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“This warehouse looks empty, too,” Andrei said. “I’m going inside to check, and then I should be twenty minutes away.”
I didn’t mention that we didn’t even know if she was there. It was a long shot, but the only one we had. I wove and turned down an alleyway to avoid traffic, taking a left and finding myself in a half-constructed subdivision of New York. None of the surrounding houses had been finished yet, and as I approached the address, my heart lurched. Two men stormed into the house, carrying what looked like a sheet, but Nadia was nowhere to be found.
“Someone’s here,” I told them. “I need backup.”
“I can call in a team, and—”
“No teams. Only us. I’m not about to have someone shooting my girl by mistake.” I lifted off my helmet and pressed a finger into the earpiece. “I’m going to round the property and find a way in.”
I ended the call before either of them could say anything more. I knew they’d both be on their way, and I hoped it would be in time. I couldn’t spook Nadia if she were truly inside this house. I had to find a way inside quietly, and then I’d take care of business from there.
I pulled the gun from my hip, rounding the building. I heard voices from inside, and I tried to pinpoint them. When I heard a feminine voice, I froze and narrowed my eyes. It was Nadia’s voice, and there, following it, was Ciara’s.
She was alive.
I ran to the back of the house and marched up to the patio. The windows were sheeted, and I couldn’t see through them, but Nadia’s voice reached my ear again before one of the men spoke. I backed away, looking up to the second-story windows. I wanted so badly to act irrationally, but what if Nadia had a gun to Ciara? What if she was moments away from ending her life, and my barging through the door scared her enough to pull the trigger?
I glanced to the right and saw a large latter leaning against the neighboring house, and I sprung forward, knowing exactly what I needed to do. I propped the latter against the side of the house and began climbing.
Two gunshots exploded from inside, and I climbed faster, calmed only by the sound of Ciara’s scream inside. Nadia said something else, and I reached the covered upper-story window. It took a moment to soundlessly move the plastic to the side and make enough room for my body to fit inside. The sound of running caught my attention as I swung myself inside, and a second set of footsteps reached my ears, trampling up a set of stairs. I rushed toward the mezzanine overhang and peered down just in time to see Nadia barrel into Ciara, taking them both to the ground.
“Fuck,” I said as the gun clambered to the side and Ciara charged toward it. Nadia grabbed her by the hair and jerked her backward, taking her to the ground.
I couldn’t let her reach that gun.
Without a second thought, I flung myself over the half-built rail, grabbing the ledge as I went and slowing my fall just enough that I landed in a crouch beside Nadia. She grabbed the gun and rushed back to Ciara, standing behind her before I could get her in my sights and pull the trigger.
My knees ached from the landing, but I stood with a predatory stiffness, aiming at where Nadia stood behind Ciara.
“It wasn’t supposed to be like this,” Nadia said, shaking her head with an expressionless look on her face.
“Let her go.”
“I’m not giving up the potential to earn millions because of you, Viktor.”
That fucking debt. A tear ran down Ciara’s cheek as she stared at me, and when I met those sad eyes, I realized that she believed it was already over. She didn’t think she would make it out of here alive, and I could do nothing to convince her that she would.
“If you shoot her, I’m going to kill you where you stand, and you’ll never see a penny of that money.”
Nadia shook her head. “No, you’re going to let both of us leave. She’s going to die tonight. It’s your choice if I make it painless or painful. You know that I am not against doing either.”
The bold way she gave me an alternative told me she believed she still had the upper hand. She thought she was getting out of here. She had to be insane to believe I’d let her take a single step more. Ciara may have been between us, but if it was her life on the line, there were other ways to keep her safe. Not all wounds were life-threatening, and if I had to shoot through her to get to Nadia, I would do it.
“I know what you’re thinking,” Nadia said, shaking her head. “You’re looking at Ciara like you’re considering where you can shoot through her and get to me, right? You trained me the same way, boss. But do you want to risk it when I found this in her back pocket?”
She tossed something in my direction, but I kept my eyes locked on hers for a moment before I took a quick glance at the ground.
I knew what it was, even if I couldn’t see the results from where I stood. It was a pregnancy test, and when I met Ciara’s eyes again, I knew exactly what it meant. I could see the subtle sadness there, and I knew it was because she thought I would lose both her and a child.
Nadia shifted, and I didn’t stop to think as I aimed and pulled the trigger.
She cursed and loosened her grip on Ciara enough that my girl dove out of the way, and I charged. I could have shot her. I could have ended her right there, but I had to feel the life drain from her. I needed her to feel an ounce of the fear she’d caused me when she’d held a gun to Ciara’s head, and I’d give it to her.
Nadia, to my surprise, was faster than I remembered. Despite the bullet wound in her outer thigh, she swung a fist up and hit me in the face. She dipped out of my grasp and punched me in the kidneys as I turned.
Then she pointed her gun at my chest again.
In a maneuver I’d learned and perfected years ago, I grabbed her wrist in one hand and the barrel of the gun with the other, turning it away from me and snatching it out of her hands. I tossed it far out of reach and used my body weight to slam her into the wall.
