Page 61 of Bratva Hostage

A muffled male voice stammers out something about seeing a woman matching Cecily’s description near the old rail yard. My heart leaps, but I keep my tone controlled. “When?”

“Earlier today,” he answers. “Could be nothing.”

“Check anyway. Report back.” I hang up, gnawing on my lip. Another worthless lead, most likely, but I have to chase it.

Time crawls. Minutes turn into an hour, then two, with no follow-up. I step into the corridor, passing staff who glance at me with lowered gazes. They know not to engage me right now.

I find myself outside her room again. The door stands ajar. I push it open gently and observe the small details she left behind. Her perfume bottle on the dresser, a folded sweater on a chair, and her scent in every single damn corner. It hits me how much I miss her presence, the way she’d fill a space with her quiet defiance or her sudden bursts of humor.

A guard intercepts me as I leave the room. “Mr. Barkov, we have no new information,” he says softly, as if he’s bracing for my outburst.

I just nod. Words fail me. I wander back to my office. The loneliness is suffocating. Usually, I thrive in silence, but now it torments me because it reminds me of what I lost.

Just after midnight, I’m slumped over the desk, head in my hands, when my phone vibrates. Not the desk phone—my personal one. Very few people have this number. The screen shows a series of random digits but no caller ID. I jab the answer button. “Dimitri.”

A crackle of static. I hold my breath. “Dimitri?” a voice says, faint but unmistakably hers. My body jolts as though struck. Cecily. Relief and dread collide in me. “Cecily,” I whisper. “Where are you? Are you alright?”

She exhales in a shaky burst. “Listen. I don’t have time. This call is encrypted, but if my father finds me talking to you—”

I tighten my grip on the phone as adrenaline spikes through my body. “Cecily, talk to me. Are you hurt?”

“Not yet,” she replies, though fear is evident in each syllable. “He has me in some old compound that used to be a resort outside the city. The Old Marina Lodge; do you remember it?”

She doesn’t give me a chance to confirm before she rushes out with, “He set up a perimeter with guards, but there’s a blind spot. You can get in from the pool deck at the back. There’s a maintenance gate near the fence. If you come in from the south, you’ll avoid the main guard posts. I have someone who will make sure it’s unlocked for you.”

I scramble for a pen and scribble the details on a spare envelope. My hands tremble so hard I can barely write. “Got it. Old Marina Lodge, maintenance gates. Any idea how many guards?”

“A lot. He keeps some near the main building on rotating shifts. They’re all armed. You’ll need to be careful.”

My heart hammers. She’s risking everything to feed me this intel because she knows I wouldn’t just abandon her. When she needed help, she calledme. Her husband. That has to count for something.

“I’ll come. Just hold on. Are you—?”

“I’m scared,” she confesses. “He hasn’t done anything yet, but I know him. He’s furious I married into the Bratva. He’s waiting for something, maybe trying to lure you into a trap. But I had to try. I had to let you know where I am.”

My throat knots. “Cecily, I’m so sorry. I never wanted you to—”

“I know,” she cuts me off as her voice cracks. “Just promise you’ll come. Please. I… I’m—” She halts, and I sense her fighting tears.

“I promise,” I assure her, pushing desperation aside to sound confident. “I’ll bring you home.”

She sniffles. “He’s always been cruel. But this is different. He’s…planning something big. If you wait too long, he might move me.”

“I won’t wait,” I vow. “We move tonight.”

She draws a shaky breath. “One more thing. The cameras around the pool are old. Probably easy to jam. But inside the compound, he upgraded to a newer system. Watch for a set of cameras near the eaves of the main house. If they catch you, he’ll sound the alarm.”

I scribble more notes. “We’ll jam them. We’ll find you. I swear.”

Her voice grows quieter. “Dimitri… I—” A clatter erupts in the background. A door slams. Another voice roars, menacing and cruel. “No!” she yelps. Then a crash. The phone connection sputters, and static blasts in my ear.

“Cecily!” I yell, but the line cuts out.

I stare at the phone in horror. My worst fear has been realized. Thorne discovered her call. I grip the phone so hard my fingers ache. She gave me the intel I needed, but at what cost? He could punish her for this. The rage that burns through me is unlike anything I’ve felt before. I want to tear Thorne limb from limb.

I burst into the corridor, nearly running into Maksim. “Gather everyone,” I command. “Cecily called. Thorne has her at that old resort of the interstate. She gave me a route in.”

“She’s alive?”

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