Page 107 of Cruel Honor

When I run upstairs and enter Maria’s room, I’m stopped by the cold reality that Maria isn’t in her bed.

She’s gone. Dimitri has her.

Who else would’ve taken her?

Dimitri is just asking for me to kill him at this point. First, he killed my Tatiana, and now, he’s taken my Maria. I don’t allow myself to think about Maria being anything else other than kidnapped.

She can’t be dead like her sister.

I call one of my men, Sergei. “My daughter is gone. Find her.” I hang up before he can reply.

With nothing to do and nowhere to begin looking, all I can do is pace back and forth across my living room floor. Two of my bodyguards are dead in the house. Their blood is soaking into the hardwood, but I don’t care.

Not when my Maria is gone.

The doorbell rings.

Thinking it’s Sergei, I rush to answer and stumble back when I see it’s a … biker? I think I recognize the man with dark hair and a leather jacket, but I don’t know his name.

“Maxim Baranov,” he says. “President of the Knights.”

“The motorcycle club?” I know Dimitri is in cahoots with him. I never understood the appeal of working with a motorcycle club. but then, Dimitri makes decisions I think are careless and utterly fucking stupid all the time.

“Dimitri has your daughter.”

My eyes narrow. “I figured.”

“And he proposes a trade. His wife for your daughter.”

I pause. Wait. Dimitri thinks I have his wife. I’m not sure why he thinks that, but I’m not going to tell him otherwise. If I say I don’t have Evie, then I’m guessing this biker will just kill me right away.

“A fair trade,” I say. “I’ll bring his wife to a meeting spot of my own choosing if he brings Maria.”

“No. Not a spot of your choosing. We’re meeting at this warehouse.” He rattles off an address. “So, show up and bring Evie with you, or you’ll never see your daughter again.”

“I could just shoot you now, you know.”

Maxim opens his jacket to reveal a gun in the pocket. “You could,but I’m a quick draw. You’d be dead before you can even blink. The only reason you’re not is because we need Evie.”

“You think you’re so much better than me, but you kidnapped my daughter.”

“Dimitri kidnapped your daughter. I just helped.”

“Doesn’t matter. Anyone in league with Dimitri is an enemy in my eyes.”

“Listen, Abram, I don’t really care. Just bring Evie. The only reason you’re not dead right now is because you know where she is, and we need that information. So, bring her to the warehouse, and you’ll get your daughter back.”

I’m not stupid like this fucking biker seems to think I am. I know this is a trap. Dimitri probably won’t even show up with my daughter. But I have no other options.

He has the one thing he can use against me, and I fucking hate him for it.

“I’ll be there.”

Maxim nods and leaves without a word.

I clench my teeth together. My entire world is slipping from my fingers, and there’s only one way to stop it: Kill Dimitri Ivanov and make it slow and bloody.

DIMITRI

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