Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75814 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 379(@200wpm)___ 303(@250wpm)___ 253(@300wpm)
Anastasia: I’ll always worry. You’re the love of my life, and you’re hurting. I wish there was something I could do to help.
Rodian: You loving me is enough, moya krasavitsa.
While I have my phone out, I text the group chat.
Rodian: Gusev has been eliminated.
Rosie: Update on Sokolov Jnr. He’s still at the apartment building. Two men are standing guard out front. After digging, I found out Sokolov has a girlfriend there. Apartment 2B.
She attaches a photo of the guards and girlfriend, so we’re able to identify them.
Constantin: I’ve just taken out Moroz. Rodian, wait for me before you hit Sokolov.
Not replying, I show the photos of the guards to Petar and Teodor.
“The men might recognize you. Let us take care of them before you go into the apartment,” Petar says.
Agreeing, I nod, then another message comes through.
Constantin: You have no idea what you’re walking into in that building. Wait for me, or I swear to God, I’ll use one of your own guns on you.
A silent chuckle shakes my chest.
Rodian: So all it takes is pissing you off to get you in a talkative mood.
Constantin: Fuck you. I want confirmation that you’re waiting.
Atanas: Baranov is dead. I’m ten minutes away from the apartment. Whoever gets there first gets dibs on killing Sokolov.
“Faster!” I bark at Teodor.
Rodian: I will cut off your balls.
Atanas: Didn’t take you for the kinky kind.
Teodor pulls over up the street from the building, and as we get out, I tuck the phone into my pocket.
Petar and Teodor start talking shit in Bulgarian, keeping their demeanor casual as they walk toward the guards. I hang back, my head low.
Just as they pass the guards, Petar attacks, wrapping his arm around the nearest man’s neck and breaking it with a crack. Teodor whips out a knife, plunging it four times into the other fucker’s gut and chest.
As the men drop, cars come tearing down the street, and Atanas cuts off Constantin’s SUV, with a wide grin on his face.
When I first met Atanas, he came across as serious, but it’s been a pleasant surprise getting to know him.
The men get out, and Constantin grumbles, “The whole lot of you will take me to an early grave.”
“We won’t dare leave your precious little girl fatherless,” I say as they join me.
Atanas’ eyebrows fly up. “You have a kid? Since when? Why didn’t I know?”
“Because I don’t advertise it,” Constantin replies with a slight growl in his voice. “Let’s do this. I promised my daughter she could go to the zoo tomorrow.”
“Weird. You didn’t come across as the fatherly type,” Atanas mentions as we enter the building.
We head up the stairs to the second floor, and taking position on either side of 2B, I silently count down to three using my fingers, then kick the door down.
A woman wearing nothing but panties screams as she curls up on a couch, covering her head.
“Where the fuck is Sokolov?” I bark, and she doesn’t hesitate to point in the direction of the hallway.
I run down it, and bursting into a bedroom, I see Sokolov climbing through a window onto the fire escape stairs. I dart forward and manage to grab hold of his left arm, hauling him back into the bedroom.
As his naked ass drops to the floor, I kick him in the gut. “Fucking fucker,” I roar before shouting, “Anyone give me a knife.”
Teodor hurries closer, giving me the K-Bar he used on the guard.
“You fucking killed my father,” Junior hollers. “What the fuck did you expect? That I’d just let it go?”
The asshole scrambles to his feet, and as I grab hold of his sweaty hair, he takes a swing at me, but Atanas stops the blow and pulls his arm behind his back, keeping him in place for me.
“Eye for an eye.” The words rumble from me as I drag the blade across Junior’s face, making sure he feels every inch of the cut.
Shouts of pain fill the room as I cut his face to shreds, and once I’m done with that, I look him dead in the eye as I slice his throat.
No more words need to be spoken as I watch him bleed out while making gurgling sounds, and only when his dead body drops to the carpet do I feel a sliver of satisfaction.
Now that I’m able to tell Andrei I avenged him when he wakes up after surgery, I can return to the hospital.
We all ignore the crying woman as we leave the apartment, and not wasting time, we run to our respective cars so we can get out of here before the cops are called.
I’m going to have to grease a lot of palms to make all of this go away, but I don’t care. I’ll pay whatever it takes.
When I get into the backseat of the Rolls-Royce, I close my eyes and let out a deep breath.