The rage in Mikhail’s voice makes me feel better. I’m going to enjoy watching him kick this fucker’s ass. The man flips me around so I’m facing the desk and then starts running his hands over me.
“Hey! Take your fucking hands off me!”
He ignores me and then laughs when he finds my knife. He takes it out, holding up the sharp blade for the others to see and then says something in Italian that makes them laugh. Right at that moment, Yuri busts in with his gun drawn and quickly shoots two of the men. The silencer keeps it quiet, but the sight of their heads jerking sharply when the bullets hit them and then the walls splattering red is not something I’ll ever forget. I take advantage of the confusion and try to remember everything Mikhail taught me. I elbow the man behind me in the ribs and turn around fast enough to punch him in the nose. It’s a good hit, a solid hit that Mikhail would’ve been proud of, but the return punch he gives me has me falling to the floor with a quickness, fighting like hell to stay conscious.
I’m almost there, baby,Mikhail says in my head.Just hang on, sweetheart.
I turn my head in time to see Yuri stab one of the men closest to him right before they hit him over the head with some sort of black baton. He falls to his knees, giving me a dazed look. His eyes are filled with regret, and I’m so fucking sorry, because I should’ve just gone downstairs with him. We could’ve figured out a different time to do this later. I fucked up, and now we’re both paying the price. When his body finally gives up and he collapses, I let out a pained groan, terrified that I’ve just gotten him killed.
“Take them to the roof,” the man whose nose I broke growls.
They’re taking them to the roof!Mikhail yells to his men.I’m almost to the front door, baby.
I taste blood and the whole side of my face aches like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. One of the men picks me up, hauling me over his shoulder while two others grab Yuri. They make quick work of us and soon we’re walking out onto the mayor’s roof where there’s a black helicopter waiting.
“A helicopter?” I moan, because I want Mikhail to know what’s going on. “Where are you taking us?”
“Shut the fuck up,” the man holding me yells. He tosses me into the helicopter with Yuri. They zip-tie our hands before crowding in next to us.
Yuri is still dazed and slipping in and out of consciousness. He still manages to say, “Let her go. She’s not a part of this. I just hired her for tonight. She knows nothing.”
“Just some little actress, huh?” One of the men asks. “You think we are stupid?”
“Oh, I know you’re stupid,” Yuri says, giving him a bloody smile. “You’re all fucking dead men.”
That earns Yuri a vicious punch to the face that sends him back into unconsciousness. The helicopter starts, and it hits me that Mikhail isn’t going to make it in time.
“You broke my fucking nose, bitch.”
I watch as he snaps it back into place with a gruesome cracking noise. It’s a practiced move like he’s done this before, and I’m glad that I at least managed to cause him a little bit of pain.
We start to lift off, and my heart gives a jump when I see Mikhail and his men run onto the roof.
“Shoot them,” the man I hit calmly says.
The man next to me raises his arms to aim his gun at the man I love, and I lose it. I scream and elbow the hell out of him, jerking his arms so there’s no way in hell he’ll be able to hit the target he’s aiming at. It earns me a return elbow jab to the chest that sucks the air right out of me and sends a shock of pain through me, but it was worth it when I see that we’ve turned and Mikhail is completely out of his view now.
“Seems like you’re definitely more than just a little actress our Russian here hired.” The man is wiping blood from his still bleeding nose with a silk handkerchief.
I don’t bother answering.
I’m so sorry,Mikhail says in my ear, and the grief and pain in his voice has my throat tightening and tears running down my cheeks.I will find you, baby. I promise. I’m going to get you back. I love you. I’m so sorry.
I wish I could say it back, but they haven’t found the earpiece yet, and I can’t lose this connection with Mikhail. His voice is the only thing keeping me sane right now. I know he’ll find me. I’m so unbelievably grateful that he ignored me and kept that tracker in my ass cheek. They may find the earpiece at some point, but they’ll never suspect my fiancé microchipped my ass.
I cling to his voice as the helicopter flies us further away.
I will find you, baby. Just hold on.
Chapter16
Mikhail
Imute my end of the earpiece because I don’t want to scare the hell out of Charlie when I go on my rampage, which I’m about two seconds from doing. Fear and anger claw at me until I feel like I can’t breathe. I can’t believe they fucking took both of them. Yuri is trained for shit like this. I know that no matter what they do to him, he’ll withstand it, but Charlie? She’s not used to this sort of violence, and when I start to think about all the things they could do to my fragile, little fiancée, all I can see is red. I let the rage consume me, because I don’t dare let myself think about anything else. I pull up her tracker on my phone, watching the small, blinking dot get further and further away.
“We’re going to get them back,” Artyom says, trying to keep me from blowing up.
“Where’s the mayor?” I ask, already storming back inside.