The entire ground floor of Alexei’s mansion is carnage. They were prepared for us, but I don’t think they expected us so soon. It seems like Mikey has blown up half the house, and the explosions, along with the tear gas, have taken out the first wave of Alexei’s men. The gas masks prevent us inhaling the smoke from the bombs too and we are able to move freely through the haze. Mikey indicates his head that he’s heading toward the kitchen and Conor heads upstairs. I remember my father and Vlad referring to holding rooms in the basement when I was here.
I tap Shane on the shoulder. “I think he might be downstairs.”
Before he can reply, half a dozen of Alexei’s men appear out of nowhere, coming in through the hole in the wall that was the front entrance only a few minutes earlier. They run toward us and we dive for cover behind the marble staircase.
“Go. I’ll meet you down there,” Shane shouts as he jumps up and takes two of them out. They fire back and I contemplate staying and helping.
“Go, Hacker!” he orders. I hand him my semi-automatic because his is almost out of bullets, and I make a run for the basement stairwell, pulling the Glock from my waistband as I do.
As I reach the bottom of the stairwell, two men run toward me. I squeeze out two quick rounds and they drop to the floor. I hate guns, but I have been using them since I was eighteen and I have a perfect aim. Pulling off my mask, I toss it onto the floor. There is no smoke or tear gas down here.
I edge along the quiet hallway, praying that Liam is down here and he is still alive. As I approach the first room, I steel myself to look inside. When I do, it is empty and my heart rate increases as I approach the second one. When I find that empty too, I glance toward the end of the hallway to the room at the back. If Liam is down here, he must be in there. As I make my way closer, the adrenaline starts to thunder around my body and I take a deep breath to calm my breathing and my racing heart. I need to stay calm and prepare myself for whatever I may, or may not, find in that room. Because if Liam and Alexei are in there, then this might be my only chance.
I draw level with the room, and unlike the others, the door is closed. My fingers grip the handle and I take a beat. You got this, Jessie.
As I push open the door, a man is standing directly in front of me, with his hand raised and the barrel of a gun aimed at my head. He doesn’t have time to squeeze the trigger before I put a bullet in his neck. He drops to the floor and the sight behind him almost stops my heart. Alexei has Liam chained to the floor. Jump cables and bloodied instruments lie scattered on the ground around them and the entire room is filled with the metallic smell of blood, making me wonder how much of Liam’s has been spilled in here.
I watch my father holding up Liam’s battered and broken body by his hair, and my throat constricts as I struggle to take in air. They’ve had him for a little over six hours and yet have inflicted so much damage. I resist the urge to run to him and wrench him from my father’s cruel grasp. Above me, the sound of gunshots and carnage can be heard as the rest of the Ryan brothers tear this house and its occupants to pieces.
At least I hope that’s what is happening. But the reality of our situation is slowly starting to sink in. Alexei’s army outnumbers us by at least five to one. He could have called for reinforcements by now. I could lose one, or even all of them here today, and that thought makes me feel like my heart has been torn from my chest.
“You came home, printsessa,” Alexei sneers. “I knew that you would.”
I raise the Glock in my hand and aim at his face. He laughs at me and shakes his head. “You won’t use that.”
“Try me, Papa. Now let him go.”
“You couldn’t kill me to save your own life, Jessica. You think I believe you’ll kill me to save his?” he snarls as he jerks Liam’s head and causes him to groan in pain. The sound slices a welt across my heart.
“Please let him go, Papa!”
He narrows his eyes at me. “Have you learned nothing from me, printsessa? What makes you think I will allow any of these Irish pigs to live even one more day after they stole you from me?”
I glance at Liam and my heart begins to break into a million pieces. The sound of an explosion above us makes me and my father look up and he starts to laugh again. “My men will be making sure your friends pay for their crimes. While you stand here pretending you have the balls to kill me.”
My pulse is thrumming against my skin as my blood thunders around my body. What if Shane and Conor and Mikey are hurt too? How the hell do I get us all out of this alive? I have one last bargaining chip at my disposal — me. “Let him go and I’ll come home, Papa. If it’s me you want, then I’m yours.”
“But you’re already mine, Jessica,” he frowns at me.
“You don’t understand.” I shake my head. “I’ll stay. Of my own free will. I will try and be the daughter that you want me to be, Papa. I will marry whoever you choose for me. I will give you grand-babies. But only if you let my friends go.”
“You’d do that for him?” he sneers as he jerks Liam’s head again.
“Yes.”
“Why?” he spits.
“Because if you kill him, you will destroy me. If you kill any of them, you will destroy everything I have left. You took one family from me, Papa. Please don’t take them too. I promise I will try to be a good daughter for you, but please give me something. Show me that there is something in you worth trying to love,” I plead with him. I see his eyes soften at the corners and the hint of a smile plays on his lips. For a second I wonder if he is considering my proposal, but his smile turns cruel and mocking.
“I murdered my own brother and the only woman I have ever loved, printsessa. Alexei Ivanov is not a man of mercy,” he sneers as he raises his arm and I see the glint of a blade as he brings it toward Liam’s neck. Before he can make contact, I squeeze the trigger of my gun and the blade clatters to the floor as Alexei clutches his throat where the bullet has just torn straight through it. He drops to the floor and I run to Liam, catching him before he hits the ground too.
“Liam.” I smooth the blood matted hair from his forehead. “I’m here, baby. I got you,” I say as I wrap him in my arms. The sound of Alexei choking on his own blood next to us is of little comfort as I wonder at the easiest way to get Liam out of this place and to a hospital as quickly as possible. He can’t stand and there is no way I can lift him. But like an answer to my prayers, Shane is right beside me.
“You did good, Hacker. Now let’s get him out of here,” he says as he hoists Liam up and onto his shoulder.
“How long have you been in here?” I pant with the effort of lifting Liam’s weight.
“Long enough. Now let’s go. We need to get him to the car.”
As we’re making our way out of the room, I steal a quick glance back at Alexei. His blood pools on the floor beneath him as he lies there with lifeless eyes. But I can’t take a chance. Too many ghosts from my past haunt me. I won’t allow another one to do that. I raise my gun again and discharge my remaining bullets into his motionless body.
Shane stands with Liam and waits for me. When I’m done, I take half of Liam’s weight again and we leave the room without another word. We meet up with Conor and Mikey along the hallway and I’m relieved to see they are both unharmed. They both run to us, but it is Mikey who takes his twin from me and Shane, lifting his brother into his arms.
“The car is still out front. We need to check him over and see if we need to head to the ER,” Shane snaps as he indicates the door.
“Then let’s get the fuck out of here,” Conor snarls as we turn for the exit.
Before we reach it, my father’s second in command, Vlad, steps into our path out of nowhere.
Shane points a gun at Vlad’s head, and the Russian holds his hands out in surrender as his eyes lock on me. “Where are you going? This is all yours now, Jessica,” he says as he looks around the huge mansion.
“What? Are you serious?”
“You are the only surviving member of the Ivanov family,” he says solemnly. “You are the new head of the Bratva.”
Shane and Conor stare at me while Mikey shifts Liam’s weight in his arms.
“I am not the head of the Bratva!” I snarl.
“But, this is all yours.”
“You can have it, Vlad. I don’t want any of it. You were his second, so you take over.” I spent more time with Vlad than I did Alexei the last time I was at this mansion, after my father lured me here under false pretences. My instincts tell me he is a better man that his predecessor ever was.
“I don’t understand,” he frowns at me.
“I hate the Bratva. They have taken everything from me.”
“But, you are Jessica Ivanov. You are the Bratva,” he replies, as though he is unable to comprehend why I wouldn’t want this.
“Jessica Ivanov died ten years ago. My name is Jessie Ryan.”
Conor takes hold of my hand and squeezes and moves to stand beside me.
Vlad stares at me for a few seconds, and then he nods his head in comprehension.
“I trust there will be no more bloodshed between our families?” I say to him.
“Of course not. It is done. I wish you a long and happy life, Jessie Ryan,” he says as he steps aside and allows us all to walk freely past him.
