Page 56 of The Bratva's Arranged Virgin Bride
Chapter 31 - Kolya
Once I got to my house in the hills, what I hoped to be Nat’s and my future home together, I became so engrossed with her surprise that it was long past midnight when I finally looked up from my work.
Damn it, that was way more than a couple of hours. She was really going to be pissed. I didn’t bother calling her and waking her up; I just flew out of there and headed back toward the beach house, thinking of some explanation that wouldn’t give away what I’d really been doing.
Turned out I had one handed to me on a silver platter. As I was racing home, I got a message from Mat.
Now’s your chance to prove yourself.
Curious and annoyed at how cryptic he was being, I immediately called him.
“One of our places was raided a few hours ago,” he said. “We tracked them down and are heading that way now.”
As he filled me in on what he knew from surveillance footage at the warehouse that was ransacked, I was pretty sure it was the same crew that had given me trouble at the club earlier that night. Or last night, since it was heading into morning. I swore under my breath, regretting going easy on them.
“You know something about this?” he accused.
“Calm down. I know who they are. They’ve been giving me headaches, too.”
“So, you didn’t send them our way to alleviate that pain?” he asked.
I didn’t dignify that with a response. “Where should I meet you?” I asked instead. “And how many men should I bring?”
Mat gave me the address where they believed they’d find the gang. “Come alone,” he said before ending the call.
That was hilarious. As much as they didn’t trust me, I trusted them even less. This might have been an ambush, a way to get me out of the picture and get Nat away from me. They’d have to kill me in order to do that, and since I wasn’t born yesterday, that wasn’t going to happen.
Calling my best men to meet me at the location Mat had given, I told them to hang back and wait for further instructions. If I didn’t give them any at all within a half an hour, come in shooting. Hopefully, this wasn’t the kind of ambush where they shot me through the skull as soon as I walked through the door, but the Fokins weren’t normally so efficient. They were like cats, and liked to toy with their prey before devouring it.
When I arrived at the seedy apartment building, Mat and Nik were waiting outside, preparing to raid the place. They were both spitting mad and ready to end this paltry organization once and for all. Supposedly, the top guy was in there, and they surmised that by cutting off the head of the snake, the body would wither.
I’d found some of my most loyal men by taking their bosses out of the equation, so I agreed with them.
They both looked at me like they couldn’t believe it.
“What?” I said, shrugging. “It’s a good plan.”
I pulled out my sidearm and made sure it was fully loaded and ready to go. I was pleased this wasn’t a ruse to kill me, hidemy body, and make Nat a merry widow after all, and I told them I was ready to help however I could.
Nik scoffed, while Mat barely hid an eye roll. “Stay behind us, watch, and learn,” Nik said.
Smug bastards. But they were the ones who had intel on this place, and if they thought they could take down the leaders by themselves, then who was I to interfere? Just kidding. As we snuck up the stairs, I messaged my team to get over there and be ready if I gave them the word.
We finally got to the top floor and made our way down the dingy, poorly lit hallway toward what must pass for the penthouse of this building. The door wasn’t guarded, and Nik turned to give me a know-it-all expression.
“Should I go in first?” I asked to show I was willing to be a team player.
“So you get to have all the fun?” Mat pulled his gun, grinned at me, and shoved ahead, kicking open the door.
Instantly, there was a harsh crack, followed by a painful grunting noise. Nik and I followed, expecting to see whoever Mat had knocked out on the ground, and him with his gun on the head guy. Instead, mayhem greeted us.
There might have been no one outside or in the hall, but that was because they were all in the dumpy little apartment. The place was teeming with men, all of them armed. Mat was laid out on the chipped linoleum, groaning and trying to regain his feet after getting hit in the head.
Nik started firing, and a few fell, but the ones he missed returned fire. I ducked back out of the apartment, sent the signal to my guys, and then jumped back into the fray. I spotted Nik crouching behind a couch, rising to get off another couplerounds before ducking back down. Bullets sprayed into the sofa, sending chunks of foam padding flying. A spot of blood bloomed on Nik’s forearm, and he motioned for me to hurry up and get down as I felt a bullet zing past my ear.
I was more concerned about Mat, who was still trying to get back up. For the moment, he was being ignored, so I crouched low and grabbed the back of his shirt collar, dragging him behind the bar in the tiny kitchen off the entry. By my count, Nik had taken down half a dozen of them, but we were still outnumbered.
When I rose to look over the top of the counter, I spotted two men trying to get out the window and onto the fire escape. I shot in that direction, hitting one of them. The other one didn’t look back and jumped over the railing, sliding down the rickety metal ladder to save his own skin.
