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“I’d say it was a pleasure to meet you, but I’d be lying,” Kieran answered.
“I’d have to agree with him,” I added.
“So, the rumors are true then. The Murphys and the Kavanaghs are in an alliance now? You’re going to marry this bitch?”
“Watch your tongue, asshole,” Cormac growled behind us.
“Who I marry is none of your business,” Ada stated, her head held high. With every fiber of her body, her courage shone through.
“I want Irina Morozov. She belongs to me. I’m not sure if you’re the ones responsible for her kidnapping, but if you know where she is, you’ll bring her back to me!” Anton roared.
Ada’s pointer finger moved again, right over the man’s knuckle. I was a good shot, and at this close range, I wouldn’t miss. Holding her gaze, I nodded and cocked my head, biding my time until an opportunity presented itself for me to pull the trigger. Ada’s knowing smirk told me she understood.
“I don’t know who you’re talking about,” I scoffed.
“If you hurt her, Anton, you’ll start a war that you aren’t going to win,” Kieran warned.
Anton’s fingers tightened in Ada’s hair, and I saw red. Kieran’s hand on my chest was the only thing that stopped me from murdering him in cold blood. Ada grimaced in pain, but she didn’t let him break her.
I was the only man allowed to do that.
“Bring me Irina and you can have her back,” Anton snarled.
“I don’t think you’re really in the position to make any demands, dickhead. Where’s the rest of your army?” Cormac replied.
“Seems to me that they’re mostly dead on the floor,” Conner added. Caden aimed his gun to the side and shot it straight into a man that was already dead. The solid, lifeless thump made a statement, though, and Anton scowled.
“You don’t want to start a war with my family. My pockets are deep, and my alliances run deeper. The Murphys aren’t my only ally. I have a good deal more that would be happy to end this little charade. You would know that if you knew Boston,” I snarled.
“You have no idea of our strength,” Anton muttered, but his expression had paled a bit.
“No. Perhaps I don’t, but what you may not realize is how easily we could destroy yours should we call on those alliances right now. None of us take kindly to men like you trying to muscle their way into a place where they don’t belong,” Kieran responded.
As much as we wanted to kill Anton right now, killing an heir to a rather unknown bratva family would be foolish. While that would ensure Ada got out alive and unhurt, it could explode into an all-out war should the bratva’s boss decide to act on a decree of blood vengeance. The fighting would be messy. Many men and women would die.
“Let Ada go, and we’ll leave this whole misunderstanding in the past,” I growled.
Anton showed no signs of backing down. The more I saw of him, the more I realized that this whole charade was a display of power and nothing more. He didn’t care about Irina. At no point had he questioned her wellbeing or if she was even alive.
This was a dick measuring contest at best.
He yanked Ada’s head back and pressed the barrel of the gun against the side of her skull. She cried out, and I acted. My arms swept up and I aimed my gun. I had already pulled the trigger before he realized what was happening.
The bullet ripped through the center of his right hand, destroying the tendons that would allow him to shoot at me in return. Unable to keep a hold on his gun, it fell to the cement floor with a clatter. Ada drove her elbow into his stomach, hard enough to force the air out of his lungs. He sucked in a breath, causing a loud whooping sound to echo through the room as she whirled away. By the grimace on her face and the way her hand rose to the back of her scalp, I guessed that she’d lost a good chunk of hair to his other fist. Even though it probably hurt, she was brave enough to not show how much it pained her. I’d never been prouder to call her mine.
She looked down at him from a reasonably safe distance as he fell to his knees and cradled his ruined hand to his chest. It would likely cripple him, but he would live through the night.
“Let your daddy know the Murphys and the Kavanaghs send their regards,” she spat.
She swept out of the room through the hole her brothers had ripped through the wall. The twins kept their guns trained on Anton as the rest of us followed. We didn’t turn our backs on him until all of us had made it out.
He didn’t follow, which was probably for the best. If I had to pull the trigger a second time, he wasn’t going to get up again.
CHAPTER16
Ada
I didn’t hear from Anton Kozlov again. Perhaps Shane and my brothers had sent enough of a message, but I had a feeling that Anton’s father had sent him a stronger one. If I had to bet money on it, he had acted of his own accord instead of under the direction of his father, Roman Kozlov. Not only had Anton’s actions resulted in the death of several valuable soldiers, but he had come very close to insulting two very powerful families in the same city where they were trying to gain a footing. A war against us was something they were not ready for, not even remotely.
