Page 1 of Crimson Curse
1
DANIIL
The text comes through before I even take off my jacket.
She’s gone.
Two words. That’s all it takes to rip my world apart.
I stare at the message glowing on the phone screen, my breath locked in my chest. The foyer of my estate suddenly feels smaller, the marble beneath my feet less solid than it was moments before. My thumb hovers above the glass, unsteady for the first time in years. Another vibration shudders through the phone, and the second message appears.
Viktor has her.
My heart stops, then slams back to life, battering against my ribs like it’s trying to break free. The sound of my pulse fills my ears. I read the words again, desperate to believe it’s a mistake, or a glitch in the network. But the sender is masked, coming from an unknown number that could belong to anyone. Before I can formulate a reply, the third message arrives.
Lucien Antonov was there. Naomi was caught in the crossfire. Viktor took her.
The phone slips from my hand, nearly shattering against the marble floor. I catch it at the last second, my reflexes saving the device even as my world crumbles around me. But the damage is already done. My control fractures, and fury rushes through me like an inferno breaking free of its cage.
The first thing to go is the glass table in the sitting room. My fist comes down without conscious thought, the surface exploding into shards that rain across the floor like glittering tears. The sound is sharp, a punctuation mark on my composure. A chair follows, lifted and hurled against the wall until wood splinters scatter like shrapnel across the pristine marble. The sound echoes through the halls of the estate, pulling my men to doorways and corners, their eyes wide, and their spines rigid with fear.
“Lock it down,” I snarl, my voice jagged with rage. “Every gate. Every entrance. Full security protocol. I want guards on every floor and eyes in the sky. Nobody enters, nobody leaves. Not without my permission.”
The men scattered through the hallway don't hesitate. They've heard stories about what happens when thepakhan'scontrol slips, legends passed down from the days when my mother ruled with an iron fist and a heart made of ice. They know that right now, I'm more dangerous than any enemy they might face in the streets.
Maksim is the first to move. The massive Ukrainian has served as my enforcer for four years, and he doesn't flinch at the destruction around him. He's seen worse, done worse, and he understands that sometimes violence is the only language thatmatters. He nods once, his scarred face impassive, before his massive form disappears down the corridor. His voice booms orders into the comms system, turning my home into a fortress in a matter of minutes.
I pace the room, stepping over broken glass and splintered wood, the phone still clenched in my fist. The words burn themselves into my mind, each one a brand that sears deeper with every repetition.Viktor has her. Lucien was there. Naomi was caught in the crossfire.
The crossfire. As if she were collateral damage in some larger game, a pawn moved carelessly across a board where men like me play with lives instead of pieces. The thought ignites a volcanic blaze in my chest. Naomi isn't a pawn. She's everything that matters, the piece that makes every other move significant.
Lucien Antonov. The name alone is poison, bitter and corrosive on my tongue. He should not be here breathing the same air as the people I've sworn to protect. He should not be alive in this city, walking freely through the ruins of bloodlines he helped destroy. And now, he has touched what is mine.
My vision burns as memories force their way forward, unwelcome visitors from a past I've tried to bury. Lucien's father, Konstantin Antonov, head of the Antonov crime family, was once partnered with the Zorin Bratva when my mother ruled with absolute authority. The alliance should have been profitable for both families. The Antonovs controlled European smuggling routes while we dominated the American markets. Together, we could have built an empire that spanned continents.
But power makes men greedy, and greed makes them stupid. Konstantin grew jealous of my mother's success. He beganmaking moves behind her back, trying to carve out territory that belonged to us. The partnership soured five years ago in a blood feud that left bodies scattered across three countries. Galina Zorin didn't just defeat the Antonovs. She obliterated them, forcing Konstantin and his entire bloodline into exile.
Before that exile could be completed, Lucien took matters into his own hands. The son proved more ruthless than the father, orchestrating a hostile takeover that involved three simultaneous assassinations. He murdered his own uncles, his father's most trusted lieutenants, and anyone else who might challenge his claim to leadership. In a single night, he transformed from a privileged heir into a dark force that belonged in the shadows where monsters dwell.
But he didn't stop there. Before disappearing into the European underworld, he left me a parting gift. A car bomb that was meant for me but turned my world to ash and left me holding fragments of the woman I loved. Sasha died because Lucien Antonov wanted to hurt me, and now he's back to finish what he started.
The memory of finding Sasha's remains still haunts my nightmares. Pieces of her were scattered across a city block, investigators sweeping the scene clean while I stood there holding her engagement ring, the only thing that survived intact. I made choices that day that transformed me from the man she loved into the monster I became. And now history repeats itself with Naomi, and another chance for Lucien to destroy everything I care about.
This time will be different. This time, I won't let him disappear into the shadows. This time, I'll finish what should have ended five years ago.
The door opens, and Lex steps in, his boots crunching on broken glass. His gaze cuts across the wreckage before settling on me, taking in the destruction with the calm assessment of a man who has seen everything. His eyes are steady, but his body is taut, ready to spring into action at my command. In all the years he's served as second-in-command, he's never seen me lose control like this.
“What happened?” he asks, his voice carefully neutral.
I toss the phone to him. He catches it easily, his reflexes honed by years of military training still sharp despite his transition to civilian life. His eyes scan the screen, reading each message. His jaw ticks once, the only sign of recognition when he reaches the name Lucien Antonov.
“I don't understand,” I bite out, pacing behind the ruins of my coffee table. Glass crunches beneath my shoes, each step grinding the fragments smaller. “How did Viktor find her? How did he know where she was? He has been two steps ahead of us every time, always anticipating our moves before we make them. And now this? It doesn't make sense.”
The questions have been eating at me since the first text arrived. Viktor isn't omniscient, despite his delusions of grandeur. He doesn't have access to our communications, our security protocols, or our operational plans. Yet somehow, he knew exactly where to find Naomi tonight.
Lex lowers the phone, his expression thoughtful. “Not unless someone inside our circle is feeding him information and withholding it from us.”
The thought coils in my gut, bitter and acidic. Betrayal. A traitor under my roof. Someone I've trusted with my life and the livesof everyone I care about. The possibility sits there like a tumor, growing larger and more malignant with each passing second.
