Page 54 of Bound By Longing

“Why?” Dimitri asks, pulling me from the car. “He’ll come here and cause chaos.”

Lev’s smile widens. “Exactly. This is my chance to get him in a vulnerable position so I can finally kill him.”

I’m taken inside the house, which is surprisingly modern and clean. Well, until Dimitri leads me into a basement with a dog-sized cage resting in the middle of the room.

“Get in,” he says.

“Why?”

“So you can’t escape. I’ll be back in a bit to get what I want from you.”

“And what’s that?”

His smile tells me everything I need to know.

I quickly get into the cage, and he locks the door before heading upstairs. As long as I’m alone down here, I can’t get hurt.

That’s what I tell myself anyway.

DAMIEN

I get the call from Lev. He has Mila.

“Where is she?” I ask, clutching my phone tightly.

“Why don’t you come and see for yourself? Oh, and don’t bring any weapons, Damien. Not if you want to live.”

Bullshit. Lev wants me dead, whether I bring a weapon or not. After he provides the address, I hurry to it, not even thinking. Mila has occupied a space in my mind no one else ever has. For some reason, she’s come to mean a lot to me in a short amount of time.

I will save her.

I arrive at the modern house with my trusty gun. I open the door—it’s unlocked. Heading inside, I keep my gun trained and ready to fire.

No one’s inside the large living room. There are too many open spots for someone to get at me, so I stand against a wall. This way, no one can attack me from behind.

“Is that you, Damien?” It’s Lev. He comes into the living room, pulling Mila along with him.

“Damien,” she gasps.

My heart skips a beat at the sight of her. “Lev, let her go. This is between us.”

“I will let her go. Straight into the arms of another man.”

Dimitri walks out of the shadows, pointing a gun at me. “I want her, Damien.”

“Too bad she wants me,” I retort.

“Not for long,” another man says, appearing on my other side. I remember Vladimir. Weasel bastard.

There are three to my one, and Mila is in the room, meaning she could get hurt. I need to be careful about this.

First, I need to get Mila to safety, even if it means risking myself.

I point my gun at Lev. He raises his eyebrows. “Surprising, Damien. You wouldn’t want to risk your girl getting hurt, would you?”

“Not at all.” I quickly aim my gun at his leg and fire. He cries out, letting Mila go. She immediately runs for cover.

Dimitri is on me in a flash. He tries whipping me with his pistol, but I land a punch to his nose before he can. He staggers back, groaning. I aim my gun at him, but Vladimir jumps onto my back, making me drop my weapon.

---