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“Find her!” I wailed, feeling like nothing more than a shell of myself, consumed by rage, anxiety, and panic.
“Come here,” Nikolai murmured, slipping his arm around me. He pulled me into his side, body pulsing with controlled ire. I don’t know how he managed to contain himself.
As Aleksei brought his phone up to his ear with Ivan, Nikolai pointed toward the warehouse where the others had escaped. “Follow him. All of them. Track down their hideout and get back to me when you do.”
Nodding obediently, Aleksei and the others around him hurried back through the warehouse, with some heading to their SUVs and others traveling on foot.
When it was just the two of us again, Nikolai took my face in his hands and gazed at me, eyes set with conviction. The storminess within them was the only visual indicator of how angry he truly was.
Even as I cried with tears running down my cheeks, he looked at me without an ounce of judgment. He understood me.
“I promise you they will turn every last Balakin holding inside out until Kat is located. Then, we’ll burn those bastards down to the ground,” Nikolai growled, unwavering. “If they think they’ve gotten away with it, they have something else coming.”
Nikolai had said there was nothing stronger than a mother, but from the sheer rage in his stare, I knew the same went for a father with Morozov power in the palm of his hand.
For the first time, I believed him.
Chapter 23 - Nikolai
The car was silent while I drove through the busy Miami streets, overtaking whenever I could but careful enough to not land myself in any trouble. There wasn’t much for us to say while we waited for any contact from my brothers.
The tension around us was palpable, but we had an unspoken, mutual understanding then. We were on the same team with Grigory as our mutual enemy. The Balakins were indeed working with him, and in a matter of time, every one of their hideouts would be turned inside out. Soon enough, we would get our Kat back.
But the wait was the worst part.
While Mila had done her part, and she did so bravely, I could tell she was angry with herself. She didn’t get the chance to take her father down, and I could only imagine how much that tore her up inside.
At the end of it, we had our man, and we had his accomplices. All that was left was saving our daughter.
The Morozovs hired only the best, and it was only a matter of time before they proved that fact.
I didn’t know where I was going, but I figured staying in the SUV would remind us that things were ongoing, and we weren’t sitting around doing nothing. I wanted Mila to feel like she had a helping hand in finding Kat.
When I glanced over at her, however, I noticed how dazed she looked. The pain was surely catching up with her after she denied her pain meds. Even from her seat, she swayed somewhat, like she was off-balance.
Her skin was paler than it had been, and while she had a brave face on, I knew it was getting the better of her.
A ping came from my cellphone, and the notification popped up on the dash. We both sprung to life immediately, quick to scan the text. It was from Ivan.
“Coordinates,” I mumbled, mostly in disbelief that they had found her so soon. Clicking on the link, it opened a map of the area along with the pin that indicated where we were. “They’ve located her.”
“Let’s go then.”
I watched as life returned to Mila’s eyes. She straightened herself out, ready to do whatever was necessary. But after a moment of continuing forward, she hesitated.
“We’re going in the wrong direction,” Mila stated, giving me an odd look. “Why haven’t you turned around?”
“I’m dropping you off at the condo. You look ready to faint,” I returned gently, not wanting to see her drop in the middle of everything. “If Kat is there, your father probably is too. This could end in a shoot-out.”
But I should’ve known better.
Mila shook her head, completely refusing the idea. She pushed back in her seat as if to cement herself there no matter what I said. “No, no way. You can’t make me, not while our daughter is out there.”
“But Mila—”
“No, I don’t care if I’m one foot in my grave already. I need to face my father,” she returned like it was second nature for her to fight back. “I can’t run away anymore. I can’t hide from that monster. He needs to know I’m not afraid of him, and I’ll make sure he sees my face before he dies.”
The flare of her determination was admirable, and I couldn’t find it in myself to deny her. It was the one thing she wanted, and I couldn’t keep her from having it.
