"Everybody ready," I said to the men behind me as the elevator came to a stop. But when the doors slid open there was no sign of anyone. No shots, no alarms, no men defending this mobster's estate. I didn't like the looks of it. I felt like we were headed into a trap.

I motioned to Lucas to take the left side of the hallway while I checked to the right. I gave him a nod, and we both whipped around the doorway, leading with our guns as we scanned opposite ends of a long hallway.

"The side is clear," Lucas said.

We both stepped out of the elevator and were immediately followed by the rest of the men on our team.

"I was expecting a little more fanfare than this," Lucas said with a furrowed brow.

"Yeah, it's a little bit unnerving. We have to assume he knows we're here. He has to have cameras and alarms coming up from those caverns."

"Unless having the code gives us full access."

"It's possible, but not likely. We all need to be on our highest guard. I suggest we split up into groups. You two, and you two, then the last group will be the three of us," I said, gesturing to the fifth man, Lucas, and myself.

"I have no problem going alone. I'll move faster if I'm not worried about a partner, or two."

"Are you sure about that, Lucas? This guy is …"

"I'm sure. We're wasting time talking about this, Adrian."

"Okay, let's go. Each hallway we come to, two men branch off. Check every room as quickly and thoroughly as possible. I gave Grady a half hour before coming after us, so we meet back down in the caverns then. Keep your phones on silent, but text Lucas and me when you're on your way back down there."

Two of the men and Lucas turned and headed in one direction, while the rest of us took the opposite end of the hallway. Two men branched off down a side hallway as I made my way farther down the hall with my partner.

I took one side of the hallway, listening for any sign of life behind the closed doors before opening them. There were at least six doors on my side of the hallway and five for my partner to check out, and there was no one in any of them.

It was mind-boggling to think that all of these rooms were empty. But each room I came to and each door that I opened showed no sign of life except for the furniture. The rooms were all crammed full of furniture that lined every single wall. Some rooms had multiple television sets and multiple couches, and they all had multiple dressers and tables and cabinets. It was almost as if each room was occupied by an entire family and all of their belongings, but no people.

Most of the furniture and television sets and stereos were newer, but the furniture seemed old but not worn, as if it had never been used. Either this guy had a bunch of people living with him, or he filled his enormous, empty house up with furniture to make it feel like he did.

There was one last room on my side of the hallway before another one up ahead. I looked up and down to see if I could find my partner, but there was no one in the hall, and no doors were open on the side he was searching. I figured he must have gone up ahead and was examining a room around the corner, so I continued on.

I stepped into the room and noticed immediately how different it was. It was still filled with an excessive amount of furniture, but the style was more extravagant and garish. There were gold sconces and fixtures everywhere, as well as paintings in incredibly ornate gold leaf frames. In fact, the walls were almost completely covered in small lamps and portraits. Maybe the guy did have a huge family after all.

The room looked like a meeting room of some kind, with multiple doors, one on each wall of the room. I walked straight across the room and slowly opened the door in front of me and looked out onto another hallway. I didn't see anyone outside the door, and wondered where the other men in my group were. It didn't seem like there could be many other halls to search.

I quietly closed the door to the other hallway, and just as I was about to turn around I heard the metallic click of a bullet entering the chamber of a handgun.

"I'm very pleased to have you in my home, Mr. Bellini."

I froze with my hand on the doorknob and I waited. I had been expecting a bullet in the back of my head since I stepped off the elevator.

"I'm assuming it is not me you've come to visit, but I'm afraid this is as far as you will be allowed into my home."

The slight Russian accent on the smooth, lilting voice that came from just over my shoulder sent shivers down my spine. The fact that he knew who I was didn't help.

"I'm not surprised that you are here, young Mr. Bellini. I have been expecting you, although I have to admit I did not expect your visit quite so soon."

"Where's Brooklyn?"

"The little girl? She is no concern of yours anymore. She belongs to me now. You are aware of the arrangement I had with the late Fredrick Bellini. You are aware that she belongs to me, that she has been my property for over a year. You stole from me, Mr. Bellini. You have entered my home, killed my men, and you think you will leave with my most prized possession? How is it that you thought you would be able to get away without me lifting a finger?"

His words spun around in my head for a moment while I tried to decide how to approach this madman. He knew my father was dead and he knew the men in the cavern had been killed. He had some kind of surveillance on us, but I didn't know where or how. I didn't know if he was aware of all of the men who were searching his house, or if he knew that many of them were still down in the caverns.

I turned around and faced him so that the gun he held to my head was now inches from my face.

"She's not your possession. She doesn't belong to you or to anyone."

"The little girl is mine. I waited for her for many years," he said, his eyes narrowing before a smile curled up in one corner of his mouth. "But now that you are here my waiting is over. Perhaps we can all have fun together, yes?"

"You're not going to have fun with anyone, Syrnyk. I'm leaving here with my wife," I said as I cocked the pistol aimed directly at his forehead.

"You would be advised to drop the gun right now. You do not have the advantage you think you do. What do you think will happen to your precious little girl if I am killed? As I said, I have waited for this for years. There are more plans in place than you realize."

Years? I thought, dropping my gun onto the floor. How could he have been waiting for her for years? Had he had this arrangement with my father for longer than I realized? I still didn't understand the connection between them, how they knew each other, and what their relationship was. None of this was sitting right with me.

The Russian kicked my gun across the room and laughed. "So it appears that you do know about me, then? You know my name, at least. What else do you know?"

"I'm aware that you work with the Odessa Mafia, but …"

"But here I am in Russia, working with men who are clearly from this country. How can that be, you ask?" he said, flourishing his hands in the air and widening his eyes as if he were speaking of some mystical event.

"How can one man, Mihai Syrnyk, work for two such organizations? You'd be surprised what men will do, what atrocities they will forgive, when there is great skill involved. As well as a continuous supply of something that is in demand. There are not many men who are capable of doing what I do. What we do, young Mr. Bellini," he said, gesturing toward me.

"What we do? I don't believe we have anything in common."

"Your first mistake was assuming you could get into my house without me being aware of you. Your second mistake is thinking that I know nothing about you. That I have not done my research on you and Fredrick Bellini. You see, I have been following you. And not just on that little boat of yours as you sailed around the South Pacific. I've been following you for a very long time. And I have been waiting."

"Waiting for what? What is it that you want from me? What do you want for Brooklyn?"

"For the little girl? Do you mean to ask me what I would take so that you can leave with her? That's a very silly question. You should know the answer to that by now. She is never leaving my house. And now that you are here you are welcome to stay as well. I have plenty of room for both of you, as well as your brother."

I heard the faint sound of a phone vibrating and watched as the Russian took his eyes off of me for a fraction of a second. Then I took my only opportunity. I ducked out of sight of his gun and lunged foreword, knocking him off of his feet. His gun fired into the air, then flew out of his hand and skidded fifteen feet away across the floor.

Before I could turn to get to my gun, he grabbed my leg and lunged on top of me, throwing a barrage of punches at my face. I blocked some of them and finally managed to roll him over twice, so that I was on top of him and within a few feet of his gun. I held him down with both hands wrapped tightly around his neck, but lost my grip as his knee came up and knocked me to the side.

I rolled onto my back with his 250-pound frame coming down on top of me. But before he could get me pinned down, I grabbed the gun and brought the butt across his temple. It didn't knock him out, but he lost his balance and he fell back down to the ground and rolled onto his back. I jumped on top of him, this time with my gun aimed right at his face. I cocked the pistol, but before I could pull the trigger the door behind me flew open.