Artem
I stride out of the room, and look towards the assembled men.
“Come on,” I tell them. We’re moving out.”
No one says a word. They take one look at my face and start rallying to follow my orders.
Kian approaches me as everyone gears up, his eyes flitting between my men and his.
“How confident are you of taking this compound?” he asks me.
“A hundred percent,” I answer.
He raises his eyebrows. “Any chance that math is wrong, mate?” he says with a grim chuckle.
I clap my hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done more than enough, Kian. You’re not under obligation to come with us. I won’t lie—I’d gladly take your assistance. But you don’t have to be here.”
The Irishman meets my gaze calmly. “Our don sent us here to follow you, Artem. And that is what we’ll do. Until you’ve killed that motherfucker who killed Cillian.”
I pause, looking at his face with new awareness. He has stark blue eyes and sandy brown hair. The cut of his face is similar to Ronan’s but it’s not an obvious characteristic.
“Kian,” I repeat. “Kian… O’Sullivan?”
He nods grimly. “Cillian’s younger brother,” he replies. “I was only a boy when he was… when he left.”
That means he must be in his early twenties now, but he looks older.
“Your father sent his heir down here for a mission that has a good chance of ending badly?” I ask.
Kian snorts. “He didn’t want me coming. I insisted.”
I clap my hand against his shoulder again. “Well, I appreciate you coming,” I tell him. “I know Cillian would have, too.”
Kian nods. I can tell he’s ready to get going.
So am I.
“Move out!” I yell.
My men and I head out towards the line of cars that are driving up now to collect the various teams.
The drive to the compound is laced with an underlying tension, but there’s also a certain muted fervor. I look around at my men, knowing that I have their loyalty and they have mine.
It’s the strongest weapon we have against Budimir.
* * *
When we approach the compound, I see a lone guard on the lookout post. He looks sweaty and unprepared and I realize that Svetlana’s intel was sound.
I’ve thrown a spanner in the works and Budimir is scrambling to get his shit together.
I don’t intend to give him much time to rally his men.
This is the perfect time to strike.
“Drive through the gate,” I order Adrik.
Adrik smiles and relays the command into his walkie-talkie. I see a second armored jeep drive up next to us.