Page 62 of The Bratva's Knocked-Up Bride

“Go time,” Ari said after a moment, clapping me on the shoulder.

Not needing to be told twice, I sprung into action, slinking in through the door with my gun raised.

Immediately, the club was a scramble of clientele either hiding beneath tables or the bar or running for an exit. My eyes adjusted quickly, taking it all in and piecing together my path.

All around me, guards were taken out either by fist or bullet, and while the Levov and Novikov men took charge of the place, I focused on the building layout. Right up ahead, one of ours pointed out the room.

“In here!”

With razor-sharp focus then, aware that my target was close enough for me to infiltrate the room within the following seconds, I hurried closer.

Gun raised, I kicked the door in to find a hall full of individual rooms with heavy curtains for doors and dividers. A few women who were hardly dressed cowered in the corner, hands over their heads to shield themselves.

Ignoring them, I pushed forward, finding most of the curtains open until I landed on the middle section. It had to be him. It had to be.

Not wasting another minute, I yanked the curtain back with my gun pointed ahead, eyes focusing immediately on the scene in front of me.

Sky was there, hands bound behind her back, while a man stood behind her with a pistol pressed against her temple. He grinned while he loomed over her as the fear consumed her, teetering between life and death.

It was him. Esidor.

The bastard I had been after for weeks without knowing it.

A faint click to my right stopped me in my tracks as the awareness flitted through my system and caused me to lock up slightly.

“Easy, Novikov…don’t go doing anything too hasty…”

That voice. That damn voice that I learned to hate more than anything during my time in the office.

“Raf,” I muttered, just able to see him in my peripheral.

I knew I should’ve done something sooner. I should’ve trusted my gut and taken him down before things could get to this point.

But there was nothing I could do about my previous choices then…I could only push on and get Sky out of there, regardless of currently being at a disadvantage.

At the same time, the group behind me had no choice but to stop, or else we ran the risk of causing a chain reaction I wasn’t willing to let happen. Not with that gun pointed at Sky.

Even if their guns were trained on Raf and Esidor as best as they could be, nobody could fire yet. It was too risky. Sky had to be out of the line of fire first.

Esidor chuckled, eyes veiled with a dark sort of satisfaction. “How rude of you to drop in unannounced like this…but I wouldn’t put it past you…or the Levovs.” He exchanged a glance with Raf, then gestured with his head while he kept one hand on Sky’s shoulder and the other pointing the gun against her head. “Now, be polite and give up your weapon.”

Everything about his demeanor and tone grated against my nerves, but I knew I wasn’t in the position to shut him up just yet. If I wanted Sky to make it out of there alive, then I had to abide by his rules for the time being.

As much as it wounded my pride to have to do it, I slowly turned the safety on and then offered it to Raf.

Not wasting a moment, Raf snatched the pistol from me and stuffed it in his waistband with a smirk. “Good choice.”

Pulling in a discreet breath, I forced myself to stay calm. To keep myself level and clear-headed regardless of the stakes and the unfortunate position I found myself in.

With Sky at the barrel-end of that pistol, and me without mine, I was at Esidor’s mercy.

I hated every second of it. I hated knowing he assumed the victory was already his.

“That’s much better…” Esidor said, voice punctuating the deafening silence of that private room. “Now that I have you and the Levov dogs here…I think it’s about time we talked.”

“Then cut to the chase,” I grit back, keeping my hands where both of them could see. I wasn’t about to do anything stupid…at least not until I came up with a suitable plan that would guarantee Sky’s safety.

The kingpin sighed. “I guess we have dragged this out for quite some time. After spending so much time waiting and putting all the pieces of my plan together, I wouldn’t mind getting to the heart of it.”

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