Page 30 of Kneel for Me

James nodded. “You’re my brother in every sense of the word but blood, Adrian. I’d wager to say I even know you better than Darren.” His eyes flickered between me and Ivan before settling on me again. “Take them out, Adrian. And use them as a message to anyone else who eventhinksthey can fuck with our family. They’ll see what happens to those who do.”

I nodded once. “Understood.”

With that, I turned on my heel and headed out of the room, Ivan silently following behind me.

23

Adrian

Igor lifted his hand and tapped Mark’s shoulder. Mark shot him an annoyed look, but Igor either didn’t notice or just pointedly ignored it. “Stop up ahead,” he told him. “We’re close to the general location, and I don’t want to spook them by pulling up in an expensive car like this one.”

Ivan looked at me. “You ready?”

“More than fucking ready,” I assured him. “You handling this one, or am I?”

Ivan looked out the window, like he was contemplating what he wanted to do. Finally, he turned his head back around to face me. “Let me handle getting them to talk. You can have the kill.”

“You sure?” I asked him. “Last you said, you wanted the kill.”

He shook his head. “That was before they shot James and almost killed him. This is your kill,kotik.”

Mark pulled over to the curb, and Ivan and I climbed out. Igor rolled down his window and looked up at us. “He’s somewhere in this general area. Best I can tell you to do isdiscreetlyask around and see if anyone has recognized them. Wherever they’re holed up at, one of them has had to go out at some point to get food and other shit. At least toilet paper. Got to wipe your ass somehow. Just plain nasty if you’re not wiping your ass.”

I laughed as I scanned the buildings around me. Igor rolled up his window, hidden behind the tint once more. Stuffing my hands in my pockets, I slowly tracked my gaze over each and every building. Ivan did the same, his shoulder pressing to mine.

“If I was trying to lay low and blend in with the locals in this area, I’d stay somewhere cheaper. Live below my means. Boris and Ninel have money, right?”

“Mhm,” Ivan hummed. “Lots of it. I wasn’t kidding when I said I gave him a pretty severance package.”

I nodded, watching as a car rode by with the bass up so loud, the sound rattled my teeth. “People around here are working two or more jobs to make ends meet. They’re tired and overworked. Most have kids, I’d assume. So, they’d want to stay somewhere where there was a mix of elderly and working-age people with kids so they wouldn’t stick out.” I nodded my head in the direction of an old, brick home that had been turned into apartments like most other houses on this street. “That one is the most promising, I believe.” There was an elderly woman climbing the stairs, her husband cupping her elbow. And a boy about twelve or thirteen was coming out of the building with a headset in his ears and his phone in his hand.

“Let’s give it a go,” Ivan said, shrugging one shoulder. “Worst case scenario, they’re not there, and we regroup.”

We stepped off the curb, and after checking to make sure the road was clear, we crossed to the other side of the street, then headed up the sidewalk to the house I’d pointed out. We smiled at the elderly couple once we were inside, who were making their way into their apartment. The woman smiled at us. “Visiting family?”

“Yes,” Ivan told her, a warm smile on his face. He was much better at faking his emotions than I was, but I guessed that came with years of practice and mentorship from his father. “We’re hoping to surprise my uncle, but I can’t remember his exact address, and Google has been no help. I don’t suppose you know him. He’s about my height with thinning, dark hair and blue eyes. Has a bit of a beer gut,” Ivan said, patting his belly, his smile never wavering. “And he likes to wear brown slacks. Never understood his obsession with that color.”

The woman’s eyes brightened. “Oh, yes! You’ve got the right building, sweetheart. Just go on up to the second floor. Apartment 2A. He and his wife don’t come out much, so I’m sure they’ll be ecstatic to see you.”

Ivan beamed at her. “Thank you. I hope you and your husband have a wonderful rest of your day.”

“You two, sweetheart,” she said before her husband led her into their apartment, shutting the door behind them.

Ivan smirked at me. “Am I good or what?” he asked before heading for the stairs.

I snorted and shook my head. “Let’s go. Remember—they’ll beecstaticto see us.”

Ivan snickered. “Not sure if that’s the right word, but they’ll besomethingfor sure.”

Apartment 2A was at the very end of the hall, the last door on the right. The other apartments were silent. I knew if we were going to take care of Boris and Ninel, we needed to do it quietly. We didn’t know if anyone was home in the other apartments. Someone could just be sleeping after working an overnight shift. And we were right above that elderly couple’s apartment. I wasn’t too keen on finding out how well their hearing was.

Ivan leaned into me, his lips pressing to my ear. A shiver raced down my spine, and my cock gave a half-hearted attempt at getting hard, even though we werenotin any position to even be thinking about sex. It was just Ivan. He made my body react to him so fucking effortlessly.

“We go in silently, find them, and put them to sleep.” He passed me a needle. I frowned at it. Where the fuck had he been hiding this? “Inject it into their arm. They’ll go to sleep fairly quickly. Thank Igor later for thinking ahead.”

With that, he moved away from me and headed to the door. Quiet as a mouse, he pulled a lock picking tool out of his pocket and began unlocking the door. Once it clicked, he shoved his tools back into his pockets, then opened the door. It swung open without even the slightest squeak, and we made our way inside, our steps silent on the tiled floor.

The apartment was a small studio with a small kitchenette off to the left and a little area for a small dining room table. A couch rested in the middle of the room, and across from it sat a TV on a cheap, wooden TV stand that’d definitely seen better years. And behind the couch was a bed, where Boris and Ninel were napping like the world was at peace and no one was out for their blood.

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