“Poor thing was afraid of you, Max. What did you do to her,” Vlad teased. My dick of a brother loved to crack his annoying jokes at critical times like this. I swore he was born to piss the rest of us off.
I fought back the urge to roll my eyes. “I’ll punch your fucking mouth if you don’t shut.”
Vlad threw his hands up. “My bad. Ride on.”
“I don’t think it’s wise to go, Sergey. If it’s a setup, then you’re the target.” Come to think of it, why wouldn’t she want me there? I was no less or more terrifying than the rest of my brothers, so why?
“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Sergey sighed, running a hand over his hair. “I’m taking Nikolai and Vlad with me. You take care of the shipment until we return.”
“Sergey—”
“It’s an order.”
***
An hour later, my brothers had already left to meet the mystery woman. I was at the warehouse with some of my men.
The shipment arrived a moment ago and was being offloaded from the truck to the warehouse. Everything was going smoothly, and I took it as a good sign that my brothers hadn’t called like we agreed if something went wrong.
I was still carefully watching my men offload the drugs and weapons in the shipment when Damien, my second-in-command, walked out of the warehouse and stalled in my direction.
Reaching me, he held his phone out to me. “The boss wants to speak to you.”
I reluctantly took the phone from him. My brother had my number and could easily contact me if he wanted to. Why would he call Damien instead? “Brother, is there a problem over there?”
“No. How’s the shipment?”
“Great, the guys are almost done with the offloading.” I fiddled my phone with my fingers. “I’ll take a record of everything that came in tonight, then return to the club. Did she give any useful information?”
“She didn’t show up.”
“What do you mean she didn’t show up?”
“I think it’s a trick. Be on your guard, we’re on our way back to the—”
A gunshot rang in the hollow, open space, dragging my attention. “What the hell was that?” I asked Damien.
He removed his gun from his behind, corking it. “I’ll find out,” he said as if he was expecting me to sit my ass here and wait for him to find out why someone was shooting up the warehouse.
I heard Sergey’s panicked, “Max, you okay? What’s going on over there?”
I didn’t have the time to explain. One second was the difference between life and death. If this was all a setup, then I had a feeling they weren’t just here to play poker and help take note of the shipments.
As Damien hurried off to investigate the source of the gunshot, my heart pounded against my ribcage like a battering ram. My mind raced through possibilities—was it a rival gang, law enforcement, or something else entirely? I couldn't afford to wait for Damien, I had to act fast.
Grabbing my own gun from its holster, I scanned the surroundings. My senses heightened to the slightest movement or sound. My men exchanged worried glances, their hands hovering over their own weapons.
“Sergey, don’t come down here until you get my call,” I barked into the phone, my voice tense but controlled. “We're under attack.”
“Like I’d allow you to handle this on your own,” Sergey argued. “Hold on, we’ll be there in ten.”
Another shot echoed through the air, closer this time. Instinct took over, and I dove behind a stack of crates, adrenaline surging through my veins. The acrid smell of gunpowder filled my nostrils, mingling with the metallic tang of fear.
I heard shouts and curses as my men returned fire, the warehouse erupting into chaos. Bullets whizzed past, splintering wood and tearing through metal. I gritted my teeth, my fingers tightening around the grip of my gun. Whoever these attackers were, they were damn skilled but clearly not as experienced as my men.
Through the haze of smoke and dust, I caught sight of Damien returning, his expression grim. “They're coming from the east side,” he shouted over the din of gunfire. “Looks like a coordinated assault.”
I nodded. “We hold this ground. No one gets through.” I glanced at my other men. “Make sure one of them survives. I need to find out who is behind this.”