Page 150 of Merciless Queen

“I don’t care.” The truth flows easier from my lips. “Serafina’s only in this mess because of her connection to me. Ivan’s using that.”

“And Zeno?”

“Ivan’s dead for taking what’s mine.”

She steps out of the way as my tires burn against the cement in my speed to get moving. I drive the road off my property and in the direction of where the pin leads to. Wind whips through my hair, a testament of my speed, but it’s not enough and my hand throttles the bike, making it faster.

With every passing kilometer, I let myself go. Let myself feel everything.

Raging dread.

Freezing terror.

Murderous rage.

Ivan will not be shown mercy. Not this time.

I parkoutside the warehouse that’s on the edge of Moscow, usually saved for larger deals from neighbouring cities that should be out of public view. Ivan chose this one specifically because it’s one of the farthest from the mansion but closest to the borders, which means he’s assuming he’ll be able to escape.

Somewhere far behind should be Lev and Anastasia eventually catching up, but waiting for them is out of the question, so I enter the warehouse with no back-up and only a single gun, making what could be my final fatal error.

I could be one against a few, because I doubt Ivan did all this without support, and no doubt, those few are heavily armed. The odds fall completely in his favour.

When I enter, I see them. Ivan’s doing little to hide his mini-army sulking in the shadows. No one stops me as I walk across the large space and toward the five figures who own the rest of my attention.

To Ivan front and centre, grinning like he’s already won, and the two soldiers beside him, each holding a gun to the back of their assigned captive’s head.

To Serafina whose staring dazed at the ground, her shoulders shaking. Cloth is tied around her mouth, keeping her fear limited to petrified whimpers.

To Zeno who’s communicating with his deep gaze. A subtle head shake and skin furrowed, I imagine his question:What are you doing here?Cloth is also tied around his mouth, his face darker from where they obviously were rough with him.

He’s okay. Alive. It doesn’t quell the murderous rage knotting my muscles.

“Drop the weapon,” my uncle commands.

With his order, he unlocks his army and two charge forward. A quick glance to the side confirms what I suspected, that I have guns trained on me. Except they mean nothing because Ivan’s already played his hand. If he wanted me dead, I’d be dead already. Instead, he went through the trouble of kidnapping two others.

“Why should I?”

Ivan looks to his left, and the man standing behind Serafina pulls back the top of the gun to cock it, the implication of actions to come if I continue ignoring him loud and fucking clear. Serafina’s gaze flashes to me and it’s her fear, not Ivan’s orders, that allows the gun to slip from my hand.

One of the men behind me retrieves it, making my teeth grit. Now I’m even more stuck. At the very least, I can distract him long enough for Lev and Anastasia to arrive.

“You’ve made your point. What do you want?”

“Don’t like your pets threatened?” Ivan mocks, spreading his hands to gesture to both of them.

“What. Do. You. Want?” Each word is a punch at my aggravation because he better get to the fucking point. “I’d demand they be let go, but you wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble of kidnapping them if you didn’t want something.”

“True.” Ivan nods with a seriousness like we’re talking casual business. “Zeno was the simple one. Picked him up before he could fly off.”

Zeno’s eyes narrow on my uncle, but guilt brushes against my heart. If I let him walk away when he tried, he might have been safely home, but I kept him at the club for longer, making his takeoff later.

“The girl,” Ivan tips his head to the side, “was a bit more complicated. Many steps were involved in retrieving her.”

“Is it praise you want, because if so, good job, Ivan.” My words are drawled, almost mocking. “You need to get to the point.”

Ivan watches me for a few seconds before shrugging. “Too easy. Being a leader involves sacrifice and making tough decisions, so if you’re still willing to prove yourself worthy of the Bratva, here’s one more test: choose which Mancini gets to walk out of here alive.”

---