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My arms and legs creaked as I walked down the hallway—stiff from sitting with my arms bound in that bed for so long. I took out the gun and checked the ammo. It had a clip in there, so I was covered. It had been a long time since I had fired a weapon, but at least I had some experience, so I knew what to expect. I took the safety off and held it with both hands—one finger near the trigger and the other hand supporting the butt of the gun. My arms were outstretched but pointing the gun downward. Slowly, I made my way down the hallway, peering around the corner to check for people before I continued on my way.
I could hear people talking, and it sounded like it was coming from outside, so I looked out one of the open windows and turned my sight down.
There was a large patio outside where there was a firepit, an entertainment platform where someone was setting things up, a grilling area, and lots of seating. The space was so huge that it looked like it was used for parties. Ivar sat in a chair by the fire, drinking a beer and laughing with a few of the guys sitting near him. I watched him for a while, trying to hear what he was saying, but I realized he was speaking in Russian, and I had no idea what he was saying.
Beyond the patio were a lot of trees and bushes that were shrouded in darkness. If I could make my way out to that area, I could hide and eventually get away from the property. Realizing that this was my best option, I headed down a set of stairs and crept into the kitchen. To my right, there was a stove and a sink with a long counter under large windows. To my left, there was a lot of cabinetry, and in front of me was a kitchen island. A male suddenly came through the French doors beyond the sink, and I crouched behind the kitchen island, my gun now held in one hand and up.
I took a few deep breaths hoping he hadn’t seen me and wondered if there was another door over there leading to the outside. My plan was to wait until everyone was either outside or in other areas of the house and make my way across the kitchen to the dining room, hoping it had a door that I hadn’t seen yet. If I had to, I would make my way over to the front door of the house and book it to the bushes, but I doubted that would work very well. That would have to be my very last option.
There was laughing outside, and I realized I was hearing Daniel’s voice. It was higher pitched and forced, but it was definitely Daniel’s laugh. It took everything in me to stay where I was. I wanted so badly to line the site of the gun up with Daniel’s forehead and shoot, but I already had one death on my hands that I wasn’t dealing with yet. I didn’t want to add too much more to that list.
Ivar’s booming voice said something, and Daniel laughed again. I didn’t hear any more footsteps, so I raised myself up enough over the counter to see. There was no one between me and the dining room. The French doors were still open, so if I made a run for it…
Shouting exploded in the night outside, and a flock of men in long-sleeve green shirts and black pants came rushing into the house. I ducked back down into my hiding spot and listened. The coolness of the island’s marble kept me centered as I tried to lower my heart rate. There was lots of yelling both in English and in Russian, but one voice cut through the commotion and stopped everything. It was loud, it was angry, and it was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard in my life.
“WHERE THE FUCK IS MY WIFE?!”
Chapter 25
Jimmy
Sethhadrefusedtolet me drive, which I suppose was a good thing. I think I would have broken every speed limit known to man and hurt some people in the process trying to get to her. We ended up trusting my father’s judgment, seeing as he had the most experience with this sort of thing. He divided up all his guys to check the five different locations, though he had brought most of the guys with us. He called Ray to let him know what was going on, and Ray dispatched as many additional people as he could get ahold of. Then my father went and picked Ray up because there was no way he was going to be able to drive well either.
It took longer than I had thought to get to the house, but to me, everything was taking forever at this point. The sun had set, and everything was dark—which matched my mood. I could not believe I had trusted Daniel with her. I should have called her an Uber. I should have taken her with me. I should have taken her somewhere else.
Too many “should haves” and not enough good news.
“Stop beating yourself up,” Seth chided, looking at me through the corner of his eyes but giving most of his attention to the road, seeing as we were going about fifteen to twenty miles over the speed limit. “We are going to get her, and everything will be fine. This is in no way your fault.”
“The fuck it’s not,” I muttered, staring out the window at everything passing by in a blur. “I’m the reason all of this is happening. If I had made sure that Ivar got the money instead of trusting Daniel to do it, this wouldn’t have become a problem. If I had stayed out of this altogether, this wouldn’t have happened. Hell, if I hadn’t suggested that Ray and my father make a common ground agreement, I wouldn’t even be married to her, and she would be safe in her childhood home.”
“Okay, dude, stop the fucking pity party already,” Seth grumbled. “Seriously, I love you, brother, but this shit is getting old. If you hadn’t married her, sure, she would be safe, but neither of you would have found the love of your life. And don’t give me any of that crap about ‘Oh, I don’t love her’ or ‘Oh, she doesn’t love me’ because that’s bullshit, and you know it. You are so in love with her you can’t think straight, and you are blaming yourself for things other people have done.
“Daniel is the fuckup here, so please just start putting the blame where it belongs. And you know she won’t blame you either, and she’s the one in trouble! She probably went with Daniel because of her love for you and, thus, her love for your siblings. She was trying to get to know your family. So, just… stop.”
The car rang with the silence that followed—so much so that I could hear my own heartbeat. I waited a moment before I looked at Seth.
“Wow… You’ve been holding that in for a while now, huh?”
“Yeah. You are a bit of a dumbass who needs to figure shit out on his own sometimes. But this, you don’t seem to be learning.”
“I know. It’s just… hard.”
“I get that, but man up, and go get your woman.”
“I am,” I nodded.
The rest of the drive was easy and silent, all until we turned onto the street where the house was. The house was at the end of the street on a cul-de-sac. It was huge and tan and white on the outside, and many black vehicles were in the driveway along with a flashy, bright red sports car.
Daniel.
“I’m going to rip him to pieces,” I growled and unbuckled myself as Seth pulled over and parked on the street behind my father and Ray, a safe distance away from the house. A few other cars parked near us, our guys spilling out of them. We all huddled around my father, checking our guns and equipment. I took my pistol from Patrick’s truck when he showed up and loaded it, ready to do some damage if I had to.
My father filled everyone in on what was going on and decided to have us fan out around the building to see what we could see. He passed out earpieces so we could communicate with each other. When all of us were set, we dove into the trees lining the street, using the darkness and the foliage to block our ambush. I headed towards the right side of the house, surveying everything and trying to think of where Natalia would be. My guess was that she was on the second floor, so I had to get in the house somehow, but I had to be smart and patient about it. I couldn’t just rush in. I had to think about my own safety too.
“Clear,” someone said over the earpiece.
“Clear,” came another voice. I was guessing that they were from the other side of the house.
