I give a nod and my men move in once again. Pike and Lipkin point their guns at the mother and sister while I pick up my weapon and press it tenderly to the side of Olivia’s head. She trembles, but the moment the cold metal touches her skin, she goes deathly still.
“What’s it going to be?” I ask.
Rob stares at his mother and then his sisters. I can see the fury building inside him. The guilt. The war between the two.
How can he sacrifice the living, breathing women before him for the phantom of a woman who disappeared a year ago?
“Please, Rob,” Olivia whispers. “Just give him what he wants.”
“Listen to your sister, Robert,” I suggest. “She’s very smart.”
His eyes meet mine. They’re filled with vengeance, with the promise of more violence.
And then, finally, with the acknowledgement I came for: he cannot win this battle.
His jaw clenches. “Fuck! Fine.”
“Fine what?” I ask.
“Fine, I’ll back off.”
With a satisfied smile, I drop the gun. My men follow suit. “You made the right choice, Agent Lawrence.”
“Don’t say my fucking name,” he mutters. “Just let us go.”
“In a minute,” I say. “Before I leave, I’m going to need some insurance.”
Rob narrows his eyes. “What the fuck do you want? A note attesting that I’ll back off you? Not sure an illegal deal made under duress will hold up in court.”
“Court?” I laugh. “I handle my business myself, thanks. And I wasn’t asking you for anything. When I want something, I take it.”
I release Olivia and step back. She sags with visible relief.
But as she is about to find out, this is far from over.
“Pyotr,” I order. “Take her.”
“No!” Her mouth falls open in shock. She turns to me as my soldier moves to take custody of her.
“You can’t do this!” Rob roars.
I smile at him. “Watch me.”
“No!” he yells. “You can’t take her. Makarova!”
I bound forward and grab Rob’s bloodied face in my hand. “Did you really think I would walk out of here with nothing more than a threat?” I hiss at him. “I am not the small fish you’re used to dealing with, Lawrence. I am the devil and this is the lowest level of hell. This is the fucking Bratva. We pay our debts in blood.”
“I said I would back off!” he protests.
“I know you did.” I tip my head towards Pyotr. “Take her.”
She tries to fight Pyotr, but it’s no use. He just takes advantage of the momentum to hoist her onto his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and strolls out of the house. Her sister’s eyes are wide with panic as she screams through her gag.
“You want someone to blame?” I say, looking directly into her eyes. “Blame your brother.”
“What are you going to do to her?” Rob asks, real fear creeping into his voice for the first time.
“That depends on you,” I tell him. “I have a Bratva to run. And I don’t need you cockroaches scurrying around my feet while I do it. This is your last warning. Your sister’s fate rests in your hands.”
With that, I’m done here. I turn on my heel and exit the house to the soundtrack of Rob’s screams.
As I approach the armored SUV waiting for me outside, I trade Rob’s screams for Olivia’s. She’s thrashing around the backseat, banging on the bulletproof glass.
I get into the driver’s seat and slam the door shut. “There’s no point in crying or pleading, Olivia. It won’t change anything.”
“My mother, my sister…” she says desperately. “Are they okay? What are you going to do to them?”
“They’ll be fine,” I say. “I came here to give your brother a message. And now that you’re here, I’ve done that. They’ll be released the moment we’ve turned the corner.”
“And me?” she asks, finally thinking about herself now that she’s reasonably sure her family will be left unharmed. “What about me?”
I glance at her in the rearview mirror. “That remains to be seen.”
8
OLIVIA
He drives with one hand on the steering wheel, the other thrown casually over the empty passenger seat.
And for some reason, I can’t stop staring.
Is it possible that, just a few hours ago, those hands were all over me?
I sit here feeling like I’ve entered some strange alternate reality. A reality in which having sex with a stranger on an airplane morphs into a nightmare that threatens my entire family.
The massive man who carried me into the jeep is sitting right next to me. He doesn’t so much as glance my way, but I can’t escape the feeling that he registers every blink of my eyes, every breath I take, every thought that crosses my mind.
We drive through the city. I can’t help but gawk at people going about their normal lives. It’s bizarre—don’t they know what’s happening? Inside this car, inside a house not so far away?
But, of course, the entire world hasn’t come crashing down.
Just mine.
We turn a corner. I drag my eyes along the sidewalk to the end of the block and see a familiar little pizza shop I used to go to with my dad.
After Mia left for college, I cried for days. When the tears finally dried up, Dad insisted we go out for pizza, just the two of us. I ate garlic knots and greasy slices of pepperoni until I was too full to sense my feelings. And for the first time since my sister left me home alone, I felt like maybe my life wasn’t over.
That one night turned into a weekly routine. A tradition. Even when I got older, I turned down plans with my friends just so I could walk down to the pizzeria with Dad.
So many memories tied up in that simple little storefront. So many things I can’t ever get back.
There are other things I can’t hold onto, either, no matter how hard I try. Even now, I’m starting to forget what my father’s voice sounded like. What his hug smelled like. How his love felt.
I don’t even realize I’m crying until the first tear rolls down my cheek.
God only knows what might’ve happened if he had lived. Maybe Mia would’ve chosen love over her career. Maybe I would’ve left for college instead of cowering at home. Maybe Rob would’ve gone down a path that didn’t cost him his soul and his sanity at the same time.
And if all that had happened, maybe we wouldn’t be in this position.
Kidnapped by the devil himself.
The truly scary part is that I barely know Aleks—yet I know exactly what he is capable of. He smiled at me in the airport and made me feel seen. Special.
Stupid me, I basked in his attention. I lost myself to the fantasy.
But there was no fantasy, was there? There was just a plan. A calculated, devious plan, set to ensnare a silly little girl like me. It worked flawlessly.
I blink and find myself staring at his profile. I should look away. Part of me still wants to. But I’m trapped by his aura. A helpless animal caught in a predator’s claws.
“Do I scare you, Olivia?” he murmurs.
I wish I had Mia’s courage. She got her strength from Dad. But I’ve always been like my mother: quiet, soft-spoken, and scared of the world.