Page 62 of Den of Thieves

Realization and understanding clouded her features. Then she smiled. “Thank you for the warning. You had our backs out there today. I will not forget this.”

“The scales are still tipped in your favor, Mrs. Kovalyova.”

She laughed, waving off his words. “I will not argue about it. You ever need anything. All you have to do is ask. That goes for you too, Renee.” Karina linked arms with Renee and the two of them started off again down the block. Nikolai and Kida shared a look before following in their footsteps.

22. “I Don’t Hate Balboa, But I Pity the Fool,”

-CLUBBER LANG, ROCKY III

Vladimir has been to war many times alongside Gustaf. His last war was twelve years ago. But everyone’s gotten stronger, their weapons better. Still, no one had his mind. He was able to sniff out Osvo’s safe houses and end everyone inside before heading to the next one.

But it seemed his enemy this time had many heads.

The purists were the tip of the iceberg. Turned out that their leader wasn’t in the Bratva at all. No one had heard of Osvo before, but he knew enough to be dangerous. The fucker planted a mustard seed a long time ago and had the privilege of sitting back and watching it grow into something that could no longer be contained.

Vladimir was too far gone to simply expose them. They needed to be rid of. Once and for all.

At one point, he separated from his cousins and the other pakhans. He didn’t even remember it happening. Nor did he care. He worked best alone. And in his murderous rage, he preferred when there weren’t weaker men around who couldn’t stomach his quest for blood.

He was at Osvo’s third compound. Men had him cornered him on the twelfth floor of a building. At least he thought it was the twelfth floor. There was major construction happening, and the elevators were down. It was the perfect place to start using some of his bigger weapons. He used his rocket launcher to shoot down the helicopter firing at his wife. Watching it crash to the ground was the last thing he remembered for a while.

Vladimir snapped out of his reverie. He didn’t have time to mourn his wife and sister. The only thing that would make him feel any better was riding the earth of Osvo scum.

A deranged smile covered his face as he pulled the grenade launcher from his back.

He could hear the men rushing around and barking orders. Vladimir waited, tucked into a corner behind a cement pillar. He had a perfect vantage point of most of the floor.

“Spread out. Find him. Don’t kill him.”

Vladimir scoffed, his fingers tightening on the trigger. If they thought he’d give up to become a weak ass P.O.W., their leader clearly didn’t know him too well.

He’s spotted, but it’s too late.

“Fall back!”

Vladimir fired the launcher. He ducked behind a cement pillar, but the force of the explosion still knocked him on his ass. Temporary ringing threatened to drown out all the sound coming to his ears. He shook his head and got to his feet. There were a few miscreants still fighting for life, but he ended them quickly and without hesitation.

“Who is your leader?” Vladimir towered over the final one. The man curled in on himself, clutching his remaining stump of a leg and shook his head. “Tell me and I will take the pain away.”

“Luchek,” he cried. “Kirill Luchek. He’s in the Zdaniye-Rozetka. Top floor.”

Vladimir growled, standing to his full height. He shot in the man in the head before heading for the stairwell.

Vladimir owned the Rosette Building. He never forced the tenants to move out after he fought the city commissioner to purchase it. He also knews no one in the brotherhood lived there yet. He recently acquired it. It was right along the prestigious Golden Mile.

That wouldn’t stop him from blowing it up. This Luchek cost him a lot more than the millions he would lose on the property.

He wasn’t far, still, he stuck to back alleys and cross streets to get there unseen. Didn’t know how many more men Luchek had stashed around the city.

Vladimir made it there in record timing. He wasted no time dropping the guards at the door and two more in front of the elevator. He had twelve bullets left in the pistol. Thanks to his silencer, the element of surprise was mostly on his side.

The Smith & Wesson Model 64 was a gift from his wife after he hearing his praise from the gangster movie she made him watch. Of course, he ended up liking American Gangster and watched it many times, until his critiques drove Karina mad.

Vladimir smiled at the memory as he took the elevator to the top floor. This was the only way to the top floor since he couldn’t chance picking the lock to the service elevator. The Rosette needed to be renovated and brought into the modern world.

Technically, there was no penthouse. The building was nice, once upon a time, but now it was dated. A relic. There wasn’t even a code to get to the top floor. A detail detriment to his enemies.

He dropped two more guards once he stepped off the metal box. Their bodies dropped with thuds as he stepped out into the empty hall. It seemed Ludchek spread himself too thin.

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