Leo had told me what happened. Told me his exact location where they’d been pushed off the road, but Leo hadn’t stopped. He’d followed them, giving me the place where Oleg had taken Adelaide. My wife. The love of my life.
Ivan was with me, as was Terrance and even Slavik. They were there as I watched the video Oleg sent to me. I was already near him and my grip tightened on the cell phone. My hands were still covered in blood. Ivan and Slavik said nothing to me.
“He’s dead,” I said, finally speaking up. “I don’t care what I have to do to make amends, I will kill him. He will die tonight.” He hurt Adelaide.
Ivan nodded his head. “He doesn’t know Slavik and I are with you. We will have to be careful about this.”
I shake my head. “No.”
“You want Adelaide to come out of this alive?” Ivan said.
“He wants my territory. Mine is the border between the MC, the mafia, and the Cartel. That’s what he wants. He’s probably in talks with them to broker some kind of deal.” I’d already figured out what Oleg wanted-power and money.
Attempting to remove Ivan gave him a shot at the crown, at the title of Pakhan. By taking my land, it would connect him to Ive’s, which would bind three territories to him, and a whole host of power. Slavik’s would be the hardest to take over as his was the most obscure. I guess he didn’t see Victor or Peter as any real threat.
My hands shook with anger. Adelaide had once again been hurt. I would kill everyone involved with her death, including Bethany.
It didn’t take a genius to work out that she was the one who pointed at Nathan, told of his true identity. I wonder if she even knew he was a hit man. Either way, she would have figured out he was working for us, and that would have put him in danger as well as Adelaide. Bethany was going to die today. It would seem today was a day for spilling blood. My enemy’s blood.
“I go in first and alone,” I said.
“That’s suicide,” Slavik said. “We can storm the whole building.”
“No. That would put Adelaide at risk.”
“Our main objective is to take out Oleg.”
“If Aurora was in there, would you storm the fucking building?” I snarl.
Slavik reached for his knife but I was ready and prepared.
“Enough!” Ivan yelled. “No one is dying today, apart from Oleg and those who follow him. I will not risk Adelaide. Andrei is right, he doesn’t know you and I are here. He will want to gloat, to bring Andrei to his knees, and you will let him.”
I look at Ivan.
“He needs to believe you came alone. That you are desperate for Adelaide.”
“I am,” I said, through gritted teeth. “She cannot…” I have never begged for anything in my life. I’ve always been in control, but this wasn’t about me, this was about Adelaide. “Please don’t let anything happen to her. She is … let her live in peace if I don’t make it out today.” I lifted my head and stared at Ivan. “I beg you.”
Ivan looked at me. “You really do love her.”
“She is mine.” That was all I could say. Adelaide was mine. Mine to love. Mine to cherish. Mine to honor. Mine to obey. All fucking mine. No one else’s. I was hers in every single way possible.
“Then let’s go and get your woman.”
We found Leo in a ditch, far enough away from the abandoned farm where Oleg had taken her. There was an outbuilding that had been completely rebuilt, and looked like it had been changed to have storage.
Leo was pale, bleeding badly, and I knew he wasn’t going to make it.
“I failed you.”
I took his hand within mine. His grip was weak.
“It has been an honor to serve you, Andrei,” he said.
He died right in front of me. I would take care of his family. Even though Adelaide had been taken from him, he had died serving me, and that couldn’t be ignored. If he’d gone to the hospital, there would have been a chance for him, but instead, he’d followed my wife.
Nodding at Slavik and Ivan, I expected them to do their part. I stepped away from the ditch, brushed the dirt from my body, and covered in dried blood, I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt.
I was Andrei Belov, brigadier to Ivan Volkov and husband to Adelaide. My enemies would know real pain tonight.
Approaching the building, I see three of his men tense up and point their guns at me. Linking my fingers together, I raise them behind my head and look at them dead on. They were going to die.
They approached me and started to search my body, looking for weapons. They wouldn’t find any, and they’d have to chop off my hands because my fists were all that I needed.
One of the men moved behind me, nudging at my back with his gun, forcing me inside. Entering the building, I saw that I was right. It still had the original features of a barn, but it had been converted to a storage room. There were concrete floors, high beams, and the windows were quite high as well.
I saw Adelaide on the floor and Oleg had a gun pointed at her head. I saw the bruise on her face but what surprised me was the shock in her eyes.
“I didn’t expect you so soon,” Oleg said.
“My man called me the moment you left,” I said. I tutted. “I always knew you were sloppy, Oleg, but leaving my man alive, that was your mistake.”
I tensed up as he grabbed a fistful of Adelaide’s hair and pulled her to her feet. His arm went across her neck, holding her against him. I should have known he’d make a move like that. The fucker was a coward. He’d pay for each bruise.
“You’ve got a pretty wife, Andrei. How about I fuck her right in front of you?”
This time, I went to charge forward but one of his men shoved the butt of his gun into my stomach, forcing me to my knees.