There’s no one out by the pool. No one in my room or Mariya’s. The kitchen is empty. In the living room, the television is on, the screen glowing blue across the untouched movie snacks Luna spent the day organizing.
The house is completely empty.
Where the fuck are they?
Gregory slinks out from under the chair and curls around my ankles. I shake him off just as my phone rings.
It’s Nikandr.
“Tell me good news,” I order.
“Boris is dead.”
I close my eyes. “We just saw him.”
“Which is what did him in, I think. He was shot in the parking lot fifteen minutes ago.”
“Someone knew he met with us,” I grit out.
“I watched the location all day. There was nothing, Yakov. I swear.”
“Did you kill him?” I ask.
I don’t really think he did, but after the way the two of them got into at the meeting, it’s a possibility.
“I hated that fucking worm, but I wouldn’t do that. Not when we need his intel,” he says. “After the meeting, I spotted a car in the parking lot. It wasn’t there when we went in and the windows were tinted. It was suspicious, but I didn’t think it was anything. Then Boris came out. As soon as he got close to the car, someone jumped out, shot him in the back of the head, and peeled out. He should have seen it coming, but he wasn’t paying any goddamn attention.”
“Any leads on who it was?”
“No plates on the car and I couldn’t ID the shooter. But it had to have been Akim.”
My hands tighten into fists at my side. In a flash, I turn over the coffee table, sending snacks flying everywhere. “Fuck!”
“What is happening?” Nik asks. “What’s going—”
“Mariya and Luna are gone.”
The words drive the reality home.
They aren’t here.
And Boris is dead.
The two things have to be connected. Mariya and Luna wouldn’t be stupid enough to leave the house on their own.
Nik echoes the curse. “I’m texting Oleg. He’s been Mariya’s guard the last few days, but he was off-duty tonight. I didn’t think we needed him since they were going to stay in.”
“I want everyone in on this,” I demand, storming through the house. “I want every soldier on patrol. We’re going to blow through Akim’s gates and kill that motherfucker for thinking for even a second that he can come into my house and touch what belongs to—”
A piece of paper flutters off the counter as I pass. It was small, no bigger than the palm of my hand. I didn’t see it before. Now, I bend and pick it up.
“Yakov?” Nik asks. “Are you there?”
I read the note once and then twice. I read it again and again until the words are seared in my brain.
Movie night got booted in favor of dancing. It was nice of you to let Mariya get out. She’s excited. XO, Luna
“They went dancing.” I crumble the note in my hand. “They left this house to go dancing… and no one fucking stopped them.”
For the first time in a long time, I’m on the verge of being speechless.
“Find them,” I finally snarl at Nik. “I’m calling Oleg.”
I hang up with Nikandr and call Oleg as I fly through the front door and climb back into my car. “If you don’t have a lead, you’re dead,” I say the moment Oleg picks up the phone.
“Shit. I was hoping to—I’m taking care of it,” he says quickly. “I just found out one of the cars in the garage was missing. No one saw them leave. Mariya must have taken the side gate.”
“Someone should have been watching it.”
“It’s not accessible from the main road. Only family members know about it, so we didn’t—” He wisely cuts himself off. “We should have noticed. But I think I know which club they’re at. It’s called Suono. It’s run by the—”
“The Marinos,” I finish. I already know who owns the club. Mariya should have, too. The only bit of good news is that the Marinos don’t associate with the Gustev Bratva. Akim wouldn’t carry out a hit there unless he wanted to fight a war on two fronts.
That doesn’t mean the Marinos are friends of mine, though.
“I’m headed there now. Get there,” I order. “If anything happens to Luna or my sister, I will fucking kill you.”
I hang up and text the address to Nikandr. I want whoever is closest to get there first.
I slam on the gas and tear down the driveway, hoping it will be me.
It’s late, but a long line of people are waiting outside of Suono to get in.
Mariya wouldn’t be caught dead there. She’d never deign to wait in line. Not when our family name opens doors in every nook and cranny of this city.
She probably flashed her ID and a smile and got right in. Never once thinking how easy it would be for the Marinos to sell news of her location to any one of my enemies.
I clench my jaw and take a deep breath. It won’t do any good to save Luna and Mariya tonight if I end up killing them myself.
I bypass the line and charge toward the doors. I don’t bother with my ID; I don’t need it. When the bouncer sees me coming, he leaps off his stool and hurries to unhook the velvet rope with shaking hands so I don’t even have to break stride as I sweep in.
The dark hallway opens into a fucking madhouse. LEDs pulse across the entire ceiling, lights strobe off the walls and the packed dance floor, and the music and voices are an indistinguishable roar in my ears.
What in the hell were they thinking?
They weren’t. That’s the only answer.
I’m trying to destroy Akim Gustev and keep them safe and they’re running around town in fucking party dresses. A shared cell in the dungeon is more and more likely every day.
But first, I have to find them.
