Page 62 of Nikolai

I hear background noise, followed by Logan shouting for Jake. "You're on speaker. Where is Leah?" Logan asks.

"In Post Creek." My grip tightens on the steering wheel. "Against my wishes, she went to see her mother."

"And where are you?" Jake asks.

"On my way to get my wife." I tell him, then, admit, "I'm not sure if you've heard, but her father showed his face at Kings Construction yesterday, claiming Leah's mother has fallen ill."

"We heard," my brothers are quick to inform me, and I'm not surprised.

"Don't ask me how I know, but Leah's in danger. I feel it deep in my bones."

Jake speaks to my brother, telling him to get a hold of the men and to send word to my father. "How close are you?" he then asks me.

"Thirty-five minutes."

"Do everything you can to get to your woman. My men and I won't be far behind." He ends the call, and I continue to barrel down the highway.

The interior of my car fills with ringing, as a call comes in from Maxim. I press the button on my steering wheel to answer. "Speak," I say in Russian, my tone harsh. "Speak," I repeat myself only to be met by silence. That's when I hear the first signs of trouble.

"Drop your weapon," I hear the muffled voice spoken in my native tongue, but not by Maxim. "Now." The command is followed by the distinct sound of a weapon hitting a hard surface. More silence hangs in the air for what feels like minutes but, in actuality, its mere seconds before hearing Leah's frightened voice.

"No. Let him go." An audible slap follows her words.

"D'yavol himself is coming for you. Ty umresh'." Maxim sneers, then adds, "You just started a war."

"If a war is what Volkov wants, then a war he shall have." A familiar voice causes my blood to run cold. Novikoff. A gunshot quickly follows his threat. I hear a loud thud before the line goes dead.

I stop fucking breathing.

"No!" I roar so loud my lungs burn.

Time slows, becoming nothing but a black empty void attempting to swallow me whole. I have no idea how I got to my final destination because I remember nothing after the phone call ended, and my world came to a complete halt. All I know is I'm now sitting in my car outside Leah's childhood home. Throwing the car door open, I run toward the front door, as I pull my weapon from my side. I kick the door in, wood splintering at the hinges with no concern for what may greet me. From the foyer, I moved to the living room, finding nothing. After sweeping the kitchen, I push forward, toward the hallway where the bedrooms are located. The door at the end of the hall is slightly ajar, so my approach is cautious. With my gun raised, I push against the door with my shoulder but met with resistance. Putting my weight into it, I give the door a hard shove. With enough clearance, I step into the room and look down to see Maxim face down, the carpet soaked in blood beneath his body. Shit. With a glance, I clear the room, only to see Mary Winters, Leah's mother's unmoving frame lying on the bed beaten. Kneeling, I press my fingers to the side of Maxim's neck, praying I find a pulse. I find one. Rolling him over to his side causes him to groan in agony. "Hold on," I tell him.

"Novikoff has her," Maxim grunts as I search for his wound.

"Lay still." I pull my suit jacket off and press it against his seeping wound. "Keep pressure on it." I place his hand where mine was before getting to my feet.

Moving toward the bed, I look down at Leah's mother. Her face beaten, eyes swollen shut, and what seems to be a dislocated jaw. Her chest rises and falls with shallow breaths, and from the gurgling sound she makes, I'm sure she's all busted up inside as well. Not knowing she can hear me, I hover above her. "Where is Leah?" All I get from her is a ragged moan. "If you care for your daughter, you will force your body to breathe and answer me," I warn her.

Mary whimpers. "Please. They took her." She's able to push the words past her lips as a whisper. The sound of the floorboards creaking has me spinning around, the end of my gun coming face to face with Jake and my brother directly behind him in the hallway. Maxim coughs, and Jake's attention falls to the floor.

"Logan," Jake jerks his head, and my brother moves past him, kneeling beside Maxim, tending to him.

"He needs to get to the hospital," Logan says.

"My life isn't important." Maxim struggles to move.

"We don't leave our men to die." My words are stern. Suddenly, my father appears and notices his loyal soldier wounded.

"Get him to the nearest hospital," he speaks to the two men accompanying him, who then lifts Maxim to his feet and takes him from the house. My father's anger is prevalent when he looks at me. "Who?"

"Novikoff." Speaking his name leaves a foul taste in my mouth, and my father's facial expression hardens. "He wants war," I growl through clenched teeth. "Once again, someone has made it clear they are after our empire, and they are using my wife," I beat my chest, "to get it." A raging inferno inside of me threatens to break free. I'm about to snap. I feel it. That fucker has my woman, and it's taking every ounce of restraint I have to not completely lose my shit and bathe this small town in blood until I get her back.

"Look who we found hiding in the storage shed out back," Quinn sneers, and we all turn to face him as he drags a struggling James by his hair. From the looks of him, someone roughed him up. Quinn tosses him into the center of the room.

He eyes every man staring at him. "You're too late."

Aiming my gun at his head, I order, "On your knees, your worthless piece of shit." Leah's father sinks to the floor. "Where is she?" his eyes dart to the bed where his wife lays. "Your wife lies dying, and your daughter was taken from your home," I tell him, getting no response from him. "Speak!" I roar.

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