Page 125 of Ruined

I got out of my car. He headed toward his. I stepped forward, my chest tight. I just needed… a sign to know he wasn’t as done with me as he seemed.

Shadows shifted between the parked cars. I froze as three men headed straight for him. My stomach dropped. Dominic’s stance stiffened, his head turning as the first one swung a fist at him.

I sprinted toward them.

He tried to dodge, but there were too many of them. One grabbed him from behind, locking his arms, while another landed a punch to his gut. I saw him buckle, saw him fight, but the bastards were all over him, not giving him a chance to breathe. I recognized one of them—Sergei.

What the fuck are the Bratva doing here?

They dragged him to a van parked at the end of the alley, shoving him inside. Dominic fought back, managed to throw an elbowinto one guy’s face, but it barely slowed them down. My heart pounded as I sprinted toward them, desperate to get to him.

But the van’s door slammed shut as I closed in, and with a screech of tires, it was gone, leaving me in the dust. My mind spun, panic clawing at my throat.

I fumbled for my phone. My hands shook so hard I nearly dropped it. I dialed Santino, barely able to see straight as the line rang.

He answered. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Santino, they—they took him! Three guys jumped him outside the casino!”

“Luca, slow down. Who took who?”

I swallowed. “I was… I saw it happen. They grabbed Dominic and threw him in a van?—”

“Who did this?”

“The Bratva. I recognized one of the men.”

“Where are you?”

“Casino. They just left. I don’t know where they’re going, but I have to find him.” My voice cracked. “I have to get him back.”

Santino paused. “You know the Bratva better than anyone. Think. Where would they take him?”

“There’s a place in Providence.”

“Then that’s where we start,” Santino said, his voice hard. “Get your head on straight. We’re getting him back.”

I tightened my grip on the phone, a strange calm settling over me as I thought of the house. I knew the way those bastards operated. I could practically see Dominic in its basement. He wouldn’t break easily, but he would eventually. They all did.

I texted him the address. “Meet me here.”

“Understood,” Santino replied. “Don’t do anything till I get there.”

We sat in the car, parked in a dark alleyway near the Bratva safehouse we’d been staking out. The house in Providence was nondescript, blending in with the other run-down buildings in the area, the van parked in the driveway.

I glanced at Santino beside me. He was focused, his eyes scanning the house. I nodded toward the door where the guards stood.

“Two on the front.”

Santino grunted. “One in the back, too. Can’t see his face, but he’s posted near the alley.”

I squinted, trying to spot the guard. There. A flicker of movement, the faint glow of a cigarette in the dark. “Yeah, I see him.”

“You ready?”

“Yeah. I’ll pull the one in the front, you take him out.”

Santino gave a curt nod before slipping out of the car, moving silently into the shadows near the side of the house. He melted into the darkness.