Page 64 of Cruel Russian Monster
I needed to get Timur to upgrade the system at my house. The fact that they’d been watching and knew all this shit was unnerving. The last thing I needed was them catching footage of me eating out, Vera on the kitchen counter, or taking her from behind in the lounge.
I forced myself to focus as I stepped into the room behind Zahkar and Yegor.
The second we stepped inside, the faint scent of leather and cigar smoke filled my nostrils. The cool air of the AC washed over us. The room was set up like an office; a large mahogany desk with a computer sitting on it, a chair at the desk, and shelves lined with books. There weren't any windows.
Zahkar crossed the room, gripped the side of a floor-to-ceiling cabinet, and shifted it two inches to the left. A faint mechanical click sounded as it gave way, revealing the steel face of a Rostov 8X.
He looked over his shoulder. “It’s all yours.”
I stepped forward, crouched slightly, and ran my hand along the face of the safe. The Rostov 8X stood nearly chest-high, matte steel.
“We have fifteen minutes left,” Yegor said behind me.
Nodding, I dropped to one knee. It had a dual-layered, biometric sensor on the left, a mechanical dial at the center, and a silent time-lock wired beneath. I’d cracked dozens of these over the years, but they still demanded respect. One wrong move, and it locked you out for forty-eight hours, or triggered a silent alarm if the owner had been paranoid enough to wire it for alerts.
I pulled my kit from inside my pants pocket and opened it on the floor. The tools were simple: magnets, decoders, a tiny drill with a diamond bit, and a bypass sensor tap. I started with the biometric override, bypassing the reader entirely with a small spike that tricked the circuit board into accepting a default access loop. Once I saw the green flicker, I moved to the dial.
The click of the stethoscope in my ears drowned out everything else. I spun it slowly, counting rotations, watching the notches line up in my head. Each one clicked into place likea puzzle I’d solved a thousand times, but it was never exactly the same.
Eight minutes in, I twisted once more, and the safe opened with a low metallic sigh. I rolled up my tools and slipped them back into my pockets.
Yegor walked forward, shining a small penlight inside while Zahkar stood watch at the door.
Stacks of euros and dollars filled the upper shelf, all bundled tight with bank straps. Underneath was the real prize: an external hard drive, a steel lockbox, several USBs, and a leather folder thick with documents.
Yegor grabbed everything except the cash, then shut the safe door.
“Time to go.” He stuffed everything into the backpack. He checked his watch. “We've got four minutes left.”
He slung the backpack over his shoulder, then slid the cabinet door back in its place.
We moved in silence, and Zahkar pressed the book again, sliding the shelf back into place before we exited the master bedroom.
As we moved down the hall, almost to the back door we’d come through, one of the side doors opened.
“What the fuck?” the man said, stunned.
Before he could speak again or alert anyone, Zahkar drove a foot into his stomach, knocking him backward into the room. He caught himself fast, knife flashing as he lunged, not for Zahkar, but for Yegor.
I saw the blade and shoved Yegor out of the way. The knife slashed my side. I grabbed the man, snapped his neckclean, and shoved his body back into the room before slamming the door shut.
“We've gotta move,” Yegor said.
I nodded. Getting caught here would blow back on more than just us. It could possibly damage every faction linked to Bratva. I clutched my side as we made it out the back and off the property.
Yegor hopped behind the wheel, and Zahkar and I crawled into the back seat. Before Zahkar closed the door, Yegor was speeding off. I was drenched in sweat, my teeth clenched against the pain. I closed my eyes and pressed my hand against the wound as hard as I could.
I was pissed.
This was the second time I’d taken a hit since marrying Vera. I was an underboss, not some rookie. This shit made me look weak. And if I couldn’t protect myself, how the fuck was I supposed to protect her?
“How are you holding up?” Zahkar asked, his voice tight.
“It's just a nick. I'll be fine,” I slurred, my head rolling to the side, eyes still closed.
But I wasn't. My limbs felt heavy, and even with my eyes closed, I felt like my head was spinning.
“Shit,” Yegor said. “I think they laced the blade with something. It could be a harmless paralysis drug or poison.”
