Page 86 of Bratva Boss's Secret Baby

I duck behind a concrete pillar as bullets chip away pieces of the support beam inches from my head. “Engage and neutralize. Keep pushing forward.”

The firefight continues around me, but I follow a hunch that’s been nagging at me since we entered the building. While my team engages the obvious threats, I head toward the back corridor, where the warehouse connects to what used to be administrative offices. If Vadim is holding Sabrina here, he’ll want her somewhere he can control access, with limited entry points that make rescue attempts more difficult.

The hallway stretches ahead of me, dimly lit by emergency lighting. Most of the rooms I pass are empty, filled with nothing but dust and the detritus of whatever legitimate business operated here before Vadim turned it into his base of operations. The air smells like rust and decay, with an underlying chemical odor that makes my throat burn.

At the end of the corridor, I find a reinforced door with fresh scratches around the lock mechanism and heavy steel construction built for security rather than privacy. There’s light bleeding underneath the door, and I hear voices inside, though the words are muffled by the thick metal.

I test the handle and find it locked, which only confirms my suspicions. I step back and kick the door just below the deadbolt, putting all my weight behind the blow. The door remains intact, but the frame splinters with a sharp crack, and the door swings open to reveal the room beyond.

There she is.

Sabrina sits in a metal chair in the center of a small, windowless room. The sight of rope burns around her wrists and dried blood on her temple enrages me, but relief supersedes it, hitting me so intensely it nearly buckles my knees. Immediately, the rage rises again, fueled by what they’ve done to her. She’s alive, she’s conscious, and she’s looking at me with an expression that’s more determined than afraid.

Vadim stands behind her chair with a pistol pressed to the back of her head, his expression calm and controlled despite the gunfire echoing through the warehouse around us. He’s changed out of his expensive suit into tactical gear, but his silver hair is still perfectly styled, and his eyes hold the cold satisfaction of a man whose plan is proceeding exactly as intended.

He tilts his head slightly, as if greeting a dinner guest who’s arrived precisely on time. “Nikandr, so good of you to join us. You’re earlier than expected.”

Off to the side, near what appears to be the room’s only other exit, Irina watches our confrontation with nervous energy. She keeps shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and her perfectly manicured fingers drum against her thigh in a rapid pattern that betrays anxiety despite her composed expression.

I keep my weapon trained on Vadim while calculating angles and distances, looking for any opportunity to take a clean shot that won’t risk hitting Sabrina. “Let her go. This is between us.”

Vadim adjusts his grip on the pistol, making sure I can see exactly where it’s pointed, with the barrel pressed against Sabrina’s skull in deliberate menace. “It’s been between us for twelve years, ever since your brother killed my nephew, starting this blood feud, but I thought she should be here to witness the end of our story.”

Sabrina meets my gaze, and I see strength there instead of fear. I can see she’s scared from the slight tremor in her hands and the way she keeps taking careful, controlled breaths, but she’s not broken. Whatever she’s endured since they took her, it hasn’t destroyed her.

I need to know how badly she’s been damaged, both for tactical reasons and because the not knowing is killing me. “Are you hurt?”

Her voice is steady, though I hear exhaustion underneath. “I’m okay. The baby’s okay too.”

Vadim’s mouth curves into something that might be a smile if it held any warmth whatsoever. “How touching. A family reunion. Unfortunately, it’s also a farewell.”

The gunfire from the rest of the warehouse is becoming more sporadic, which means my team is winning the fight against his men. Soon, they’ll come looking for me, and Vadim’s window of opportunity will close. If he’s going to make his move, it has to be now.

I lower my weapon slightly, making the gesture deliberate and obvious while maintaining eye contact with him. “You want me?Here I am. Let her go, and we’ll finish this the way it was always meant to be finished.”

Vadim’s eyes narrow as he considers the offer, and I can practically see the calculations running through his mind. “Drop your weapon.”

I shake my head slowly, keeping my movements non-threatening but firm. “You first.”

His grip tightens on the pistol, and for a moment, I think he’s going to pull the trigger just to prove he can. “I’m not the one making demands.”

I spread my hands slightly, weapon still pointed toward the floor but ready to raise if necessary. “Neither am I. I’m offering you a chance to kill me face to face, without hiding behind innocent people or elaborate traps.”

For a long moment, we stare at each other across the small room while the sounds of battle continue to echo from the warehouse beyond. He’s weighing his options, likely calculating whether he can trust me to honor whatever agreement we make. Sweat beads on his forehead despite the cool air, and there’s something almost hungry in his expression as he considers the possibility of finally getting his hands on me.

Finally, he steps away from Sabrina’s chair, moving with deliberate slowness while keeping the gun trained on her until the last possible second. Then he tosses his pistol to the far corner of the room, where it clatters against the concrete wall. “There. Now you.”

I drop my weapon and kick it away, keeping my hands visible while maintaining eye contact. I hate giving up my gun, but thisis what needs to happen to keep Sabrina and Elizabeth safe. “Just you and me.”

He rolls his shoulders like a fighter preparing for the ring, and there’s anticipation building in his posture. “Just you and me.” His voice carries the satisfaction of a man who’s about to get everything he’s ever wanted.

We circle each other in the confined space, both of us looking for openings and advantages. Vadim is older than me, maybe fifty, but he moves with the fluid grace of someone who’s stayed in fighting shape. There are scars on his knuckles and forearms showing he’s done this before, probably more times than I have. His gaze never leaves mine as we move, and there’s a predatory patience in his movements that tells me he’s confident about how this is going to end.

He strikes first and faster than I expected, with a quick jab aimed at my throat that I barely manage to block with my forearm. The impact sends pain shooting up to my shoulder, but I don’t have time to process it because his follow-up comes immediately—a hook to my ribs that connects hard enough to drive the air from my lungs and send fire shooting through my torso.

I stagger backward, gasping for breath, but manage to respond with an uppercut that catches him under the chin. His head snaps back with the impact, opening a cut on his lower lip that immediately starts bleeding. The blood streams down his chin and drips onto his tactical vest, but he doesn’t seem to notice as he presses his attack with renewed fury.

We fight like animals, brutal and raw, with years of hatred and vengeance driving every blow. He’s faster than I expected and also more skilled, but I have rage on my side from what he did to my brother and what he’s put Sabrina through.

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