Page 72 of Savage Surrender

Lev shrugged. “It seems like they’re trying to hide him there. Or hold him there until they can move him again.”

“How the hell did the Ilyins even know about him?”

Rurik ran up from another car, joining us. “They followed Irina’s guards. One of them must have switched over to cover for the one posted with Maxim, and they figured he had to be someone of importance.”

“So they don’t know exactly who Maxim is?” I asked.

Rurik shrugged. “What difference does it make if they do?”

I nodded once. “It doesn’t.” Because I was getting him out of here and to safety now.

“Who’s going with me?” I asked, checking my gun.

Rurik volunteered, and together, we headed to the front door.

“Full fucking circle,” I muttered under my breath, unamused that I was at a goddamn brothel after I thought that part of my life was done.

At the door, a woman who used to work at one of the places I supervised grinned widely. “Vik? That you?” She cackled with glee and hurried to hug me. “I ain’t allowed to let no Baranovs in here, but for you, mister?” She pinched my cheek as she gave me a side hug. “Go on. Go on.”

Rurik grunted a laugh as we stepped inside. “And we didn’t even have to pay the cover.”

I smirked at him. Finding another whore who liked to move from one place to another, including a couple of Baranov establishments, I asked where the Ilyins were. Rurik slipped several bills in her bra to sweeten the deal.

She winked, leading us to a room in the back.

I opened the door, and before Rurik and I could step inside fully, two Ilyin men stood and fired at us. We were prepared, shooting faster. In the middle of the room, huddled on the floor, was Maxim. He looked like Irina, the same sharp eyes, yet he resembled Eva a bit too. The family resemblance was uncanny.

“Maxim.” I spoke looking right at him, so he could read my lips. “Your sister sent me to get you.”

He nodded, shakily, and lifted his hand to show that he was handcuffed to the bed.

A whore scowled at us from the side of the room. She wore a bra but nothing else, looking from one dead man to the other. “You’re paying for that.”

Rurik stepped forward to compensate her while I headed to Maxim. “Got keys?” I asked the whore.

She tossed them over to me, not even taking a break from counting the bills Rurik had given her.

“Let’s go,” I told Maxim as I helped him to stand.

“Is Irina safe?” he asked. I didn’t know sign language, but I understood his speech.

I nodded, making sure to face him so he could read my lips. “Safe and excited to see you.”

Slowly, he smiled and exhaled a long breath. Then he reached up to hug me, wrapping his thin arms around me and holding tight.

Rurik stayed back to manage the cleanup of the two dead men. But Lev and I drove Maxim to the house, answering all the questions he asked on the way. Mostly, he wanted to know who we were and if Irina wasreallysafe. I was already fond of him, clearly worried about his sister and overprotective in his own way.

Seconds after I parked, the front doors opened. Lev had texted them that we had Maxim and were on our way home.

Eva stepped out, holding her coat close. Then came Irina. She ran down the steps, crying out with joy at the sight of Maxim getting out of the car.

Eva went to Lev, and he held her at his side. Next to them, I leaned back against the car and shoved my hands into my pockets, smiling at the brother and sister reuniting.

“You’re so going to get some tonight,” Lev joked.

I chuckled. I wasn’t in any rush. Irina would be mine. I fought to keep her, and now, we would have the rest of our lives to share with each other.

“I’m going to get married,” I corrected.

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