Artem
Two quick shots with a silencer takes out the man patrolling the back entrance.
My soldiers catch him before his body even hits the ground. They drag him to a vehicle and throw him into the trunk. A Bratva man takes his place so no one is the wiser.
Just like that, we’re in.
I slip into the hotel through the back entrance with my men behind me. I can hear Maxim coordinating with his contingent of soldiers as we find our way to the lobby.
Adrik walks towards me, having already entered the hotel from a separate entrance to avoid unnecessary scrutiny.
“I have the list,” Adrik says, passing it over to me.
I scan through it, seeing the names of all the men who were in the Presidential meeting suite on the penthouse floor.
The names include every don who’d been invited, as well as their men.
Per tradition, each don has only two men present. It’s an old rule meant to keep anyone from launching a surprise attack against the other dons.
But today, it’s their Achilles heel.
Fucking perfect.
I scan further down the list and come across five additional names. I glance at Adrik with a frown. “What’s this?”
“The waitstaff,” he explains. “Those five have been cleared to be in the room before the meeting officially starts. To serve the wine and food. They’ll be cleared out once the meeting gets going.”
“That’s our in,” I say. “Have they gone up yet?”
Adrik smiles. “All five are currently tied up in the staff quarters,” he says with obvious satisfaction. “Follow me.”
The room Adrik leads us into is secured by two of my men. I walk inside to find the waiters, lying on the floor. They’re unconscious, but they’ve been bound and gagged all the same. Stripped to their underwear, too.
Meaning there are uniforms laid out for five men.
“I want to be in that room with you,” Maxim says, stepping forward.
“As do I,” Adrik requests immediately.
I nod. “The two of you are with me,” I say, before looking around at the rest of my men. “Alexei. Vasyl. You two as well. Get your uniforms on.”
We get dressed quickly. When we’re all suited up, my men grab the food trolleys and we take the main elevator up to the penthouse floor.
Security is mostly stationed inside the Presidential meeting room. Only two men standing outside the door.
“Move fast,” I whisper as we stride down the hall. “We can’t make a sound.”
Adrik and Maxim walk forward with their heads down. One of the security guards raises his hand.
“Hold on,” he barks. “We need to check ID. Make sure you’re cleared for entrance.”
The moment he looks down at his piece of paper, Adrik and Maxim have both struck. Their dagger-wielding hands swipe across their victim’s throats with expert skill, and before either guard can hit the ground, Adrik and Maxim grab them and pull them to the side closet where they deposit the bodies.
I step forward, Vasyl and Alexei flanking me.
“Nicely done,” I say. “From here on out, heads down. And don’t interact unless you have to. We’re free-balling it to the end now.”
We enter the room, making sure to let the doors swing closed quickly so that no one notices the sudden lack of security just outside the door.