Page 57 of Claimed in Sin
He cuts off, leaving me to weave through the rows of machinery and boxes on my own. My mind starts to wander toward all the things I might do to Sergei Belova if he's harmed a hair on Marina's head. I didn't hesitate to strangle Orlov with my eyes wide open, and I know that was crossing a line. It wasn't self-defense or enforcing a rule or family law. It was cold-blooded murder, and I know it. And my fingers are itching to do it again, just to make sure Marina is mine.
When I hear the first shots pepper off near the back of the building, I know Kaz found some men around the loading dock. For a Saturday afternoon, I'm surprised there are any men here, anyway. The factory workers are enjoying their weekend, andBelova should be at home sleeping or out playing golf. But my gut tells me he's here and that he's got her tied up somewhere.
I creep toward the office door, hearing a man's voice. It sounds like he's talking on the phone. I only hear one side of the conversation. So when I sneak up and round the corner and see another man in the hallway, I'm a little surprised.
His back is to me, and to avoid alerting Sergei to my presence, if it's Sergei at all, I walk up the hall with my gun raised, as quietly as possible. My feet roll heel to toe to avoid loud footfalls, and the man never sees me coming.
I'm on him in under five seconds, arm wrapped around his neck squeezing hard to put him in a sleeper hold. He squirms, clawing at my arms and jerking his body around, but soon his face goes red and his eyes shut. When he goes limp, I lay him on the ground and take his weapon off him, sliding it into my waistband.
As I stand over him, I realize it's Marina's uncle, the one who brought her to the fights that night. His suit is rumpled and he has soot on his hands, and a smudge on his face too. It means he's been out helping set those fires. I should put a bullet in his head right now, but that would let Sergei know I'm here, and I want to see the shock on his face when I walk in.
Besides, when I straighten and even think of pointing my gun at him, Kazimir and Radimir appear at the end of the hallway. The burning sensation of my cousin Roman being disappointed in me for killing this man keeps me in check.
"Anything?" I ask them, but Kaz grumbles and shakes his head.
"You?" he asks quietly, and I nod at the closed door.
"He's in here, I think," I tell them, and I look up to see the words "break room" written on a sign over the door. Then I hear banging, and the faint muffled sound of shouting, and instinctively, I know it's Marina. "I'm gonna kill him," I growl, but Kaz slams his hand into my chest and holds me back.
"Step— No." He's firm but he's not hostile with me. "We do this right... We can still make this work, you just have to be calm."
I look at his face and see how serious he is and know he's right. Roman hopes to turn this into a potential alliance, not start a war. Even if the Belovas can't fight back or the Orlovs turn a blind eye for now, attacking the little guy will only make the rest of the criminals in this city hate us more. It would only be a matter of time before they bound together to attack.
"If he hurt her..."
"There will be hell to pay," Radimir chimes in. "Kaz is right. We do this the right way and it'll work out." He rests a hand on my shoulder and gives me a gentle push. With these two keeping me in line, there isn't much that I can do to screw this up.
I grumble a few choice phrases and point my gun at the door. "Rad, you open it, and I'll go through first. We get her out, and if he ends up belly up, it's not gonna hurt my feelings." I can't believe I left her side. We'd never have gotten into this situation if I were with her. It's so frustrating, but I don’t blame her for wanting to make things with her father right.
Radimir grips the door knob and locks eyes with me, nodding at me as he slowly turns it. When it swings open, Kaz and I rush in with our guns raised, shocking Sergei who stands in the center of the room on the phone. His jaw drops first, then thephone, before he darts toward a cupboard, where I'm assuming his weapon is stashed.
Kazimir is on him before I can move, diving to tackle the man to the ground. His gun goes skittering across the carpeted floor just out of reach and Kazimir pins him to the ground as I raise my gun on him.
"Where is she?" I snarl, not at all concerned for this man or what he might potentially mean for my family. I want Marina back and I need to know she's safe and unharmed.
"Go to hell," he spits with his chest heaving and his angry glare and teeth bared.
Kazimir pushes off him and stands on his wrist while I keep the gun pointed at him.
"I said, where is she?" I tell him, clicking my safety off. But then I hear the muffled shouting again and see a large metal table shoved against a door. When I glance that way, his eyes narrow and he looks a little frantic.
"You stay the hell away from her! Don't you fucking touch that!" Sergei writhes under Kazimir's foot, and my cousin drives his knee into the man's face, knocking him out cold. The shouting from him ends immediately, but I still hear the woman behind that door. Except now, she's screeching and banging on the door.
"Get her," Radimir growls, and he steps forward, holding his gun to Sergei as I start moving toward the door.
The table is so heavy, I can't move it on my own. My muscles strain under the weight until Kazimir takes the other side andhelps me. We manage to move it back a few feet and the door pops open.
Marina rushes out, sobbing and terrified, and buries her face in my chest.
"Oh, my God, Stepan. What are you doing here? They'll kill you." She's trembling and she's ice cold, like that storage closet is more of a fridge unit than just a closet.
"Hey, shh," I tell her, "I'm not hurt. Okay?"
"Get your fucking hands off my daughter," Sergei growls, and I turn to see him coming around. He sits up, leaning against the table.
"You know what?" I hiss, turning until my weapon is pointed at him again. I've had enough of following Roman’s fucking orders and being the nice guy. "You need to shut the fuck up."
"Stepan," Marina whimpers, grabbing my arm. "He's my father." Her voice shakes and cracks, and when I turn to look at her as Kazimir picks up his weapon and trains it on Sergei, I see her pleading expression. "Please."
