I’m not the kind of man who likes to repeat himself.” Before she can say anything else, I slam the door and lock it.
I don’t have patience for people who don’t follow orders. She doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. She’d do well to remember that.
With Daniella mercifully gone, I retreat back upstairs to my office. I settle behind my desk. As I do, I glance out the window to see her march outside and dial a number on her phone. A minute later, a luxury sedan with darkly tinted windows pulls up and she climbs inside.
I frown. I don’t like that. Something about the girl and the car looks wrong. Mismatched. Suspicious.
But maybe I’m just being paranoid. It’s been a long, miserable day. I force myself to breathe and let her go.
When she’s gone, I sit down and rub the bridge of my nose. I need to stop offering to host events. I’m always the one left cleaning up. I’m the one dealing with wasted guests. Oleg’s wedding is the last thing I’ll do for anybody else for quite a long time.
I dial my brother and lean back in the chair. A second later, he picks up.
“Brother,” he pants.
Immediately, I can tell something’s not right. “What’s wrong?” Not only does he never make calls this late, but he sounds stressed.
“It’s Brianne,” he says.
“What about her?”
“Someone’s taken her.”
For a moment, I’m certain he’s messing with me. Nobody took his wife; he’s just trying to get under my skin because he knows that today was a pain in the ass for me, having to host Oleg’s wedding and all.
But then I hear the screeching of tires in the background of the call, and I know it’s not a joke.
“What happened? Talk to me.”
“I don’t know what happened. I came home from the wedding and the front door was kicked in. A housekeeper said a man came running in and grabbed Brianne before she could fight back. We have location sharing on our phones, and I’m following her right now.”
“Shit,” I breathe.
This must be related to our business. People associated with the Bratva are always in danger—always collateral damage just waiting to happen.
That’s another reason why I don’t have any plans on getting married. In this business, there’s no room for pleasure. You eat and breathe this line of work. Anything else is mere distraction.
“If anything happens to her, Matvei…” he snarls.
I can hear the fear in his voice. It doesn’t happen often, but I can sense it now.
“It’s my fault,” he curses. “Fuck, it’s my fault she got dragged into this shit in the first place!” There are thuds in the background, probably him slamming his fists on the steering wheel.
“No,” I say, determined. “This isn’t your fault. We’re going to get her back.”
With just one call, I can have twenty men right behind Dmitry, all of them fighting to bring his wife home safely. Him rushing in alone is risky, stupid. Our father trained us to be smarter than that.
“I don’t have time, Matvei,” he says with a warning tone.
I can tell he doesn’t want me to remind him of his other responsibilities, but I have to. “You have a goddamn son to think about, Dmitry. You can’t go rushing into things like this. Where are you going? Give me an address.”
Almost reluctantly, he says, “It’s that old abandoned car factory a few miles out of town. You know the one.”
I do know the one. It’s fifteen minutes from here, give or take, at the speed I’m planning to drive. I stand up from my seat and grab my keys.
Downstairs, I climb onto my motorcycle. It’s faster than the cars. “I’ll be there as soon as possible.”
“I can’t promise I’ll wait,” he says.
I know my younger brother like the back of my hand. I know how impulsive he is. It was one of the reasons I didn’t want to let him join the business. This is serious, and one wrong move can get someone’s brains splattered across the wall. It’s not for reckless people.
Up until this point, he’s behaved. Sure, Dmitry gets mouthy with some of my other men, and there have been some fights I’ve had to break up, but he’s done well. Better than I thought he would.
This is a mess I have to get him out of.
Thoughts of the Justice Killer keep splaying through my mind as I turn the motorcycle down the driveway and open the throttle wide. Something in my gut is telling me