Page 37 of Hostage of the Bratva

Roman and Sergei had even assisted me in looking at buying a house for us. Grinning at myself, I was ready to welcome her back.

But before I could take the last step, the driver sprang out of the car. “I’m sorry, I’m so very sorry, sir,” he rattled out as his feet hit the ground. Glancing up, the guard looked away as he mumbled. “She’s gone.”

Feeling any and all calmness I had, was replaced by rage, I stormed forward and slammed the driver into the side of the car. “What did you say?” I spat at the guard across the roof, fuming. After everything we’ve been through, this was the last thing we needed.

“She,” the driver started saying.

“Spit it out, Mick,” I breathed out.

“We were waiting outside as she had asked.” He mumbled.

“You left her alone?” The utter astonishment in my tone was evident.

“She was bringing out her things and I was loading them,” the driver added softly as I let go of his throat and stepped back. Then she stopped coming out, so we went in. The front door was open, and she was gone.” He finished looking down at the ground.

“Were there any signs of a struggle?” I asked, shoving him sideways to get to the car.

“No, nothing we could see. The place was a mess, but I didn’t think it showed signs of a struggle.” That was the last I heard as I slammed closed the door and spun out of the gates.

She wouldn’t run, would she, I wondered as I raced back to Ivan’s club hoping the family was still there. We’re married, and she was so excited, I felt sure she wouldn’t run.

Pulling into the parking area, I saw the men all outside, getting ready to leave. I was driving so fast. I almost didn’t make the stop. I forced my foot down on the brake but also had to pull the handbrake. The car skidded sideways, rumbling up smoke from the tires as it screeched to a halt.

Getting out everyone’s attention was on me. “Sorry, Ivan,” I said as I paced toward them. “Skyler’s been taken,” I breathed out. It felt like my heart was about to stop. I had never felt all these emotions now surging through me. I was like a lion tossed into a city zoo.

“Calm down,” Ashan said, walking closer and touching my shoulder. “Take some deep breaths and tell us what happened.”

Placing my hand on his arm, I heaved as my lungs appeared to be struggling to get air. Ivan also came closer. “You need to calm down, Luder,” he said calmly. “We’re all here for you, take a deep breath and tell us what happened.”

I glanced at him and sucked in as much air as my lungs could keep. Breathing out, I spoke. “She went to her house to get some stuff. I don’t know what happened. The guard came back and said she was gone, and the front door was open.”

Ivan patted my shoulder. “Okay, just one question, and not because we are judging, just wondering, okay.”

I nodded in reply, still breathing slowly to keep myself upright.

“Why didn’t you go with her?” His question hit hard as I have been wondering the same thing.

Letting out another deep breath, I looked around. It appeared everyone was wondering the same thing and was waiting for an answer. As a family, we tend to always stick close.

“I don’t know,” I started. Pushing my hand through my hair, I turned and started pacing up and down. “After everything that had gone down…” Guilt was eating at me, and I couldn’t complete what was on my mind. None of the other men would have reacted the way I did.

“Okay,” Roman replied, sounding a little too eager. “It’s not her fault or yours.” He added. “We need to get the family together and first send out the informants to find her whereabouts. We can’t simply flood the street with no direction.”

“Let’s go inside,” Ivan said as he turned and headed back in. Ashan nodded his head sideways, and I followed Ivan, with the rest coming back inside as well.

As usual, we gathered in the back room when any form of business needed to be discussed. Seeing as this was serious, Ivan pulled open the corner cabinet and poured each of us a drink.

“I’ve already spoken to Yuri. He will get Aleksei and Nikolai to help as well. They will scour the city.” Sergei spoke up from the back of the room. “Soon, we will have a location.”

“Great, now, once we have a location, we can do a quick scan of the place and decide on the best action to take,” Ivan noted.

“I know what action is needed,” I spoke out loudly. As my words left me, I saw the disapproval on the faces of the men in the room. I was sure most of them had also experienced times when they didn’t care about their actions. But I also knew this wasn’t how we did things.

“We know you want her back, but don’t be stupid, we need to be careful,” Roman added. “There was a procedure to follow.”

I knew he was right, but my blood was boiling, and my heart was aching. I nodded in acknowledgment and sat down. It didn’t take long before we got the call. Having the address, we all took the drive uptown. I rode with Ashan as no one would allow me to drive my own car.

We went in only three cars, and the guards held back until we assessed the situation. Even though it was only a short twenty-minute drive, it felt like it took forever. I could swear they were driving slowly on purpose.

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