Nikolai
“Tell them to hold,” I say to Tony over the speaker phone.
I parked one street over from Hawke’s Hollow. In the shade of a tree, near the road, where, with my binoculars, I can see activity. Two vans and then a black car, one I know belongs to that fuck Derek.
My Rose went in twenty minutes ago, and I can’t see past the heavy iron gate. Tony’s called because a van and the car are just pulling out, the second van close behind.
They’re all too close, so I don’t know which vehicle Rose is in, and my heart’s thumping fast and hard in my chest, guts in knots.
Shit. The three vehicles part at the other end of the street. Derek’s car going one way, the other two in the opposite direction, toward my territory.
In the top corner of my phone, the GPS is on the move. I set down the binoculars.
“What do you want to do, Boss?”
She’s not in the car. She’s in one of the vans. Logic says since Derek’s car is on the move, to follow that, but… Fuck it.
“Follow the car, I’ll take the others.”
“Nik-Boss?”
I start the engine and throw the car into gear, letting them pull ahead before I follow the GPS. “I’m following. I want to see where they’re headed, but we need eyes on the car now,” I say. “Call you later.”
I hang up. Maybe this is stupid, but I don’t want to let her out of my sight, so to speak. Instinct tells me Finnegan’s not about to just leave her behind. He wants to hurt me and he thinks he can do it with her. He also wants to finish that fucking wedding to get whatever connection Vitale Lugo promised.
He can’t hurt me, of course. There’s nothing left and he not getting Rush, who is well fucking trained. Rose is… Rose… I swallow and it’s like broken glass is in my throat.
If he fucking hurts Rose again, I’ll make him wish he’d never been born. Touch her and I’ll fucking pull out his fingernails and cut off his fingers. Hurt her and the things I’ll have done to him before I start his torture and long road to death will make what he did to my aunt and Sylvie look like walks in the park on a fucking Sunday.
No one hurts Rose. No one.
I want to put my foot down and catch them up, get her now, rethink this plan. Oh, I still want everything, but without Rose on the table. I grit my teeth. Rose is integral and that fact rips into me.
In the distance comes the familiar wail of sirens and for a moment, I’m hoping Finnegan wrapped his car around a tree. No. I don’t. He needs to suffer.
My phone rings and I punch answer. “What?”
“Lost him, boss. There’s an accident and he’s on the other side.” Tony’s voice is grim.
I punch the steering wheel because realization is dawning on me about where the van is going. Long forgotten Finnegan property, right on the edge of mine. Fuck. Shit. Fuck.
“Send anyone we have to keep a look out for him. I’ll be in touch.”
“Boss we can meet you.” He pauses. “Oh, shit.” He’s seen the GPS, too.
The house, old, set back, seemingly empty, isn’t. It’s private and it’s well fortified. It’s where Finnegan lived and ruled his small patch before he began moving in on others, amassing enemies and bodies and power. It’s where he lived with Steph and baby Thorne. My Rose.
I’ve been there. I saw him beat Steph unconscious because he could because he got off on it because she probably accidentally smiled at someone without any meaning behind it. It’s where my uncle decided to extract himself from any entanglements with Finnegan. It’s where I helped sign a bunch of death warrants. It’s where he nearly killed is little daughter because no one had the balls to step up and take the brunt.
No one-
I stop. I’m not reliving events that can’t be changed or going down the terrible paths those events led to. It is what it is and fucking Finnegan will die, after I get everything.
This place isn’t his secret compound, but it’s always been well fortified, the kind of place he can keep an army hidden, where he has the element of surprise. It’s a great holdover to keep my Rose until he moves her to his compound.
The two SUVs are there, but not Derek’s car. I’m going to sit here all fucking night and tomorrow until they come out. I’m-My fucking phone rings again. Rush.
“Dude, Niko. Where are you?”
“What’s up?”
“I sent Tony to you.” There’s a little nervous note in his voice. I’m in a mood and he overstepped, and the little fuck won’t quit calling me Niko.
I pull out my gun and load and reload it, just for something to do. “One, it’s Nikolai. Two, I give orders. Three, I asked you a fucking question.”
He’s silent a moment and there are voices in the background. “Nikolai, I know. I’m gonna answer you, dude. Right now. I sent Tony because I need you here.”
“What you need you don’t always get,” I say in my most dangerous tone.
He lets out a noisy sigh. “Tony will contact you, and you’ve got the GPS if something happens. But you’re gonna want to hear this. The guy I had on the inside? He’s here. He wants to talk. He’s got information.”
When I get in, I go straight upstairs and grab the world’s quickest shower, throwing on my black jeans, a t-shirt, and a long black sweater. Then, I head back down. Whoever it is can wait. The information can wait until I’m ready to roll. If I have to go in, I need to be ready. I need to be dressed the part. I have a Kevlar vest and I take that, along with my holster, clips, rounds, and a selection of guns.
They’re in my office, waiting. I don’t look at one person while I dump my crap on the desk. I take a breath, put on my nastiest game face, and turn. Narrowing my eyes, I swing my gaze from the older man to my cousin and back again. This is the man Rose recognized.
“Is there a reason why I shouldn’t kill you right now? You touched Rose.”
The man pales a little. He’s big, mean, a face of stone and about as much expression, but there’s a touch of fear.
“Nikolai,” Rush says. “This is Rafael-Rafe-Garcia.”
“Again, tell me why I shouldn’t fucking put you in the ground.”
The man nods. “Do what you want to me, but take the information I have first, Mr. Wilder.”
I don’t want to. I want to beat his face into pulp. So many violent urges are erupting in me. I’m not saying I’m a peace-loving man, but violence is something best handed out when it’s most impactful. Right now, I’m not fucking interested in levelheaded, impactful or best. I want to destroy.
It’s Rose. She makes me fucking weak. She stole something from me and I miss whatever it is. I just don’t know what it is and I hate it. The sooner I fucking get her back, the sooner I never have to see her again.
“And you?” I swing to Rush. “You fucking dare bring Finnegan’s filth in here? He fucking touched Rose.”
“On orders. I didn’t enjoy it.”
I swing back to this Rafe. “Not good enough for you?”
“Nikolai, listen-”
“And,” I say, “why are all these other people in here?” I stab a finger at Priestly, one at someone else who’s name I fucking forgot. “Go do your fucking jobs. Now.” I’m aware I’m being a snarling beast and that I need to get it together. “You? Garcia? Fucking talk. Fucking make it worth my while or I’ll take one of my guns and feed it to you.”
The guy nods. His expression doesn’t change but he gets a little paler. “There’s video from when Finnegan had her. He only has his office on feed and recorded. He likes to keep track of deals, punishments, other…things he does there.”
“Here.” Rush pulls over my computer and inserts a thumb drive, and then he pulls up the link and hits play.
It’s a punch right to my solar plexus as Rose appears. Frightened. Dressed…I don’t even know what the fuck he has on her. Finnegan says nasty shit to her. She sits on that fat fuck’s knee, and he sticks his hand under her dress and then Finnegan barks out something about that’s my daughter and then-
I turn it off.
“Stop this sick shit, Rush. Jesus. Fuck.”
Rush goes red, swallows. “There’s more. Rafe said Finnegan did have her room set up for a day, but decided against it.”
I don’t want to see, and I can’t look away. I shove Rush and play the other one. She’s in some kind of small room that looks like the nightmare version of a six-year-old’s dream. It’s just so… pink. I listen and watch, grit my teeth as the fucker standing here dresses her. He looks away, looks like he doesn’t want to, and does it so impersonally that it’s quite possibly the only reason he lives right now.
I’m real fucking close to picking up a gun and killing him.