The younger don, Rio, looks up at the window, squinting to make out who is looking at him. When he sees me, his eyes go wide. “You’re Viktor’s woman, right? What are you doing here? Is Viktor here?”
Mario Mazzeo stirs next to his son, but it is obvious he is in rough shape. His eyes are sunken in and bruised, and he has a hard time moving. “Who is here?”
Rio jumps up and moves to the door, his hands bound behind his back. “Get us out of here. Fedor locked us up, and we’ll die if you don’t help.”
His voice is soft through the thick door, but I can still make it out.
“I thought someone innocent might be in here,” I say, my voice surprisingly cold. “I’m not going to waste my time on you.”
I turn to leave, but Rio’s muffled voice stops me. “You’ll never make it out alive. This place is too heavily guarded.”
I freeze, wishing I could keep walking. But I realize all at once that I don’t know my way out of this building. I have no idea where to go or how many men are here.
I spin around. “What do you know about this building?”
“Everything. We’ve walked it many times. We can help you out of here, but you have to help us escape.”
I look down at the keys in my hand, and Rio follows my eyes. When he sees the keys, he becomes more desperate. “Please. Please help us. We’ll pledge our allegiance to Viktor. Or you. Whatever you want. Help us.”
He sounds nothing like the cocky don I remember from before, and it becomes apparent how efficiently Fedor has beaten the man down.
“I’ll kill you if you betray me,” I growl, grabbing the key and shoving it in the door. “If you do anything at all that makes me doubt your loyalty, I’ll shoot you in the head. Do you understand?”
He nods vigorously. “Understood. Just let us out.”
I turn the key and it works. The door opens and Rio spins around to help his elderly father to his feet. Mario nods in thanks as they walk out of the room, hands still tied behind their backs.
“Wait.” I grab Mario Mazzeo’s shoulder and turn him around. Ropes are wound around his liver-spotted hands. Too thick to cut through with a key. “We need to untie you.”
“There’s a utility closet just there.” Rio points to a door two down from their cell. “I’ve seen guards go in and out for supplies.
I ready my gun to take out anyone who may be inside and then throw the door open. The room is empty, so I step in and flip the light switch, and then say a silent prayer of thanks.
The room is not just a utility closet. It is a weapons room. Guns and bullets and knives line the shelves. I grab another gun, check to see it is loaded, and shove it in the waistband of my jeans. Then, I stash one knife in my back pocket and grab a second before walking into the hallway to free the two men. Then, I point them towards the room.
“There are weapons in there. Arm yourselves and then we move.”
Mario and Rio are both comfortable with weapons, and they come out armed with handguns, semiautomatic rifles, and plenty of magazines. Mario looks like he is bowing under the weight, but I don’t have time to worry about him. I freed him from the cell and gave him a weapon; that is my good deed for the day.
“I can’t believe they’d leave all of these in an unlocked room,” Rio says, admiring the gun around his chest.
“I can,” I say, rolling my eyes. “Fedor is a cocky son of a bitch. He would never imagine we could escape.”
I’m hoping Fedor’s cockiness will continue to play to my advantage. He never imagined I would fight back. He never imagined I would be able to overpower one of his guards and free his other prisoners. So, I plan to continue bucking his expectations. I will surprise him until Viktor is safe, and together, we bring Fedor to his knees.
“Help me escape, and your betrayal will be forgiven,” I say, leading the two men down the hallway towards a stairwell.
“By whose authority?” Rio asks. “Are you sure Viktor feels the same way?”
I stop him at the doorway, one arm blocking their path forward. Before we move any further, I need them to understand who they are protecting. “It doesn’t matter how Viktor feels. I’m his wife, and I am promising you immunity if you get me out of here alive. Don’t worry about Viktor, worry about me.”
Rio’s eyes narrow for a moment, and then he and his father both nod in understanding.
“Good.” I lower my arm and let them pass in front of me. “Now, get me out of here so I can save my husband.”
24
Viktor
Hannah is pacing by the door, waiting for Fedor to arrive, and it takes everything in me not to scream at her.
She helped me set a trap for Fedor just like she said she would, but it doesn’t change the fact that she betrayed Molly and put her in danger in the first place. Her mother was kidnapped and held by Fedor, and I understand how bad that must have been for her, but it is no excuse to turn on an innocent person. Especially when that innocent person is as sweet and gentle as Molly.
I hate Hannah, but right now, she is helping us, and I have to shove aside my hate until Molly is safe.
“I think he is here,” Hannah says, looking through the peephole of the motel door. “Three cars just pulled into the parking lot.”
I push her aside and look through the hole. Three black cars are idling at the far end of the lot closest to the check-in desk.
“Call him,” I say. “Tell him you see him and give him the room number.”
Hannah does as I ask and calls Fedor. His voice is faint and indecipherable through the phone, but Hannah says exactly what I told her to and then hangs up.
“He’s coming.” She takes a deep breath, and I can practically see her heart pounding through her shirt.
I nod for her to go hide, and she goes into the bathroom and climbs into the tub. I adjust my bulletproof vest and prepare myself.
This is it. I’m going to kill my brother.
The thought still fills me with mixed emotions, but I focus on the fact that Fedor is here to kill me right now. That is his sole purpose in being here. He wouldn’t hesitate to end my life, so I can’t hesitate to end his. I can’t. It is either him or Molly, and there is no competition. I’ll choose Molly every time.
Seamus and his men are in the rooms surrounding the one I’m in, ready to jump out and fight off Fedor and his men as soon as I give the signal.
I wanted Hannah to be the one to answer the door. I wanted her to lure Fedor into the room so I could kill him more easily, but at the end of the day, I can’t trust her. She stuck to her end of the bargain in getting Fedor here, but she is clearly a survivor. Her main goal is to get out of this alive, and I can’t trust that she won’t flip sides on me again. So, it is safer to just do it myself, even if it might be messier.
When three knocks sound on the door, I grip my gun against my chest and take a deep breath.
This is it.
I grab the doorknob and start to open the door, but just as I do, I realize I never gave the signal. I was so nervous about facing Fedor that I never knocked on the door adjoining the two motel rooms. Seamus and his men don’t know Fedor is here yet.
I freeze, the door partway open, unsure what to do.