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No. This isn’t right. She has to be here. We have searched every warehouse in the vicinity. I refuse to go home without her.
“Hey, boss,” one of my men yells from another room. “I think we found something.”
Walking into the room, I see him perched beside a trap door. After peering down into it, I look over at Ivan, who gestures for me to go ahead. Climbing down the stairs, we look around the small hallway and notice two other doors. One is wide open and inside is a separate stairwell that leads back upstairs. Sending one of our men to check it out, he reports back that it leads to an exit toward the back of the warehouse.
That only leaves one room left. Walking over to the door, I grab the handle and pull the door open. We are met with gunfire from a man that was left behind to protect their prisoner, and Ivan takes him down with one single shot to the head.
“It’s about time you showed up,” says a low voice from the corner of the room.
Natalia is sitting against the wall, naked, with her head leaned back and her eyes closed. Her body is littered with cuts, burns and several bruises are beginning to form. My fist clenches at my side as I catalog every single mark to inflict on this person later. Whoever this is will be begging for forgiveness. If he thinks what he did to her is bad, he has no idea the demon that’s lying beneath the surface, ready to return the torture tenfold.
I slide my jacket off and throw it around her body, shielding her from the men who have now filed in behind us.
“You didn’t give us much to go on,mo ghrá,” I say, giving her half a smile and brushing a strand of hair out of her face.
“We should get her checked out,” Ivan says, coming up behind me and resting his hand on my shoulder. “Eric will be waiting at the house.”
Nodding, I scoop Natalia in my arms and stand. “Damn it… I can…” she protests, attempting to punch my chest, but her arm falls right back down. Concern blankets my face and I glance at Ivan, who is wearing the same expression, as we walk out of the room to the stairwell.
“Sorry, but right now you’re not in any shape to walk out of here,” Ivan says as he walks in front of us.
“Dad?” Natalia lifts her head off my chest and looks at him. “Wow, I’m surprised…” Her words are coming short, and her breathing is labored. “Dec, I don’t feel so good,” she moans before she turns her head away from me and vomits before going limp in my arms.
When we reach the car, I lay her in the backseat and gently lift her head as I slide in and place it on my lap. “Let’s go, Finn,” I bark to my best friend in the driver's seat. The shallow rise and fall of her chest provides minimal comfort. I can do nothing but picture the blood of the man responsible on my hands.
Chapter fourteen
Natalia
“What do you mean you don’t know why she won’t wake up?” An angry voice comes from beside me.
Opening my eyes, I’m surprised to see Declan standing beside my father, both of them glaring at Eric.
“I’m saying he must have dosed her with enough of the drug that it didn’t kill her, but kept her down for quite some time.” Eric is rapidly looking over my chart in his hand.
All three men are so engrossed in their conversation that none of them notice me staring at them. Instead of drawing attention to myself, I wait for someone to realize. While waiting, my mind tries to piece together the events that led up to this.
Unfortunately, no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to pinpoint anything other than my suspicions of Jared were correct. He was definitely someone to be wary of. None of the three men have noticed I’m awake yet, and I roll my eyes.Men.
Looking down at my body, I take in the cuts and bruises. The fact that I have almost the exact same wounds as Dmitri churns my stomach. Memories come flooding back, and my heart rate begins to rise. I take a shuddering breath and all three men turn to look at me finally.
“Nat, it’s okay.” Declan is by my side in seconds, and my father is right behind him.
“No, I…” Pulling at the gown, I look down at my abdomen where Dmitri’s most lethal wound was and feel tears in my eyes when there's nothing but a small cut. “It was the same guy who took Dmitri.”
“What?” My father says, his eyes snapping to mine.
“Jared, the guy I was on a date with,” I begin. I glance up and see Declan’s jaw clench. “His exact words to me were, ‘I must say, you were a lot harder to drug than your brother.’” I quickly look away, blinking back tears.
“Did he mention a name?” Declan asks, sliding his hand over mine. There is fervor in his voice, though I can also tell that he is trying to stay calm for me.
“Jared called the guy that tortured me, Viktor.” I turn my hand over and lace my fingers with his.
“Viktor,” my father murmurs to himself as he pulls his phone out. “Find me everything you can about a hit man named Viktor,” he barks into the phone before sliding it back into his pocket.
“We will find them,” he assures me. The words take me back to the day Dmitri died. The only difference here is that my father seems to be less… him? He is being soft-spoken and kind. Have I woken up in some alternate universe?
At the mention of my brother, my hand instantly goes to my neck. The necklace is gone and panic floods my veins. Declan must sense my distress because he quickly reaches into his pocket.
