Page 54 of The Bratva's Auctioned Bride

Instead, we had the Gromov location pinned down, and soon enough, I’d get the chance to show Matvey exactly why he chose the wrong person to shadow for years.

Soon enough, the distance between us dwindled and the time grew shorter and shorter until we came up to a secluded warehouse outside of the city—it looked like it was in the middle of nowhere, yet the space was vast, including a large parking lot, several smaller buildings, and even a hangar. The latter gave me pause, then sent another wave of urgency through me.

I had to get her back before anything could happen. Before Matvey could put his resources to good use and pull her away from me for good.

If he managed to get her phone off her and fly her out of the country, I’d be completely screwed.

The moment the vehicle slowed close to a stop, I shoved my door open, finding myself among both Novikov and Levov men. Our vehicles had the place surrounded, and already, gunfire was ringing out through the property.

My brothers were surrounding me, and soon enough, Ari was next to me, gun drawn. Seemingly focused and unshaken due to his experience, he looked at me firmly.

“The place is tightly guarded, as you can see, but we have the numbers to wipe this place out. Leave it to us—we’ll get her out.”

As nice as that sounded, no part of me would allow that. I shook my head.

“No. Clear what you can of the external guards, but I’m going in myself. If she’s in there, then I’m going to find her,” I said, full of unshakable resolve.

Ari seemed like he wanted to argue, but whether he knew time was limited, or that I couldn’t be convinced otherwise, he let go of a breath and nodded. “Alright then, Novikov. Our guys will gun the guards down, and when there’s a clear path, you go in. We’ll be right behind you.”

Glad it was sorted, I agreed silently, and for a moment, I could’ve sworn I caught a gleam of respect in his eyes before we focused on the scene.

Observing the chaos initially, the shoot-out was well underway as the guards who swarmed the front of the warehouse were picked off in the shower of bullets. One by onethey went down, causing the others to either hunker down or retreat further into the warehouse. It seemed their orders were to attack rather than turn tail, so most guarded the warehouse with their lives, only to lose them.

What bullets they managed to fire at our guys were either deflected by a row of defensive shields or caught in Kevlar, yet our forces were too much for them to handle, and they were quickly overwhelmed.

With a push, our guys went in, and the moment they did an initial sweep, I gestured for Damien to follow, along with Ari and a few of his guys.

I grabbed a rifle from one of our men and moved forward, leading our small group as another wave of guys surrounded the other sides of the warehouse and all exterior buildings.

Wasting no time with my heart in my throat, I forced myself to keep my concern and fear down, aware that Lara couldn’t afford any kind of hesitation from me. I wasn’t willing to let her stay in their clutches for a moment longer than necessary.

Hurrying inside, storming the place with my wife at the forefront of my mind, I could only think about getting her back and making sure she was safe, sure to never let this kind of thing happen to her again.

As our group rushed through the warehouse, it didn’t take long to find our guys surrounding the center of the main floor, guns poised on the scene ahead.

At first, I silently questioned why they didn’t shoot, given how Matvey and his brother Rurik were there, but with another glance, I immediately knew.

It wasn’t just a matter of taking the kingpin out—not while Lara was cuffed to a chair in the middle of the room with his gun pointed at her head, face hard as he, too, was pinned. In another bid for pressure, the barrel of a rifle was pointed against Rurik’s head, causing him to hold his hands up in defense.

Regardless of his brother being at gunpoint, Matvey didn’t seem to care. His entire focus was on Lara, as well as myself, once he spotted me.

The look of pure, uninterrupted fear on Lara’s features was enough to stir anger toward myself and Matvey all over again. Wide-eyed and trembling faintly with the gun pressed against the back of her head, she was more terrified than I had ever seen her before.

I just wanted her back. I wanted to make things better.

But the Gromovs were in the way.

With my gun trained on Matvey, I looked at him as my face set with a hard expression.

Pulling in a discreet breath, I urged myself to play it cool, to stay calm despite how my protective urges were going haywire within me. I needed to get her back. I needed to keep her safe.

Despite the heat on him, Matvey grinned, eyes laced with a hint of recklessness. “Novikov. It seems we finally meet again.”

Every part of me wanted to open fire on him and take him out right then and there, but I couldn’t. Not without risking Lara’s life in the process.

I was in a tough spot of wanting to act, but needing to think things through—to be patient and hope that it wouldn’t all be for nothing.

“You have nowhere to run now, Matvey. It’s over,” I told him firmly, keeping the pressure on him.

---