Katia hasn’t seen me; she is too busy staring daggers out into the crowd, not showing them an ounce of fear.Khoroshaya devochka.I’m about to raise my hand to interrupt the emcee and get Marcela on the stage when a loud crack reverberates through the room. Samantha, who was animatedly taking bids, stops talking mid-sentence, falling forward and hitting the podium. Her head is turned our way, and there is a very clear hole right between the middle of her eyes.
The whole place freezes, trying to figure out what just happened. Not sure if this is part of the show or not. After all, you’re at a braTVa event, perhaps Samantha pissed off Andrei Volkov. One never knows. However, I spy the shooter. Standing across the stage behind the curtain is Natalia, her eyes wide with rage, her chest heaving, and the gun still smoking in her hand.
Someone else must catch sight of her too because, in the next second, the room erupts into chaos. Screaming is all I can hear as people take off, either to run or join in on the fight. Shots are fired in all directions.
Oh, this is gonna be fucking fun
Nat
Earlier That Night
Myheartisbeatingfaster than a hummingbird’s wings. I always get a massive rush of adrenaline and excitement before going into dangerous situations. The excitement this time seems to be coupled with a bit of fear, which is not a feeling that I like. Before, it was just Alexie and me; he was able to handle himself, and we were unstoppable. Now, I’m going in there with more people I care about. I don’t like the odds of someone getting hurt or worse.
I’m in the zone, replaying our mission over and over in my mind. Conrad is huddled in front of the video feed from Marcela’s necklace. There isn’t enough room for all of us to be looking over his shoulder watching, so we try to take turns. He fills us in on the important pieces. He also makes sure we watch when Marcela and Alexie come to a doorway, where there seems to always be a couple of guards posted. Conrad is also keeping us informed on how many patrons there seems to be and the best routes for us to go when we enter certain areas, specifically the auction room.
I can only watch for a moment when Marcela and Alexie enter the auction room because it fills me with such disgust that I want to charge in there and destroy it all. We have to wait for a while as Alexie and Marcela are seated in the auction until they can find a way to leave the area.
As though on cue, the signal goes off that Marcela tapped her ring.Go time.Stryker tells us we’re going, and he opens the back door of the van. King, and I start to exit the back, but Conrad grips my arm before I hop down. “Be careful, and don’t be a hero. Just come back to us,” he says intently.
I lean back in and give him a firm kiss. Breaking away, I tell him, “I’ll come back to you.” I jump onto the concrete below and shut the door behind me. I was never one for long and sentimental goodbyes because they only make it seem like you might not return. And I have every intention of getting out of there alive.We’re all getting out of here alive.
In my head, King, Stryker, and I are walking in slow motion to some badass song getting ready to destroy this place. In reality, we’re walking across the poorly paved parking lot of a pet shop and then to a back alley of a ridiculous fancy version of a strip club.
There are cameras outside, but Conrad is running them on a loop until we get inside. We stand at the door for a moment until it slowly opens. Alexie and Marcela are on the other side. I look at the floor next to them, and there are the two guards we saw from the necklace feed. It looks like their necks were snapped, and they were pushed up against the wall.
They usher us inside and give us a brief overview of what is happening in the basement. Marcela and Alexie also share some of the force he had to use on Marcela to sell their parts. King puffs out his chest and steps towards Alexie, but Marcela steps forward and tells King that Alexie was just playing the part. King still looked furious, but we all understood the roles they were playing. Alexie had to make Andrei believe him, especially because they were coming in with Andrei already suspicious.
I look sympathetically at Alexie because I know he doesn’t enjoy playing this part, but we both know it’s so we can take down his father and rescue Katia.And rescue all the other innocent people here tonight.Alexie looks back at me, “Ivan is here. I don’t know where, but he’s here. Stay alert.” My heart picks up, but I knew he’d be here. Andrei isn’t going to pull something like this off without his right-hand nearby.
Alexie holds out his arm for Marcela to take. She loops her arms through his, but as they turn to leave, Alexie turns back. He makes a point to look down at one body on the ground and then at the other. “That puts my score at two, boys,” is all he says with a smile before turning around with Marcela and walking away.
King and Stryker move the bodies into the bathroom stalls and lock them away where no one will find them. With our next step being to clear this floor without raising the alarm, we sneak into the main area of the lounge. You would have no idea about the nefarious things happening below in the basement with the vibe in this room right now. If I didn’t know any better, this gentleman’s lounge would be amazing. There are dancers on smaller side stages, with two performing together on the main stage.
We need to get the dancers and patrons out of here quickly and safely, King and Stryker walk the perimeter of the room, looking for any of the security.
Making my way to my post so we can get this party started, I feel a stinging on my ass cheek. I turn around to see a man in an expensive suit with a big grin on his face.Did he really just slap my ass?“Hey, there, honey. How much to take you in the back room?” he asks in a sleazy tone.
Is this guy serious?That’s a stupid question, of course, he’s serious.I run my hand up my leg while looking at him until my hand connects with the cool metal strapped to my thigh just above where the slit ends. He licks his bottom lip, thinking I’m teasing him. I grip the handle and, in one swift motion, slam the knife into the chair between his legs.
The douchebag jerks back, his eyes wide, and yells, “What the fuck, you psycho bitch?”
My hand is still on the hilt, and my face is close to his. “Nevertouch a woman without her permission again,” I say to him.
“No, bitch is going to tell m–” his words are cut off when a gun is pressed to the side of his head.
“What seems to be the problem here?” King demands. His gun is pressed firmly to this man’s temple, but his eyes are on me.
“I have it taken care of,” I tell King. I’m all for the possessive alpha male trope, but I can handle myself. “Right? We don’t have a problem anymore, do we?” I ask, looking down at the ass-grabber as I yank my knife from the chair and slide it back into its holster.
This time, the man’s voice comes out shaky, “No problem at all, Sir.” He’s addressing King instead of me.Typical misogynistic prick.
King does not remove the gun, pressing the barrel harder into the man’s head. “You need to apologize to the lady because I’m pretty sure you called her a bitch.”
“I’m sorry,” the asshole says in his nervous tone.
“Sorry for what?” King asks.
Now he’s just toying with this guy to prove a point, and as much as I would normally love this, we don’t have time for this. I roll my eyes at King to let him know that I’m not impressed, hoping he’ll knock it off and get to work.Okay, so I’m slightly impressed because the possessive alphahole character is sexy.