The Bratva King's Kidnapped Bride - Page 56

“Fine, Send me the location,” I said.

I finished by telling him I’d agree to whatever he wanted to keep him thinking we didn’t know anything, all while imagining his painful demise at my hands. I stayed silent as he taunted me some more and threatened Katie’s life again if I didn’t show up, then ended the call thinking I was good and cowed. I told my driver to go faster now that we had a ticking clock to get there and rescue her before the meeting. We would arrive with time to spare, but we still had no idea what was waiting for us.

Lev called me from his car, to tell me that he had someone looking at maps of the area.

“There’s no tactical way to get close to the house without them knowing we’re coming. It’s at the end of a long stretch of road.”

“We’ll have to go in hot,” I said.

“Blind as well,” he replied. “It’s a risk since we don’t know what they’re working with. But there’s a turn off before the main road. It’d be less than a mile on foot to come up to the back of the place.”

“I’ll do it,” I said.

He didn’t bother arguing as there was no point. In cases like this, it was usually Lev, my second in command, who’d scope out the severity of such situations. I was the head of the organization—protect the king was the underlying thought, at least until we knew what we were up against. But it was Katie this time. I didn’t spare a single thought for anything but getting her out of there. No one could be trusted to care as much as me.

Our three vehicles pulled off at the meeting point where the road split, and I got out and armed myself with two guns, a knife strapped to my ankle, and a couple smoke grenades.

“Give me fifteen minutes,” I said. “If you don’t hear from me by then, go in with all you’ve got.”

Lev and Max solemnly clapped my shoulders, Lev, with muttered words of good luck, and Max looked pissed that I wouldn’t let him go with me. He had been pissed his whole life that I was a much faster runner than him. Now was not the time to be slowed down, no matter how well-meaning he was in wanting to help rescue Katie.

“I want to actually meet this girl who’s got you twisted inside out,” he said.

I nodded and took off running flat out down the scrub trail, silently promising both of us that it would happen. I only slowed my pace when the roof of a shack came in view, then crept up behind it. It was little more than a tool shed, and looked like a stiff wind could blow it over. There had been no one on the trail, and as far as I could tell, there was no one at the end of the driveway leading to the road my brothers and their men would be racing toward in the next few minutes.

I still had no idea what our enemies had set up on the road, though, and didn’t want my brothers getting bombed to smithereens. I sent Lev a message to add five more minutes to my allotted time. Not bothering to wait for his reply, I snuck back around and pressed my ear to the rough wood walls. Moving silently, I listened for any sign of life inside. At one corner, I heard Katie moan in pain, and then, pressing my ear close to a crack between the slats, I heard men’s voices. At least two. The place was tiny. It couldn’t have been more than that.

I tapped twice at the corner where I heard her and waited with my breath trapped in my lungs. I tapped again, hoping she’d hear and respond. If she could. She might be barely conscious. I was pulling out one of my smoke grenades, ready to clear the shed that way, when I heard her speak.

“I’m going to be sick again,” she said frantically. “Please, it’s urgent.” She made retching noises, pleading with them to help her up.

A moment later, I heard the door slam open. I hurried to the side to see one of them tossing her out front. She landed on her knees, catching herself with cuffed hands as if she was a pro at falling out of sheds by then. No sooner had she hit the gravel drive, than I jumped out of my hiding spot and dragged her behind the shed.

There was no time to make sure she was all right, or even to see if she recognized it was me. I rushed back around and kicked open the door, taking the one who was leaning against the inside of the frame out at the knees. Another was sitting at a table a foot or so away, and I landed a kick to the back of his head, knocking his face into the flimsy table and collapsing it. The first one reached for his gun, but I already had mine aimed at his forehead, and I could hear my brothers’ vehicles storming down the road.

“Better not,” I said, pressing the end of the gun barrel between his eyes.

Lev, Max, and their men had the place surrounded within the next minute, and I left them to disarm and tie up Katie’s kidnappers.

“Keep them alive for now,” I said, making sure they heard me emphasize that they were now operating on borrowed time. “A simple bullet is too easy for them.”

I raced to where I’d dropped Katie, finding her sitting in a pile of tumbleweeds, her hands wrapped around her knees and her face hidden. I lightly touched her shoulder, and she scrambled away.

“It’s me,” I said.

She stopped and looked up with big eyes. The bruise on the side of her face was already purple and swollen, and her hair fell in tangles against her ripped jacket. With a sob, she lunged at me, wrapping her cuffed hands around my neck.

My arms circled her waist and pulled her close. “Are you hurt?”

She shook her head against my shoulder. “Not too much.” Then she burst into tears. “Oh my God, you found me. You really found me.”

“Of course,” I said, calling for someone to find me the keys to her cuffs. “That was brilliant, pretending to be sick to get out.”

She nodded once, then shoved away from me, leaning over to heave her guts out for real. “I might have a concussion,” she said when she was finished. She wiped away her tears and made a sour face. I promised her there was cold water in the car as I searched her for signs of other injuries.

Lev came out with the handcuff keys, and I got them off of her, tossing them as far as I could. She smiled weakly and cradled her wrist, which was also bruised and swelling pretty badly. I was rethinking my decision not to kill the two men right away, but she put her arms around me again, snuggling in close.

“I was dreaming that you’d come, and for a second, when I heard the tap, I thought it was my imagination. I’m so glad it’s really you.”