Page 58 of My Merciless Don

“I hear she played you like a violin,” Marco said coldly, “so don't try to pretend like you're some mastermind.”

Yegorov growled, “Yes, well I have her now, and just for that I think I'm going to kill her. How do you like them apples?”

There was a loud silence from the other side of the phone. I opened my mouth wanting to shout, wanting to tell Marco that I could hear him and that I was okay. Yegorov narrowed his eyes at me, warning me, and I closed my mouth again. I couldn't help my breath hitching though, as I tried not to hyperventilate.

“She’s there right now, isn’t she?” Marco sounded sharper all of a sudden.

Yegorov glared at me as he spoke. “Yes, she’s right here, listening to every word. She tells me she’s not your girlfriend. That you’re just a mark. So why are you bothering with her. I should kill her right now, do us both a favor.”

“No!” Even I could hear the anguish in Marco’s voice and closed my eyes in despair. “Please don’t.”

I could feel Yegorov’s triumph even with my eyes closed. “Then give me my routes and I'll let her go.” He said before hanging up. I opened my eyes and stared at him, not making a single bit of effort to hide how much I wanted to murder him in that instant.

He smiled. “So much for being just a mark, huh?”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

MARCO

Ipaced up and down the alleyway, unable to keep still, as I waited for Valerio and the rest of my men to join me. My black SUV was parked at the entrance. The alleyway was beside one of Yegorov’s known warehouses. I knew that Audry was not in there, but since this was their supply base, I was hoping that if Yegorov was expecting trouble from us, he would send for more guns, and we could follow the guns to him.

My phone beeped and I saw that I had a message from Valerio.

We are here.

I nodded to myself, striding out of the alley and getting into my car. I reversed down the street, before turning the car around to rendezvous with my brother. He was two streets over with a contingent of ten cars. He leaned his head out of the passenger side window of his car to speak to me.

“We picked up one of their guys on the street, worked him over. He told us where Yegorov has been for the past two days. An old property down in Compton. We think that's where he's keeping her.”

“I know they're together.” I said, “because I just called him. He was threatening to kill her.”

Valerio blanched before his face hardened. “She’s no shrinking violet, Marco. She’s a hardened criminal. She can handle him.”

I gave him a look of disbelief. “She’s not bullet proof.”

“I’m sure she’s managed to finesse her way out of tighter spots. We will get her!”

“That is if she’s even at this location.”

Valerio gave me a bleak look. “She has to be.”

“We’re wasting time. We should go.” I switched my engine back on, ready to join the convoy when I got a new text. I almost ignored it but something made me reach for it. I opened it to see a picture of a building.

She’s here.

I stared at it, but not with doubt. The picture was from the same person who’d texted me before. I was sure of it. I would have liked some time to find out who this person was and whether they were leading us into a trap, but I had no time. They were right in their first message, so I decided to believe the second. I had a location and I needed to get Audry out, trap or not. There was just no way I could fail the Mercers again. I could not be responsible for the deaths of both their daughters.

More than that, I felt a driving need inside of me to get her back. No ifs, buts or maybes. I needed her with me, as mortifying as it was to admit – even to myself. I looked over at Valerio, holding out the phone to him. “Find out where this is, now.”

It took ten of the longest minutes of my life to locate the house. Sure enough, it was in Compton, about twenty minutes away from our current location, which was a relief. Valerio sent a drone ahead to scan the territory as George used his spyware to try and find out how many warm bodies were present on site. I kept my phone on speaker, as Valerio, George and I conference called, information being conveyed in real time as soon as it was obtained. I stopped my vehicle about a mile from the destination in a shopping center parking lot.

So as not to attract too much attention, we remained on conference call instead of speaking in person while I laid out the plan.

“So, we have five drones in the air. So far, they don’t seem to have been spotted, which is good. However, to keep out of sight, they have to be pretty high up, so visibility is limited. What we know is that there are at least twenty people on the ground. There is some electronic monitoring taking place from somewhere in there but there are very few cameras on site. We think this is because the things that take place in there are not anything that Yegorov wants recorded.” I took a deep breath. My hands were shaking slightly. I wanted to rush headlong in there and get her out.

It hurt to imagine what she might be enduring while we sat here talking. But I was the leader of this clan and if I went off halfcocked, so would they. Then maybe we would all die.

So, I took another breath and continued. “We have no idea which room she’s in. That’s the primary objective. To find Audry Martin. The secondary objective is to kill Yegorov. You should all know that this is unsanctioned by the council so if you want to step away, this is your chance.”

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