The drive to the old butcher shop takes longer than expected. We have a plan, but not a very good one. Especially for only two men. After another call from Viktor on our way here, we now know we don’t have time to strategize for anything more elaborate.

The Haggen family caught wind of Viktor asking us for help and has moved up its plan to murder Danika. From what we can tell, they plan on shipping her back to Viktor in pieces as retaliation for everything the man did fourteen years ago with putting the Germans out of business in Russia.

“Ready?” D looks over at me from the passenger seat.

“Locked and loaded,” I reply. Our weapons are hidden on our bodies, and we’ve been watching as people come and go. The security doesn’t conduct much of a pat-down for weapons when they enter.

Exiting the car, Dimitri says, “I’ll meet you at the bar in five.” The idea is for him to do a once-around of the building, looking for exits and lower windows. He wants to plant a bag of weapons just in case we need them when extracting Danika.

I take a deep breath as I shut the door behind me. I have knives strapped to my ankles and two guns holstered under my button up. From what I’ve seen, they’ve only patted down backs and arms of men. With my jacket, my Sigs should be hidden enough that the security won’t give me more than a cursory look.

Music pumps loudly from inside as smoke billows out every time the door opens. The smell of marijuana strong in the air.

“Dobro pozhalovat,” one man greets as I enter.

“Da.” My Russian is rusty, and I know I have to be careful of what I say. They let me pass, and I make my way through the room filled with more hookers than I’ve ever seen in one spot and grab a seat at the bar.

“Vodka.” I rap my knuckles on the bar as the bartender comes by. Watching the room surreptitiously, I see two men emerge from where the blueprints showed was the basement. They don’t lock it behind them, and it gives me a fleeting moment of doubt about whether this is the right place.

A glass bangs down on the bar, and I turn to the man as he pours two fingers of Russky Standart. Handing him some cash, he leaves, and I see Dimitri enter through the front door.

Walking around the room, he looks to me, and I nod slightly towards the door that I watched the men exit from, and he heads there. Swallowing back the vodka, I wait a beat and follow him down.

The stairwell leading downwards is dark, illuminated only by a strip of lighting around the wall, directing to another hallway. Dimitri stands at the end, playing with the lock on a door. The creak of the door opening again has us both freezing in place. With a nod, I indicate to Dimitri to keep working while I slink back into a crevice and wait for whatever comes.

The sound of three sets of footsteps descend the stairs, and while holding my gun, I pull out a blade. I may not be as good as Carver or King with my knife skills, but it doesn’t take much to gut a man.

Laughter precedes them until they round the corner. When they see Dimitri at the door, they cease all movement just steps from my hiding spot. One man, the size of Shrek, falters before I sneak out behind them as they pass me, questioning D in German.

“Wer zur Hölle bist du?“ the big one demands. Dimitri ignores him while I sneak up behind them.

Staying low, I’m quick to brandish my blade and slice it across the back of one guy’s knees before he realizes I’m there. Blood squirts back at me, covering my chest in crimson. The other two spin around just as Dimitri gets the door unlocked, and the sight that greets us fuels my anger as I tackle the smaller of the two men.

Taking him to the ground, I see Dimitri in my peripheral vision as he charges at the largest of the men. My fists rain down brutal blows on the guy under me. I hear the crunching of bone and cartilage with each strike. Soon, I no longer feel in control of my body, and when I’m tossed off of the man, I raise my gun without thought and shoot.

The bang reverberates throughout the halls as the giant drops to the concrete, a hole in his face. Dimitri stares up from the ground, mouth agape, blood dripping down his head and into his eyes.

“Nice work, kid.” He smirks as he stands, clapping me on the back.

“Daniel?” The word is barely discernable as we look up to see Danika tied to a chair, face pale, shock clear in her gaze as she passes out upon seeing us.

“She didn’t know?” I’m genuinely stunned she had no idea I was alive. I thought for sure someone would have told her, or she’d have heard somehow.

The fucking Hulk was a lot tougher than he looked. When I saw him heading for Daniel as he was pounding on the other man, I couldn’t leave him be.

I was wrong, though. The kid had it all handled.

Danny-boy keeps proving me wrong about so many things at every turn, and I’m, once again, left in awe of his resilience.

Hearing more footsteps coming down the stairs, I slam the door shut, barricading it with my body until Daniel’s got Danika untied and brings the chair over to shove under the knob.

Once the door is secure, I take a moment to look over her injuries. “We’ll fix her up in the car. We need to leave.” The door cracks. “Now.”

Picking Danika up, holding her in my arms for the first time, cradling her to my chest, it feels right. The connection she talked about in her diary is intense. I’d like to fucking kick myself for pushing her away so goddamned much now. She didn’t deserve it, and because I did, she’s in this predicament now. Hurt. Broken. Bleeding.

“Come on, D,” Daniel calls urgently from the window he’s propped open. Passing her frail body up to him, I spin just as the door splinters and begin shooting wildly before jumping up and through the frame.

“Keep running!” With the chaos occurring in the building, it seems odd for the streets to be so quiet. Daniel tosses the car keys to me as he climbs in the passenger side, Nika still in his arms.

Peeling away from the curb, I waste no time in racing through the streets of Moscow, distancing us from the hotel we were staying at and heading to the safe house Vashchenko has ready for us. If all goes as planned, we’ll be on a flight to London first thing in the morning.

With my pulse racing, I try to keep my concentration on the road but hearing her moans as she regains consciousness, I look over and tears are streaming down her face as her eyes open, and Daniel brushes his fingers across her cheek softly.

“You’re really here,” she murmurs, a catch in her voice.

“I’m here, mi amore.” Fucking smooth Italian bastard. “She really didn’t know?”

“There wasn’t time to tell her. She left, and before I thought to call her, she had gone to Russia. When Viktor told me she was here, I figured I’d give her the space she needed.” He looks from her passed out form and back to me again as we make our way to the house carefully. “You needed me more, Danny-boy.”

A look I don’t recognize crosses his features quickly, and before I can comment on it, Danika is speaking again. “Dimitri?” I look over at her. “I listened.” Her breathing picks up as she recalls that day.

“I know you did, Nika.” Running a hand across her thigh, I try to soothe her. Daniel buries his head in her neck and inhales deeply. Her eyes close, savoring his actions, and I wish to fuck we were alone in a room and not on the fucking run.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel whispers to her, his hand coming to hold over mine on her leg, squeezing my fingers.

Looking in the rear-view mirror, I don’t see anyone behind us as we speed through the streets. “Danny-boy, call Vik. Let her talk to him.”

The phone connection barely rings once before the man picks up. “Vashchenko.”

“Viktor?” Danika’s voice trembles.

“Sestra! S toboy vse v poryadke? Oni prichinili tebe bol?” His tone holds more emotion than I’ve ever heard from the man before.

“YA v poryadke Viktor. Oni spasli menya. Daniil i Dimitriy, oni tozhe zdes.” Daniel looks at me with confusion. Russian is not a language he’s mastered.

“He’s just asking how she is, kid, calm down.” I laugh.

“Petrov!” Vik calls loudly.

“I’m here.”

“Her injuries, what are they?” He’s irritated because she wouldn’t tell him.

“Visually, broken fingers, stab wound in the leg. Multiple bruises. Haven’t seen past the clothes yet.” I say the last part only to jab at him because I know it’ll annoy the fuck out of him.

“Bozhe! Dazhe ne dumay ob etom!”

“Only when she asks, Viktor, only when she asks.” Danika snickers, and it’s quickly followed by a pain-filled moan. “Gotta go, Vik, we’re at the safe house. I’ll call you in London.” Daniel hangs the phone up before the man can protest.

“Do you guys really have to speak Russian? Fucking English, man.” Daniel bitches as he carefully vacates the car with Danika still in his arms.

They’re talking, planning our next move, and I should be paying attention. I should be listening, so I know what’s going to happen.

But I can’t.

Never in my life have I wished for something so hard as I did when Daniel died than for him to be alive. I prayed, I bargained, I swore a million promises if only he would come back.

And now, he’s here. Alive. Mostly well. Pacing back and forth in front of me as I sit on the couch, waiting for the medication they gave me to kick in. Resetting my fingers isn’t going to be easy. I should probably be in a hospital, but it’s too risky right now.

“It’s only until we get to London,” Dimitri says, stopping in front of me. I can see he doesn’t want to do it. He knows it’s going to cause me horrendous pain.

For the first time since meeting the man, I see emotions other than sorrow and anger in his gaze as he watches me.

Lifting my good hand up to his, I scrape my nails along his cheek and lean forward. “It’s okay, moya lyubov.” His lips soften under my digits.

“You’re going to pass out.” I can see the regret in his gaze as he looks back to Daniel. “Danny-boy is going to help you undress while I get everything we need.” Helping me to my feet, he hands me over to Daniel as the man comes closer. They share a look that has me curious about their relationship. I know they’re more than friends. But not quite lovers.

“Mi amore.” His boyish grin gets aimed at me, and I know I’m right. He has a beautiful smile. “Pants first, then you can sit.” I nod when I realize he was waiting for me to answer before moving. After placing my hands on his shoulders gingerly, Daniel drops to his knees in front of me.

Nerves quiver through my body at the realization that they’re going to see me naked. Well mostly. More than any man I’ve cared about ever has before. Closing my eyes, I savor the heat of his palms as he works the button and zipper on my jeans. He slowly peels the material down my body, eyes eating me up as he does so. “Deep breath, amore,” he mumbles as he gets to the wound in my leg. The dull throb turns to a roaring fire as he pulls the denim from the dried blood.

“Lisus Khristos!” Jesus Christ on a cracker, that fucking hurt. I can feel the blood dripping down my leg faster now that he’s removing my pants, and I have to fight not to look down.

“Deep breaths, Nika,” Dimitri says from behind me, holding my shoulders as I struggle to stay upright.

“Stupid. Stupid, Nika,” I scold myself.

“Why?” Daniel asks softly. I can feel his breath on my lips as he stands. Opening my eyes, I can feel the tears hovering, ready to fall again.

“I came to a foreign country. By myself. Rule number one is never go to a foreign country alone. Stupid.” I try to laugh, but I’m just not feeling it.

Both men step closer to me. The warmth radiating off them helps to ease the pain flowing through me. My hands are still on Daniel’s shoulders as his come to settle on my hips, just above Dimitri’s.

Looking down, I’m amazed at how turned on it makes me to see them touching each other while stroking me. Their fingers intertwine to hold me between them.

“Can it always be like this?” I whisper the words, leaning my head back and closing my eyes. I don’t expect an answer, I simply want to relish in the feeling of the three of us together as one.

“It can,” Dimitri whispers into my neck as he kisses my fluttering pulse.

“If you want it to,” Daniel murmurs against my lips as he claims them.

I sigh against their assault on my body. This is what I’ve wanted from the moment I laid eyes on these men. What I’ve dreamed of for weeks on end.

Their attention.

Their claiming.

Their love.

Yeah, Dimitri, Daniel, and Danika most certainly still has a nice ring to it.