Page 90 of The Pakhan

“What did the note say?”

I heard footsteps and immediately reached for my weapon, spinning around to confront whoever had dared come into my space. Nikolay. His face was pinched, his eyes open wider than I’d ever seen them.

“Talk, Tanner. I have work to do.” Yes, the man being sent a finger wasn’t a surprise, simply a warning I’d known would occur. Which meant I’d already ruffled feathers. Good.

“That they’d start coming after my family, cutting off limb after limb.”

“Go home, Tanner. Get your brother somewhere safe.” It wasn’t the Armenians. It was just another attempt to pit one syndicate against the other.

“I already did. I just…”

“Then stop panicking. That’s what they want. I’ll come by later. I have to go.” As soon as I hung up, Nikolay was almost beside himself.

“She’s gone.”

“Whoa. Hold on. Who’s gone?”

“Caroline. Somehow, she found your secret room and managed to temporarily freeze the cameras. She must have known schedules of the guards and used the small window to get away.”

“Fuck. Fuck.” How in God’s name had this occurred? I still had my phone in my hand and immediately flipped to the app I’d had installed on both, a tracking device. My gut had told me the little miss would try to do something heroic. What the hell? “She’s at an address just outside Brooklyn. I’ll text you the address. Have men head there now.”

“You got it, boss. But there’s more. A couple of guys are MIA, another two at one of the warehouses were found dead. I think we unearthed a hornet’s nest.”

With no time to waste, I jumped into my vehicle, not only calling her phone but starting the engine at the same time. When it went to an unrecorded voicemail immediately, I realized the reason for my headache.

Not only was Caroline in danger, but she was also under attack.

Again.

CHAPTER 24

Caroline

My scream was cut off when the assailant tossed me halfway across the room, my back hitting the wall with a brutal thud.

As I slid onto the floor, he leaned over and tried to snatch the baggie from my hand. Oh, hell, no, I wasn’t giving up that easily. I kept my fingers wrapped around it using one hand, taking the other and trying to snatch off the hood.

My gut screamed I was an idiot. As soon as I saw his face, I’d signed my death warrant. I had no idea where the adrenaline had come from but somehow, I managed to kick the asshole in the face, which enabled me to scramble away.

When I noticed the bag, I risked it all for one last chance to grab it before heading to the door, but he was too fast for me, on me within seconds, fisting my hair and using it to yank me back.

The baggie was stripped from my hand again, this time tossed to the floor, the asshole stepping on it.

“No! No!” I screamed and he snagged my shirt, yanking me to my feet.

“You bitch. Did you think we couldn’t find you? Did you think by running to the Russian he could really save you? Here I thought I could trust Joshua, but he was stupid enough to hire you. Well, I’m tired of your meddling.” He switched his hand to my throat, squeezing until the lights started going dim.

I fought and scratched and gasped for air, slapping him with now useless hands. Tears had already formed in my eyes. I didn’t want to die. I had so much to live for.

As the lights continued to dim, the asshole over me laughing hysterically as he squeezed the life out of me, all I could think about was the man I was… falling too hard for. His face. His eyes.

His… touch.

His…

And as I began to float away where the lights were bright and the feeling of peace amazing, the last thing I felt was a hard thud as I was dropped.

The last thing I heard was another brutal sound, someone snarling. What was that? Punches? I…

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