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Not waiting for a response, I open the door and slip out, keeping pace with the two morons who just walked in. They are so busy talking to each other about a bitch they shared last night that they haven’t noticed a third person has joined them.

I walk around, not talking to anyone, just moving through the crowd and listening to conversations as I pass. I haven’t seen Jaxxon or Ryan yet. Jaxxon's absence doesn’t surprise me. He doesn't like to come when Ivan calls. But Ryan, I did expect to see, which leads me to believe this is exactly what I thought it was, a trap. Fuck, my cock hardens at the thought of someone finding me here and wanting to fight.

My cock spoke, and the world answered. Kiril knocks into me. “Watch where you’re going, you fucking pussy,” he growls. I laugh and start to walk away from him, but he grabs me by the arm, trying to turn me around. I’m so excited I let him. “YOU!”

“Hi, Kiril. Did you miss me? I’ve missed you. Well, at least the way you cry every time we get together. Tell me, Kiril, has your pussy healed from the last time we fought?” I ask him, knowing it will piss him off. Kiril is my cousin and has wanted my spot with my Papa for as long as I can remember. His Papa sent him here when he turned eighteen so we could train together, and he has been my punching bag ever since.

He draws his gun and fires without a second thought. He misses; he always was a shitty shot. The sound draws the attention of the rest of the Bratva, though, and the room all turns to look our way. “Hello, old friends. I’m back and ready to run my empire, so answer me this. Are you here to fall in line, or are you here to die like Ivan will?”

I have my answer when the warehouse erupts into chaos and the first battle in the war to destroy Ivan begins.

Nat

Earlier That Day

Heobeys,andhisindex finger finds the sensitive bundle of nerves. With a gentle stroke, I already feel like I could explode.It's been too long since I’ve felt his touch. I need him. I need all of them.

Yesterday, I was able to escape Ivan’s house of horrors but had to lay low, until today. He has a trap set for seven PM, but I don’t know who this trap is for. I can only hope that he hasn’t set anything in motion to go after the only loved ones I have left. I can’t think about that now because today is my chance to get my revenge.

The trap is set to be at the 8th Street Warehouse, and it's a place I’m all too familiar with. I did so much of my training with Alexie in that warehouse. It's where Alexie kissed me for the first time. We were sparring, if you could call it sparring, since we held nothing back, and I punched him square in the jaw. He staggered back a few steps, cupping the side of his face. When he looked up, the intensity of his gaze made me worried about what he would do to my face next. Alexie never scared me before, but at that moment, I thought he was going to pummel me. Instead, he charged toward me and smashed his lips onto mine. Only Alexie could create such a perfect moment after getting punched in the jaw. From that day forward, we found it hard to keep our hands off each other. It was important that we hid our relationship for a while because we didn’t want it to be used against us. People in this line of work are ruthless. Any feelings are seen as a weakness, especially when those feelings are for another person.

Now, I’m standing about forty yards away from the warehouse. Being familiar with this place has its benefits. Alexie and I had to hide our intimate moments away from prying eyes. We would find different hiding spots, with this one being our favorite. The warehouse backs up to a wooded area, and there is a tightly packed area of evergreens. Alexie carved out a hiding spot in the center of the trees, hidden well enough that you can’t see it if you are just walking past.

My mind starts to drift away, thinking of the first time Alexie brought me here. He told me to follow him to the woods, which didn’t raise suspicion as we also practiced shooting out there. Once we entered the wooded area, he gripped my hand and led me to the trees. I was so confused when he first showed me because he made it seem like it was something exciting, but it was just trees. He told me to trust him as if I would ever doubt him, and I continued to follow him to a hidden entrance. It was only hidden because it looked like a small space in the branches. I could have walked past it a hundred times and never been suspicious. The opening was small, so we got a few scrapes, but I didn’t mind. In the middle of this cluster of trees was a hollowed-out space. It almost resembled a dome made of evergreens. He had a blanket laid out for us to sit on and a cooler set to the side.

This spot, our spot, was a perfect getaway from the madness and chaos that would take place only forty yards away. We were always careful, and no one ever found our space. As we became more public with our relationship, we escaped here less and less. I’m struggling to remember the last time I was even here, but looking at the branches intruding back into our hideaway, I’d say it's been a few years.

I came back here last night. After leaving Ivan’s torture chamber, I drove in the opposite direction of the warehouse. It would have only been a matter of time before Ivan returned to that house, and I’m sure the family reported their minivan missing by now. Ivan would know it was me that took it, and he would send an army out in search of me and that van. I wanted to make him believe that I was heading away from the warehouse.

It made things a bit more inconvenient since I’d have to still make my way here, but I left the minivan in an overly-filled lot of a mechanic shop.Hopefully, they won’t notice an extra vehicle sitting there for a while.I walked a few miles away from the shop before deeming it safe to take another car. While I hate stealing from people who don’t deserve it, my mission to get to the warehouse took precedence. I drove in several different directions to hide where I was going, and I went as far as to use five different vehicles in total. I made sure to leave the last car more hidden and only a few more miles away from the warehouse.

The worst part about the evening… I really should have thought about stealing some shoes. The bottom of my feet have been made raw by walking from one car to another. I blame adrenaline again. Sometimes, I get so focused on the mission that any pain seems to subside.

I managed to take a few articles of clothing from some of the vehicles, a bottle of water, a half-eaten bag of chips, and a Dora the Explorer kid’s watch from the back of the minivan, which will come in handy to tell time. Wanting to get as much rest as possible, I used the clothes as bedding. Sleep found me easily as the day drove me to exhaustion.

Today, however, I woke up feeling as though I got hit by a train. My side and arm burn from where I tried to stitch myself up. The stitches on my side feel as though they are threatening to rip out of my skin. I carefully peel back some of the padding and see that they are securely in place. Same with my arm. My feet are another story. The bottom of them are scraped to hell and bleeding in some spots. Taking the backpack, I start pulling out some of the medical supplies that I took from Ivan’s hell house.

I grab some antibacterial wipes and gently run them on the bottom of my feet. Next, I grab a roll of bandage and start to wrap one foot, cut the bandage, and then wrap the other.My own makeshift socks.I smirk at the thought and how foolish I look. I’m still wearing the oversized pair of sweatpants and shirt from yesterday. The only thing I’ve added is a bright pink hoodie that says ‘soccer mom’ on the front of it. None of the other clothes fit, but when bunched together, they made a perfect pillow for sleeping.

It's close to the afternoon, and I decide it's time to take a risk and move out of my secret location to get a better view of the warehouse. The dense forest should give me plenty of cover, but I still think it's best to remove the bright pink hoodie just in case. I didn’t know if having children was in the cards for me, but it was also something that I never talked about with Stryker, Conrad, or King. Our relationship was so new, and now I’ll never know what could have been with Stryker and King. There is still hope for me to reunite with Conrad and a chance to talk about our future. Alexie always wanted children. He would always joke about putting a baby in me as soon as possible. I never had the courage to tell him my hesitation when it came to bringing a child into our way of life. A pit starts to form in my stomach thinking about the futures I’ll never have with any of them.

I press myself against a tree to peer around the side. The warehouse is in full view, and there is no movement yet. It actually looks like no one is there at all. There are no vehicles outside the warehouse either. I decide to lie on the ground next to the tree. The tall grass at the edge of the woods will conceal me as I watch the warehouse for a while.

After about an hour, I retreat to my hiding spot again. Mostly because my stomach is growling so loudly it could alert anyone within a mile of my location.Okay, that might have been a bit dramatic, but I haven’t eaten anything since that slime bag tried to spoon feed me mashed potatoes.

Entering my little hole again, I decide to start munching on some chips. I try to be careful to not eat the rest of the bag because I’ll need some sustenance before shit goes down tonight. I lay back against my makeshift pillow and let my mind wander, but this time I try not to think of everything I’ve lost. Instead, I think of all the things I’m going to do to Ivan. He needs to hurt and hurt badly.

I look at the watch, and it's five PM Time for me to get into position.

After chugging the last drops of water and eating the rest of my chips, I leave my safe haven. I move cautiously to the tree I hid behind earlier and scope out the warehouse again. There is only one vehicle here, but I know if Ivan is setting a trap, he’ll have plenty of backup for the poor sucker he’s luring here.

This is my opportunity to get into the warehouse and hide out. I didn’t want to go in too early and risk being seen or getting into a cramped location for too long. The best place to hide will be in the inventory space. It’s a large open room but filled with many nooks and crannies to hide between. It’s the space that gets the least traffic unless a shipment is going out, but that doesn’t look like the plan today, as there are no trucks to load. There is a ventilation system that connects to the inventory room. The same one I've had to squeeze through a few times before to spy on anyone Andrei thought might be working against him. Even if I didn’t find evidence, Andrei would still kill that person.

I take a wide berth around the warehouse to the opposite side, where the vent will be. It's surprising that no one is here yet as Andrei always liked to be waiting for his prey, but I have to remember this is Ivan, and he’ll probably make you wonder where he’s hiding before doing some dramatic entrance. Once I reach the opposite side, there is a narrow scaffolding for the radio tower on top of the warehouse that I can use to climb up. I had to lessen the load of my backpack, so it would be easier to navigate the ventilation system. It’s packed with some bandages, a couple of kitchen knives, two guns, and my newly acquired soccer mom sweatshirt. The sweatshirt is mostly for wrapping everything in so it can cushion the clanging sound of everything else in the bag and because I’ve grown a little fond of it.The guys would have totally gotten a kick out of the thought of me being a soccer mom.

Climbing up the scaffolding, I reach the outside vent. One of the knives I snagged from the house works perfectly to loosen the screws. Once those are out of the way, I pull off the grate outside the vent. There’s no way for me to put it back on once inside, so I reach up and set it in the gutter a few feet above me and start to make my way inside. This is going to be a slow and long journey.

The space is very narrow, and I have to push the backpack in front of me. I make sure to move slowly, needing to limit any noise because the open ceiling vents won’t block any noise if someone is lurking beneath me. Since I can’t see well in the dimly lit vent, going slow and steady is the only assurance I can give myself. I was able to stop a few times and look through different vents, but only saw a few workers going about their days as if nothing were different. Crossing the vents was the most difficult since they only snap onto the ductwork, and too much weight or pressure will push them off.

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