MasukAdrikās Pov The air in the room was thick with dread, the weight of unspoken words very heavy. Diana sat silently by the wall, her face blotchy from crying, eyes swollen and red, the sounds of her sniffing filling the now quiet room. Sergei stood near the door like a statue, ready to move at my slightest command. Marco sat opposite me, his shoulders slumped, hands folded together like he was waiting for a verdict from God Himself. And across from meā Serafather Vincenzo paced like a caged animal, running his hands through his hair over and over. I barely looked at him at first. I couldnāt. If I did, I wasnāt sure I wouldnāt rip his throat out with my bare hands. āYou cannot step down,ā Marco said quietly but firmly, breaking the suffocating silence. āYou do, and Viktor wins without firing a single bullet. The Vory fractures. Alliances crumble. Blood floods the streets again.ā I laughed even though what he said held no humor. It only pissed me off more. āBlood is alread
ADRIKāS POV āLong time, no see⦠friend.ā The voice was deep, gruff, and heavily accented. It sounded familiar, so familiar that the hairs at the back of my neck rose. āAoki,ā I spat,my grip tightening on the phone. The warehouse went still. Sergeiās head snapped up, Vincenzo turned to me while Marco straightened in his chair. āYouāve got a talent for always ending up on my bad side.ā A low chuckle echoed down the line. āAwww, is this about your wedding? I was just pissed you didn't send me an invite, so I decided to send a little souvenir.ā My blood pulsed. Aoki and I had been at loggerheads for years. He had been behind the explosion at my wedding, had tried to bury me but failed. I had retaliated by blowing up two of his warehouses. I thought he knew better than to come for me again but I guess I was wrong. āThis wonāt end well for you Aoki, I'm going to kill you,ā I growled He let out a laugh. āCareful Adrik. Youāll hurt my feelings. But no, Iām not calling about
SERAFINA My eyes slowly fluttered open but my lids felt so heavy I could barely keep them open. A searing headache sliced through my skull so hard I almost blacked out again. I glanced around and my brows furrowed as I tried to make sense of my surroundings.The room was dusty, damp and dimly lit. A single window sat high on the wall, far out of reach while the metal door was bolted shut. Cold air bit at my skin and I shivered. I was tied to a metal chair and my wrists and ankles burned where coarse rope bit into them every time I shifted. Tears burned at the back of my eyes but I quickly blinked them back. No, don't cry Sera. You need to stay strong. The hinges groaned and the door opened with a low creak. A man stepped in, he was broad-shouldered, with eyes that were dark and menacing. The air seemed to cling to him with every step that he took and there was something unhinged in his grin like a wolf sniffing blood. āWell, look whoās awake,ā he said, his accent thic
SERAFINAāS POV The helicopter smelt of fuel and sweat. The sound of the rotors was so loud they rattled my teeth, but even with the noise, I could still hear my own heartbeat pounding in my skull. I sat wedged between two masked men,a shiver running down my spine as my hands shook. I glanced down at my wrists. They were sore and bruised due to the zip ties used to restrain me. I felt sick, really sick. Diana. God, where was Diana? I should have waited until we got home. Why did I push her to come to the restroom? Why now, of all times? If anything happened to her because of meā My stomach knotted. I tried to breathe, but the air in the cabin was stale. The last thing I remembered was going to the restroom with Diana and then the sudden appearance of two men, the sharp smell of chemicals as they placed a napkin over my nose. The man beside me , the one whoād shoved a knife to my throat on the tarmac, kept a gloved hand clenched around my upper arm as he said something i
ADRIKāS POV This was the second time tonight Iād ignored my gut and it had cost me. Badly. The Mercedes shot off the side street like a missile, the tires screaming as I jerked it onto the main road and Sergeiās hand shot out to brace himself.In the back seat, Marco and Vincenzo were still shouting over each other like angry crows. My pulse hammered against my chest as I thought of all the things that could go wrong. āEyes left!ā Sergei barked, pointing. āThatās them!ā āI can see, Iām not blind!ā I snapped. My throat burned from holding the panic that was trying to claw up. The first mistake was letting those two men get in my car in the first place. The second was not trusting my instincts at the warehouse. Now my men were chasing left, I was chasing right ā and I had no clue which held Serafina. The lead car was already vanishing down the road. A second sedan had joined the chase and tried to block us, swerving like a drunk driver was behind the wheel. Sergei let out
ADRIkāS POV My fingers clenched around the tiny, blood-smeared diamond earring. For a second, all I could do was stare at it, my vision swimming, rage pounding through my skull. Serafina⦠My entire world had been taken. Then it hit me like a punch to the gut. I remembered fastening these earrings on her, telling her that they were custom made.What she didnāt know was that the diamond setting hid a micro-tracker. My breath caught. If this oneās here⦠the other oneās still on her. āSergei!ā I roared, already running as I shoved past panicked guests, who were heading towards the exit. He spun toward me, his hand hovering near his weapon. āAdrik?ā āThereās a tracker in her earring! Have you seen my phone?ā Sergei dug into his jacket and yanked it out, the same phone Iād dropped when the screaming started. I snatched it from his hand, my fingers slick with Vladimirās blood as I unlocked the encrypted app. The screen lit up, and my heart kicked hard against my ribs. A pulsi







