Page 68 of City Of Thieves
Mine.
Mine.
Somewhere in the distance, I hear theding ding dingof a bell being rung. I blink, my senses returning as my vision clears.
I’m on the mat, straddling my opponent’s unmoving body. The Russian is nothing more than destroyed flesh and broken bones.Climbing to my feet, I stumble out of the metal cage, blood dripping from my clenched fists, as I search for the woman I’d fight a hundred more to protect.
Our gazes collide. Her chest rising and falling in time with my own. She knew my savage heart existed before, but I just laid it all out for her, and she’s not flinching.
It makes me want to kill a thousand more for her.
Oleg slowly rises to his feet, dragging Tatiana with him, his gun still surgically attached to her side. He looks disgusted as he glares through the open doors of the cage at his dead fighter. “Guards!” he yells, and two more men emerge from the shadows. “Remove thisublyudokfrom my sight.”
“I want my fucking information, Oleg,” I snarl, jabbing a crimson finger in his direction.
He smiles. “I told you, Marchesi; information comes with a price.”
I’m calculating my next move when Tatiana’s eyes widen and fix on something over my shoulder.
“Renzo!”
A beat later, hard steel comes crashing down against the back of my skull. The impact knocks me forward and onto my knees. Before I can retaliate, my arms are bound behind my back, and my own damn gun is being rammed against my temple.
“Take them to my office.” The Russian shoves Tatiana into his guard’s chest. “And this time, ensure I do not encounter any further disappointments.”
Chapter Eighteen
Renzo
Love breeds sacrifice,which in turn breeds hatred.
I don’t recall where I first heard this, but it’s running on repeat in my head as four men drag Tatiana and me through the rear arena door. Love for my family brought me to London, but it’s hatred that has me heading down a long, dark hallway in a rush of kicks and curses.
So where does Tatiana fit in?
Before I have a chance to consider it, we’re being shoved into a sparse gray office with spidery cracks across the ceiling that look like bullet hole fragments.
I land a couple of well-aimed jabs, but I’m running on fumes. Taking full advantage, Belov’s men return a few gut punches that have me spitting curses and blood before they’re duct-taping our hands behind our backs, shoving us into two chairs, and leaving us alone.
Once the door slams behind them, I’m twisting violently against the restraints, ignoring the pain and weariness in my arms as I fight to free us from this next layer of hell. “Did they hurt you?” My mind is spinning out a million scenarios I don’t even want to think about. “Did they fucking touch you?”
She shakes her head, her beautiful dark hair, so smooth and refined when I first met her, now framing her face in messy strands.She’s in my world now, and I taint everything that’s good.“I’m okay… But you?” Her eyes widen as she takes in the state of me. “In that cage, I thought—”
“You’d be missing out on the money and the painting I owe you?” I chuckle darkly. “I’m not dead yet,dolcezza.”
“I don’t give a damn about the money!”
I give a damn about you.
Maybe I’m delusional after too many blows to the head, but I hear that sentiment in her voice as clear as day.
“What happened to Killian? That British fuck had better be dead after this. I sent him back to the hotel to keep you safe.”
“I must have left before he arrived. I know you told me to stay there, but Konstantin called—”
I stop fighting against my restraints for a moment. “How much does he know?”
“Nothing, but time’s running out.” Her voice catches, her fear palpable.
