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“Tie them up to the poles,” he growled and stomped off. Most of the men followed Vincent out of the warehouse while two stayed behind to untie us. I couldn’t make out their faces but I felt the ropes loosen around me. Then, it happened quickly. From beside me, Christy got out of her chair and I couldn’t seethe rest clearly, but I heard one of the men say, “You touched my dick, bitch. You want some before I tie you...”
Then, heavy grunts, curses in Italian, and two shots being fired. I stilled in my chair, unsure of what happened.
“Mariana. Come on, let’s go. ”
I exhaled. If Christy was fine, everything was fine.
Chapter 28 - Vlad
I raised my hand in the air, crooked my finger, and pulled the trigger. Again. The gunfire erupted like thunder, shattering the silence as the shots rang out. Bullet shells clattered on the ground, bouncing by my feet, and I dropped my arm, ready to load another round.
Sergey and Nikolai stood by my sides, each with their gun in one hand and the other tucked in their pockets.
A cold wind howled and the flickering overhead bulbs from the old streetlight poles cast shadows. Alexei stood by a corner, with a black rifle in his tight grip, while the rest of our men spread out across the abandoned area.
“Russo!” I growled and the air conveyed the intensity of my anger around the dilapidating buildings, and through the broken glass windows. We stood, arms in hand, facing a rusty container the size of a warehouse. I knew in my gut that they were in there. The surrounding structures were far too old to house anything. “Come out, Russo! We know you’re in there. You’re not a fucking coward now, are you?”
The rusty doors opened and marched out with several men, too numerous to count, solidly behind him. They stood at a distance, not too far, but just right to take a clean shot. Without hesitation, Vincent lifted his arm and aimed a silver gun at my head. His eyes narrowed dangerously and his chest heaved. I spotted his bloodied knuckles and decided not to dwell on it. Killing him was going to give me more satisfaction.
“I should end you now,” he snarled.
I flashed a smirk. “Iwillend you now.”
I kissed the tip of my gun and aimed it at him. All around us, my brothers and my men did the same. Cocking guns reechoed and Vincent’s men mimicked our stance.
“Where is she, Russo?” Sergey’s deep voice startled our enemy.
He cackled; his head going backwards and the heels of his soles bouncing off the ground just to emphasize how hard he laughed. “The girl and her friend are about to die.”
I took a step forward, my anger flared, but Nikolai put a hand on my arm to calm me. Sergey gave methatlook. The one that meantdon’t.He took a casual step further and shrugged. “If you release her quietly, we might just let you live. Who knows?”
The tension in the atmosphere was building. Everyone felt it. Alexei shot me a knowing look and sent out silent cryptic signals to the other men to get ready. Things were about to get bloody.
Vincent waved his gun around and grinned from ear to ear. “I don’t think you fucking understand, Sergey. I fucking own all of this.Ihave the fucking power, not you. I get to decide who lives here and who dies, and so far, I’ve decided that I’m the one walking away with your blood on my hands.”
“The girl, Vincent.” Nikolai made an official entry into the conversation. “We came here for the girl, and not to cause more problems.”
“More problems?” Vincent’s gaze darkened. “The girl is the fucking problem, and that’s why I am going to wipe her existence from this earth, and then I’ll take three of your...”
Bang!
I shot. The talking was becoming too much. All I wanted was to see Mariana again, alive and breathing. One of Vincent’smen dropped to the ground, gurgling, and clutching his stomach as blood quickly rushed out.
And his fury flew over the roof. He yelled something in Italian and then, “Kill these fucking bastards!”
Gunshots rang out while my brothers and I ducked to take cover. Sergey raised his head, aimed, and fired. Another one dropped like a fly.
“I have to find her.”
“Vlad...” My brothers tried to stop me but I huffed, shot at one of his henchmen, and ran behind a building. As bullets whizzed past, I moved with ease, ducking and navigating my way, with the knowledge that time was slipping away.
I spotted Alexei. He’d climbed a damaged truck and was shooting rapidly at a ground of thugs that ran towards him. Automatic gunfire. But it was not enough. We needed more men with us.
I turned around, running through a corner, and taking as many men down as I could. But they were too many. Bloodstains adorned the walls, a gruesome mural of a war that seemed likely to end in my defeat, if we didn’t get reinforcements. Our men fought valiantly, but the odds were stacked against us.
The henchmen were closing in and I’d still not slit Vincent’s throat.
The acrid scent of gunpowder hung thick in the air, mingled with the putrid scent of chemicals and smoke. I saw him, standing in the center and pulling the trigger without hesitation at my people.
