Page 76 of Arranged with Twins
We move through the lobby like ghosts, past mailboxes and faded carpet that’s seen better decades. The stairwell smells like old cigarettes and industrial cleaner. We encounter an older woman walking down the stairs, and she lets out a startled cry before turning around and rushing back to the second floor. By the time we reach that landing, the door to that floor is closing, indicating she’s scurrying back to her apartment. Wise choice.
At the second floor landing, I hold up my hand to halt the team. Above us, I hear movement. There are footsteps walking across the floor above, causing telltale squeaks in the floorboards. Listening closer, I hear voices speaking in hushed Russian.
“There are at least two guards in the hallway,” I whisper. “Move quietly to the third floor and pause at the landing. We go on my mark.”
The group moves as one, quietly climbing the last flight of stairs. We hesitate on the landing as ordered, and I ease open the door to peek out. The third floor hallway is narrow, with apartment doors on both sides. At the far end, apartment 3C has two men stationed outside as expected. “Now.”
We exit the stairwell in perfect formation. The guards don’t see us coming until it’s too late. Ilya and Mikhail take them down silently, professionally, and efficiently.
I approach the apartment door, weapon drawn. From inside, I hear Adrian’s voice, calm and controlled, speaking to someone who doesn’t respond. It’s probably Sienna. I can’t imagine she’s feeling chatty in his presence.
I motion for the team to take positions on either side of the door. This is the apartment where Adrian waits with the woman I love and our unborn children. “On three,” I mouth to Ilya.
One. I grip my weapon tighter, finger resting on the trigger.
Two. Every muscle in my body coils like a spring.
Three. I hold up the third finger, and everything happens rapidly.
Ilya kicks the door open with explosive force. I’m through the opening before the door frame splinters, weapon raised and ready to fire.
The apartment’s living room has been converted into an interrogation space. Sienna sits zip-tied to a metal chair in the center of the room with her wrists bloody from struggling against her bonds. Adrian stands behind her with a pistol pressed to her temple, his finger on the trigger guard. “Leo.” His smile is cold and triumphant. “Right on schedule. I was beginning to think you’d lost your edge.”
“Let her go.” I keep my weapon trained on Adrian’s center mass, looking for any opening that won’t put Sienna at risk. “This is between you and me.”
“Is it?” Adrian presses the gun harder against Sienna’s head, and she winces. “I think it’s about much more than that now.”
Sienna meets my gaze from across the room. She’s terrified but alert, and her expression tells me she is still fighting despite everything she’s been through. Relief floods through me that she’s alive, conscious, and still stubbornly determined.
“You always were too predictable, Leo.” Adrian touches Sienna’s hair in a creepy way while keeping the gun pressed to Sienna’s temple. She tries to jerk away from him, so he grasps a handful and tugs until she whimpers. “You’re too loyal and too concerned about collateral damage. It makes you weak.”
I glare at him. “It makes me human.”
“Same thing.” Adrian lightens his hold on Sienna’s hair. “Do you know why I really left your organization? It wasn’t ambition or impatience. It was because I couldn’t stand watching you care more about honor than power.”
I sneer. “You think I don’t know your priorities are screwed up? Honor is what separates us from animals.”
“Honor is what gets you killed.” His voice carries five years of resentment. “You had chances to eliminate rivals, expand territory, and build real power. Instead, once you got revenge for your parents’ death, you were content to absorb the Chichnakovs’ territory and remain static. You worried about debts to families like the Coopers instead of taking over other families when we had the numbers and the weapons. You let sentiment make you soft.”
I take a step closer, drawing Adrian’s focus entirely onto me by design. “Vincent sheltered me when I had nothing. That debt was real.”
“Look how he repaid your loyalty.” Adrian laughs bitterly. “He sold you out the moment it became convenient, just like I said he would.”
“Which is why you’re holding his daughter at gunpoint?” I try to sound calm as I say the words. “If this is about forcing him to pay you off, he doesn’t have the money, but I do.”
Adrian shakes his head, looking at me like I’m stupid. “I’m holding your weakness at gunpoint. This is about you, not Vincent.” Adrian’s grip tightens on the pistol. “Sienna has made you even more vulnerable than before, and the babies will tie you down permanently. It’s the perfect time to act against you.”
He knows about the pregnancy, which chills me. Even her parents didn’t know, so Sienna must have been the one who told him, mistakenly thinking it might save her and them. She doesn’t understand he’s a monster.
“You can’t build an empire while worrying about family, Leo. I learned that watching you make the same mistakes your father made.” Adrian’s voice turns conversational, as if we’re discussing business over drinks. “Your parents died because they cared too much about protecting their people. Now, you’re about to make the same choice.”
“Protecting someone I love?” I keep my weapon steady despite the fury burning through my veins. “That’s not weakness, Adrian. That’s what makes life worth living.”
“Then you’ll die for it, just like they did.”
Sienna chooses that moment to act. She drives her heel down onto Adrian’s foot with vicious force while simultaneously throwing her weight to the side, knocking his gun arm away from her head. Her chair tips over, temporarily removing her from the line of fire.
The opening lasts less than a second, but it’s enough. My shot takes Adrian center mass, the hollow-point round doing exactly what it was designed to do. He staggers backward, shock replacing arrogance on his face as blood spreads across his expensive shirt. He was so sure of himself he didn’t even wear a Kevlar vest, the fool.
