Page 62 of Cashmere Cruelty
My first thought is April. Cold dread snakes up my spine: did someone break into the penthouse? Did they find her?
Did theyhurt her?
“You’d better come to the warehouse,” is all he says. “We have a situation.”
“Yura,” I growl into the speaker,“tell me what happened.”
A beat goes by. Two. Three.
“It’s the kidnappers,” Yuri exhales finally. “They’re…”
Free, a part of me fears he’s about to say.Free to harm her again. Free to take her from me.
But that’s not what Yuri says.
It’s worse.
“They’re dead, Matvey.”
In fifteen minutes, I’m at the warehouse. I storm in like a tornado. “How the fuck did this happen?”
Yuri hangs his head. “It’s my fault. I left to get something to eat, and when I came back…”
“You left them alone?!” I roar. Right now, all I see is red.
“No!” Yuri answers quickly. “No, our men were here, but…”
It’s only then that my tunnel vision finally clears. The two bodies by the cell doors—I’d thought they belonged to the kidnappers at first, but the clothing’s all wrong. They’re wearing suits, black and sleek, untainted but for the bloodstain spreading from their backs.
Theirbacks.My men were shot from goddamn behind.
Whatevermudakdid this has no honor.
I shake my head. I may be furious, but I’m not so far gone that I can’t see what’s right in front of me. “It’s not your fault,” I sigh, turning to Yuri. “If you’d been here, they would have gotten you, too.”
The thought alone sends chills down my back. Losing my only brother to the same bastards targeting my child?
Not a chance in fucking hell.
Yuri swallows, nodding meekly. The guilt on his face is plain as day, but I can’t worry about that right now. I already absolved him—if he knows what’s good for him, he’ll take it.
I’m not the kind of man to forgive twice.
I stride into the cells. Room A first, then B. The Russian’s lying sideways on the ground, still tied to the chair, a bullet hole weeping blood on his forehead. His face is twisted into a horrified expression. Whatever he saw before he died, those last moments must have been a living nightmare.
Good, the vengeful part of me whispers.At least you suffered.
The other guy’s face is equally disturbing, but for the opposite reason. I kneel in front of the chair, still upright, and tilt up his chin. Same bullet hole, same place, but with one key difference.
He’ssmiling.
I kick the chair over in a fit of rage. Yuri rushes to see what’s going on, but I barely hear him. I flip the tool cart, sending scalpels and pliers flying through the air. “Blyat’!”
This was our only lead. Without the interrogation, we will never find out for certain who our enemies are. I may havemy suspicions on the foreigner, but the Russian’s still a big, fat mystery.
And now, we’ll have to start over.
“Who knew?” I snarl to Yuri.