Forced to Marry the Russian (Nikolai Bratva Brides #2)

Chapter 25 - Lev

“We’ve found her!”

Lev hurried to the back of the van where Adrian had set up his computer to track Konstantin’s phone.

They were at Long Groove now. Adrian had been able to track the phone easily until they arrived at the outskirts of the city.

“Where is she?” Lev asked. He hadn’t been able to breathe or think right since Zia was kidnapped. He didn’t care about anything else, all he needed was his wife, safe and back home to him.

“The mansion over there,” Ivan pointed at a monstrous building several miles away. He huffed a laugh. “That fucker really thinks he’s smart.”

Lev turned to Ilya. “What’s the time?”

Ilya twisted his wrist to look at his watch. “It’s nine-thirty p.m.”

“We have thirty minutes until he thinks he’s successful at luring us to the port. If we don’t move fast, he’ll figure it out, and he will kill them,” Lev said to his men.

Ivan and Adrian were both here with him. Neither of them agreed to leave him after Zia was kidnapped. They hadn’t told Mikhail yet, and no one had any intention of telling him until the fight was over.

Four other vans behind them had thirty other men and weapons they would break in with.

Adrian looked up from his computer for the first time in an hour. “His men are stationed outside. He’ll hurt them if he realizes you figured out his plan.”

“She’s with Konstantin. He’ll keep her safe.” Lev trusted Konstantin that much. There was no sign of him anywhere, which meant he was still alive. He would never let Cillian hurt Zia, even if he had to walk through fire to keep her safe.

“We don’t have time to waste,” Ivan said, holding out two guns to Lev and Adrian.

They both took it.

Lev strapped his gun to the holster around his waist. He tucked one in his shoes and another one in the inner pocket of his suit. He waited for the other men to grab their weapons before he ordered, “Let’s go!”

They jumped down from the vans, finding an abandoned house close to the mansion.

Lev and his men crouched behind the building, their attention fixed on the monstrosity looming ahead. From where they were hidden, Lev could see three men with guns parading the balcony upstairs. There were at least five other men by the entrance of the building.

“How do we get in without them suspecting?” Ilya asked.

“We take out the man downstairs without the ones up seeing us,” Adrian said. “We take care of the others once we get access inside the building.”

Lev nodded in agreement. “That makes sense.”

“How do we get inside the building?” Ivan asked, rolling his eyes as if that was all he wanted to know.

Lev scanned the building one more time. “There must be a backdoor. We’ll use it. Be on alert, though, in case something goes wrong.”

The men nodded.

He took the lead as they approached the mansion. Once they were close enough, he signaled for his men to attack. They stalked toward the guards outside, attacking them from behind.

Ivan sliced one’s throat. Lev snapped the other one’s neck. Adrian hit a vital spot on one’s neck. Ilya and another of Lev’s men took care of the two other guards.

They made their way to the back of the building without being noticed.

With a nod from Ivan, Lev kicked the door open, and they poured inside. The interior was dimly lit. It smelled like cigars and alcohol. Rage bubbled inside Lev that those Irish bastards had brought Zia here.

He knew she was scared wherever they were keeping her. He had to find her quickly. His eyes darted around, searching for any sign of Zia and Konstantin.

There was no sign of them.

A knot formed in his throat as his urgency to find them increased. He found an ornate door by the corridor and kicked it open. Three guards inside grabbed their guns as soon as they saw him and started shooting.

Lev ducked behind a table and shot back, taking down two of the men. He shot the third one by the leg and hurried to him, digging a finger into the man’s wound. “Where is my wife?”

The man chuckled. “Fuck you.”

“Wrong answer.” Lev pressed his gun to the man’s throat and pulled the trigger.

The man’s splattered on the white walls behind him.

Lev shot back up to his feet, finding a staircase leading upstairs. Footsteps descended from it. He ducked by a car, ready to shoot whoever it was, until… Zia—it was her and Konstantin.

“Zia,” he whispered, briskly walking over to them.

She paused for a moment when she saw him, then she let go of Konstantin’s hand and ran to him.

She crashed against him and began to cry. “Lev, I thought I would never get the chance to meet you again.”

Her tears broke something in him. He’d promised her he would protect her, but instead, she’d ended up in the enemy’s hand because of his carelessness. If only he hadn’t asked Konstantin to take her home, she would have been safe. She wouldn’t have had to go through everything she went through. He cupped the back of her head and kissed her. “I’m so sorry, Zia.”

She shook her head and tilted her face up to look at him. “It wasn’t your fault, and thank God I had Konstantin.”

Lev glanced at Konstantin. His clothes were stained with blood, and he looked rougher than Lev had ever seen him. The man was in bad shape but still had it in him to protect Zia.

“Thank you for keeping her safe,” Lev said to him.

“It’s nothing, Lev. I’m sorry I let it get to this.”

Lev.

Konstantin hadn’t called him by his name in so long that hearing him say it filled Lev with happiness. Because Konstantin wasn’t just his loyal soldier, he was also his friend. “You’ve done enough. We’ll handle Cillian.”

“I hate to break this reunion,” Ivan said, wiping his blade on one of the dead men’s bodies. “But we have a certain rat to catch, and we need to do it before he runs away.”

“Shit. Take cover!” Adrian yelled.

Lev grabbed Zia and ducked behind a wall as Cillian’s men trooped into the room. He threw the gun he was holding to Konstantin and pulled out the one in his shoe, shooting back at the men.

The fight lasted minutes until Cillian’s men were all dead.

Lev spotted someone running toward a car outside. He cupped Zia’s cheek. “Wait for me. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?” Zia asked.

“Just wait.” Lev ran after Cillian. The asshole hadn’t noticed him, not even as he opened the car and tossed a bag inside. He closed the door and turned to round the car when his eyes met Lev’s.

Lev smiled at him. “Going somewhere?”

Cillian returned his smile. “Nice to meet you, old friend. Turns out I underestimated you quite a bit.”

“Not me. It’s my wife you underestimated.” Lev didn’t have time for small talk. He shot Cillian on one leg and brought him down to his knee. “That is for stressing my wife while she is pregnant.” He shot Cillian’s arm. “And that is for my dear friend, Konstantin.”

Cillian groaned from the pain, but the old far didn’t give up. He swiftly moved his hand to grab a gun tucked in his pants.

Lev was about to shoot him right in the head when a gunshot came from behind him, hitting Cillian’s left chest.

“That is for my father,” a soft, cracking voice said behind him.

He whipped his head around and saw Zia, her gun pointed at Cillian. She didn’t lower it down even while Cillian collapsed to the ground.

“Zia,” he whispered, approaching her cautiously. “It’s fine. It’s all over.”

Zia turned looked at him. Her eyes were cloudy and empty, as if she was no longer there. “I killed him.”

“He deserved it.” Lev took the gun from her and tucked it in his pants. “He deserved every bit of it.”

She smiled, and then her knees buckled.

Lev caught her and pinned her against his body. He slid his fingers through her hair, holding her tight. She was cold, really cold. “Everything is fine now, Zia.”

“Amy,” she whispered. “How is she?”

“She’s awake now. She’s waiting for you.”

The hospital called earlier. They were able to take out the poison from Amy’s body. She just had to stay a few more days and then she would be discharged.

“I think I know what I want to do,” Zia said with a weak smile. “I want to grow beautiful flowers and make the world pretty. I want to raise our child and spend forever with you.”

Lev cupped her cheeks. “You’ll get to do that.”

She nodded. “I know.”

And then she went limp in his arms.