Page 82 of Heritage of Fire

Salvatore says a few more words before he hangs up, but I’m not listening. How thehelldid she get tangled up with EV?

A moment of clarity breaks through my jumbled thoughts, and I dial Frank. “Get Anya to send me the phone call with Luna’s sister immediately. And if anything happens to her Frank, I will personally see to it you and Lev are hung for this.”

I throw the phone down and swerve to get around another vehicle. The city lights break through the night, and I’m grateful Warehouse Nine is only thirty minutes from downtown. After a few tense minutes, my phone dings with the audio.

“Hello?”

Luna …

I can sense it in her voice—she’s surprised to hear from her sister, especially after tonight.

“Luna—Luna, it’s Bella.”

“Isabella? What’s wrong? Where are you?”

“Luna, they won’t let me leave. I—I keep trying?—”

“Bella, where are you? Send me your location.”

“Lev!”

My blood runs cold. She’s calling forhim. He was supposed to be there for her, and he wasn’t. He doesn’t deserve her. My thoughts flare, and I tremble. No—Idon’t deserve her. She’s mine to protect and I wasn’t there.

“They know. They know my last name. I can’t leave.”

“Drop a pin! I’m coming!”

The line goes dead. Every bit of me is tense, and I hardly register driving through the city until I’m parking behind our two warehouse vehicles outside the EV alley. Bitterness clouds my thoughts, and it strangles each breath my lungs take. I’ve gone mad.

Both Lev and Frank stand by the abandoned car. I explode out of my BMW. Grabbing Lev by the collar of his shirt, I throw a punch at his face.

“You! Where were you? She was calling your name and you weren’t there!” I punch him again. His nose crunches beneath my fist. “You weren’t there!”

I yell at him, but it’s more my own admission. It feels like a confession with torment raging inside me.

Hands grip me from behind. Luka’s arms wrap around my chest. “Enough, Nikolai.”

Lev swears, holding a hand to his gushing nose. “For what it’s worth, I tried to be there. She turned me down.” He lowers his hand to reveal a bloody smirk.

I yank out my gun and aim it between his eyes.

“If this is what the Bratva looks like trying to find my daughter, we signed the wrong contract.” Salvatore’s voice breaks through the chaos. His tone is clipped and dripping with disdain.

Four of his men crowd behind him, armed and scowling at us. His gaze narrows on me. I can’t blame him. I’ve failed to protect his daughter. Me. No one else.

Lev spits blood into the puddled street. Luka strides over to him and removes the weapon tucked into the front of his waistband. “You don’t move from this spot, Lev. Wait for Igor and the others to arrive. If you move, you forfeit your life to the Bratva.”

“I don’t have time for this,” I growl as I stalk to the alleyway. The smell of wet, moldy cardboard wafts in with a sudden breeze and I grimace.

Luka and Frank catch up to me while Salvatore and his men follow behind us. I pound on the EV door with the flat of my palm, then two more times with my fist.

“Open up,” I yell. Turning to Luka, I say, “You need to wait with Lev and Frank. I’ll go in with Salvatore. We can’t afford the risk of both of us in this place.”

I wish Luka could stand by my side, but it’s irresponsible. He glares at me, and I know he’s torn between his duty to the Bratva and his desire to be my support.

The metal door grates open and a large man steps out. Driving into him, my forearm collides with his neck, pushing him into the wall behind him. One of his hands fumbles with his holster while the other claws at my arm, but I don’t care—I don’t even feel it.

“Take me to whoever knows anything about wheresheis.” The words taste bitter on my tongue, but I don’t have to specifywho I’m talking about. They knew we’d come here as soon as they made their move.

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