herself.” Luca lets out a breath, frowning. “Anyway, I’d heard there was talk of you marrying the O’Sullivan girl.”
“For an Italian mob boss, you sure do know a lot about the inner workings of the Kings,” Liam growls. “I can’t see how it’s any of your business.”
“Ana’s wellbeing affects my wife, and therefore the peace and stability of my household. And beyond that, there is an alliance between our families. If the Kings are destabilized, it also affects me and mine.” Luca shakes his head. “Come with us if you must, but put Ana out of your head. Marry the O’Sullivan girl. It will strengthen your position and set you up well, increasing your favor with the other Kings. Ana can do nothing for you when it comes to your position in the families.”
Liam’s jaw tightens, but he says nothing more about Ana. “I’m coming with you,” he says instead, his voice ringing with finality. “I’ll talk to Beth and see what she can dig up. But when it’s time to go, I won’t be staying here.”
“I’m not either.” Max swallows hard, uncertainty in his face, but his jaw is set too, his shoulders squared. “Sasha has trusted me in the past. I want to be there to bring her home.” He catches the look on my face and shrugs. “As a friend,” he says, emphasizing the last word. “Someone in need of spiritual guidance.”
Liam’s mouth twitches, but he holds back whatever remark is on the tip of his tongue, to my relief and Luca’s too, from the look on Luca’s face.
“Come on,” Levin says, standing up with a groan. “Let’s patch ourselves up and piece ourselves back together. A few cuts and bruises won’t stop us, eh?” He looks at me with the gruff resilience of a man who has seen much worse than even what happened here today.
He hangs back as Max, Liam, and Luca start to make their way out of the living room, stepping around bodies and shattered glass. “I’ll call for a cleanup crew,” Levin says grimly, looking around at the carnage. “It’s a fucking shame. Good men, all of them.”
“Alexei needs to pay for this.” I follow Levin’s gaze, taking in the gruesome scene. “He’s slaughtered my men and taken my family from me. This cannot stand.”
“It won’t,Ussuri,” Levin says firmly. “He’ll pay ten times over. But first, we have to find him.”
“It’s not going to be easy.”
“Liam has his ways, and I have mine.” Levin smiles coldly, and I see a hint of the man he was before he came to work for my father, the mercenary who was once feared across four continents. “I’ll contact the syndicate. What Alexei has done cannot stand. And he will pay for it, I promise you that.”
That, I believe beyond a shadow of a doubt.
I just hope we can accomplish it in time to save the woman I love.
