I t was nine o'clock. Second day since my girl went missing, and I was ready to wring Daniel's neck for the dozenth time .

The fucking bug hadn't lived up to expectations. Sabrina and Gioulio's voices were garbed, and the last thing we heard before it went dead was crashing and arguing. Fuck .

“Back off, Anton. Don't make me hit you again brother,” Lev growled, putting up his fists in warning .

Asshole. We were roughly the same strength, but he wasn't fighting for her the way I was. Fuck, Daniel was pretty strong too, especially when he knew he'd be fighting for his own life if we didn't find out what the hell happened – and soon .

“Shut the fuck up! This is his fault, and you know it. You're a cocksucker for protecting him.” I stormed to the other side of the great hall, pacing from end to end like a caged tiger .

“You're not in your right mind, brat. That bitch got underneath your skin. Fuck, for all we know, she was playing you the whole time. You let her go, she dumped the bug, and now she's probably given us up to the fucking Italians .”

That did it. I spun, came pounding right at him. Our bodies slammed together like colliding trains and Daniel was dragged into the melee .

Too bad we'd all gotten that Ivankov gene for big muscles and fists of fury. Two against one. I didn't have a chance, but I fought like a goddamned devil .

All I knew was the sweet crunch of my knuckles slapping flesh and bone. I swung, kicked, and thrashed 'til my arms went numb, same as I always did in a brawl like this. Except it never got that far .

Daniel got a choke hold not long after I pounded his face, hard enough to leave a black eye. Lev tackled me while I was struggling to get my brother's arm off my throat. He slammed both fists into my stomach. The wind was right outta me like a ton of bricks landing on my chest .

I couldn't move. Couldn't breathe. Daniel maintained his death lock, leaned down, and whispered in my ear .

“Don't make us knock you unconscious, brother. Calm the fuck down. Stop taking this all so personally. She could've done it to anybody .”

Damn if I didn't start struggling again with what little energy my body had left .

Sabrina hadn't stabbed me in the back – I wouldn't fucking believe it! There were a thousand reasons why that goddamned spy chip he put on her could've went dead, and these assholes were fixated on only one. Betrayal .

“Come on, Anton. Knock it the fuck off. We need you to save that shit for later if the Ligiotti's goons come storming in here .”

“They won't!” I snarled, feeling my ribs creak when I spoke. “Your heads are so far up your asses you'd think your own guts were trying to strangle you. There's nobody coming. We're the fuckups for laying here like rats while they've taken her, taken my girl .”

“Your girl?” Lev wiped his bloody nose. “Prison fucked you up, brother. Dunno why the hell you can't see it. You went head over heels for the first piece of pussy that landed in your bed, and she fucked you over. You should've let us handle her .”

My fists slapped the floor. I fought like hell to get up and bust his fucking jaw for saying that, but Daniel held me down, giving the back of my skull a good crack against the hard floor .

“None of us are thinking rationally. That goes for you too, Lev.” He looked up, as if trying to smooth shit over. “What we need here is patience. We've got to buckle down and wait instead of tearing each other to pieces, dammit. Just wait, brothers. The crew we sent out to the city will tell us something soon .”

Bastard. Always the voice of reason, even when I'd just come within a hair trigger of fracturing his damned eye socket. My fists were still seething, ready to beat and blind and kill, when he finally let me up .

Breathing without his fat arm around my throat was amazing. But it still wouldn't come easy, not even twenty minutes later when I sat in the chair, rolling out the latest knots in my arm with the table's edge. I'd never breathe easy 'til she was back in these arms, safe and fucking sound .

She shouldn't have gone out with nothing more than a secret bug and a burner phone. And I was the asshole who sent her, the fuck who'd let my brothers get away with this bullshit compromise, tracking her like a goddamned animal .

All three of us eyed each other like hungry wolves hovering over a lone rabbit .

A knock at the door shattered the tense silence. I was the first one up, beating my brothers to the big door .

It swung open, revealing old Grigor in his prim suit. I nearly bowled him over heading for the small, broken looking thing behind him .

“She just showed up on our doorstep,” I heard him say, and then I stopped listening to anything at all .

“Sabrina!” Her name bounced off the high ceiling as I scooped her up, threw my arms around her, and crushed her in my embrace .

Shit. She'd appeared outta the darkness right when I needed her like an honest-to-fuck angel. I squeezed her tight, forcing myself to understand she was real, wondering why the hell she wasn't grabbing me back .

“Damn it, babe, I thought you were a goner. What happened? They didn't hurt you ?”

“I got away,” she said coldly. “Uncle Gioulio welcomed me back at first, but he started to get suspicious pretty fast. He kept me in a room at his house, posted guards outside. I managed to sneak out, hail a taxi. Here I am .”

She pulled away. Too cold, too tired, too defeated for my liking. Hearing her say that shit was like listening to a dull recording .

What the fuck's going on here? And where the hell did she get that mangled, ugly ass coat ?

My eyes slid up and down the weird thing draped around her shoulders. It was an overstuffed winter coat that looked like it'd seen better days. I didn't like looking at it, and not just because it covered up that bitching body my cock was starting to pine for all over again. It was jagged, dirty, one shoulder coming apart at the seams .

“Babe.” She flinched when I reached out and grabbed her chin .

My fingers dug in harder. I forced her to look at me, all while the voices behind me went dead silent. My brothers were watching the scene with Grigor .

Lev approached, fists balled at his sides. “You'd better sit her down. Make her start talking. If this bitch has betrayed us ...”

I spun, dragging poor Sabrina with me. He stopped mid-sentence. Our cold eyes met, and he was the first to break, looking away with a loud snort .

That's right. Brother or not, I promised another beating if one more word came outta his mouth. And this time, they'd have to put me in a fucking coma to stop my fists .

“She's mine. I'll do the debriefing. Neither of you fucks is patient enough to do it right .”

Patience. Motherfucking patience. I threw Daniel's word back at them and took off, leaving my brothers standing with our old head servant at the base of the stairs .

“My room. Let's go.” Sabrina moved on a little ahead of me .

I watched her walk for telltale signs of pain, injury. Nothing. Her footsteps were slow, almost reluctant, and I couldn't figure out why .

Great. Not only did I have my brothers to shut up, I needed to dig the truth outta her. I made a promise right there that anybody who did her the least harm was gonna fucking suffer .

Soon as she was in the room, I slammed the door behind me. “Babe, what's going on? We're home. You can tell me without worrying about their ears on us .”

She sat down at the edge of the big veiled bed where I'd fucked her half a dozen times. My cock stirred, and it took all my mental willpower to slap him down while I got to the bottom of this .

“My uncle's a traditional man,” she said, reaching into her purse. After a second, she pulled out a little black book, not much thicker than my thumb. “He doesn't use tablets and phones to store his schedule. Less risky that way, I suppose. I managed to swipe this before he sent me up to my room – it's his planner for the next month. At least the stuff that's on the books. The rest is coded. I couldn't figure it out, but maybe you can. Catch .”

The little book flew through the air. I slapped it between both hands and opened it .

Shit. It was Gioulio Ligiotti's handwriting, all right. I knew it from seeing our intel before, a small crabbed script in English with the odd Italian word sprinkled throughout. The black book must've been about fifty pages long, everything laid out in a calendar grid. Pretty standard for the kinda scheduling book you'd find at the drugstore or whatever .

“Holy fuck. You brought us gold, babe!” I tucked it in my pocket and walked over, hitting the bed next to her. “Christ. My brothers are gonna be so fucking happy. They'll lay off my ass and yours. We'll be able to hit him soon without the choppy doubts we had before .”

“Better make it fast,” she said, a quirky smile on her lips. “He'll realize it's gone within a few days, or else his guys will .”

“Shit, you're right. We'll get cracking on it tonight. What about you?” My eyes rolled up and down her sweet body, trying to see past the heavy, ragged thing clinging to her shoulders. “What's this shit? Something you picked up on the street ?”

Her lips pursed like she'd bitten something sour. “No. It's a family heirloom. Just happened to be in the room with me where I was staying. I needed something to stay warm, and it might be my last chance to get it out .”

Hm. The girl sounded sad. Her little fingers clung to the opening, where it looked like it was missing several oversized buttons. It was the sorta jacket well off chicks were drooling over like ten years ago, if memory served. I'd hiked up a few black and purple ones in the same style and fucked the girls wearing them .

My cock jerked at the memories, but not half as hard as it lurched when I imagined doing the same thing here .

“Take that shit off. Or you want me to do it for you ?”

She stiffened when I shifted, rolled on top of her, and pressed her into the mattress. She was soft and warm and sweet all over, calling me between her legs, begging me to fuck her. My body needed to show her how damned happy I was to have her back in all the way words failed to do .

I smashed my lips on hers, hungry as hell. My dick hammered in my pants, beating its way out, howling to get inside her. If I could've kissed her 'til the universe went cold and collapsed in on itself, I would've .

I wanted to tongue her, bite her, leave my lips on hers 'til we were nothing but this beautiful fucking kiss. But the primal lusts wouldn't let it be anything but a prelude to the insane storm whistling in my blood, bellowing to hold her down, rip her pants away, and fuck her and fuck her and fuck her .

Fuck !

Something's wrong. I kissed her hard enough and she moaned, but it sounded more like real pain than just rough lust talking. I reared up, fisted her hair, and held her in a ferocious grip .

“What the fuck happened out there, babe? What's wrong? Talk to me. I'm not gonna read your fucking mind. Did he hurt you ?”

My veins were about to explode and collapse. All this lust was churning with pure rage now, confusion and frustration. I'd never seen her look like this – not even when I held her here the first night after the big break .

“Uncle Gioulio told me some things,” she said, pulling away from my hand .

I had to let her go. It was either that or she'd tear out a huge clump of hair. Pissed, I darted up, stood over her, heartbeat thudding so damned hard I felt all the fresh bruises on my skin left by Lev and Daniel .

“What things? Don't tell me that piece of shit's got you all mixed up again. He's a manipulative fucking snake, the worst kind this city's ever seen. What did he say?” I got up in her face, trying not to scream .

Christ. God fucking damn it .

If that freak turned her against me, then I really had my work cut out. I was already gonna kill him the worst way I could, but this shit meant I had to think of something sicker, crueler, ten times more painful .

My hands landed on both her shoulders and shook her. A hot diamond tear drop slid down one of her beet red cheeks and she pinched her eyes shut .

“I can't help you if you don't fucking talk to me, babe! Come on! What did that bastard say? Whatever shit he's been shoveling into your pretty head, it isn't true !”

She coughed, sputtered, started to struggle like she was really hurt just by having my hands on her. Fuck !

I ripped myself away from her, stumbling over a shoe lace that had come loose. I caught my balance, crossed the entire room, and kicked the chair next to her vanity. It went flying across the fucking room and one leg smashed beneath the window .

Idiot .

Sabrina was bawling. This shit wasn't helping, but my anger and frustration was off the charts. When the waterworks stopped and she looked at me with open eyes, she stared at me like I'd killed her own mother .

What. The. Fuck .

“Just...just give me a minute. We need to have a drink,” she sighed. “I'll calm down after that. We'll talk .”

Fine. I'd play along, though the thought of pouring liquor down my throat right now was like dumping fuel on a roaring fire .

I marched to the cabinet and opened it. Grabbed two shot glasses and the finest vodka in there. When I got back to the bed, Sabrina was holding a little bottle in one hand, looking at it .

“What's this?” I ripped it outta her hands before she could protest .

No label. I opened the cap and sniffed. Didn't smell like any fine stuff I'd ever known. It was almost slightly sour, vinegary .

“Something else I swiped from the house – an ancient family recipe. We only bring it out on special occasions, and I think this qualifies. Let's have a little, maybe mix it with the other stuff.” She pointed at the big bottle I was still holding .

I nodded. “I like your thinking. Hope to fuck whatever's got you in knots is good news .”

Honestly, the stuff in the little bottle smelled like shit. I'd down it to humor her – whatever made this chick feel better. I'd do anything to pry the stone cold truth outta her .

I walked everything over to the small stand next to the bed. Poured out two tall shots with just a splash of the shit she'd brought on top. If it tasted as shitty as it smelled, dousing it in the good stuff would drown out the crap .

Sabrina had both her hands clenched tight in her lap when I came back with our drinks. I passed her the shot glass and raised mine .

“To better times, babe. They're coming. Sure as you uncle's bones are going into the fucking ground .”

I was about to knock the shit back when she reached for my thigh. Her fingernails pinched so hard into my skin it was like a goddamned miniature bear trap. The surprise almost caused me to drop the shit on the floor .

“What the fuck?” I growled .

“Wait. Not yet. There's something I need to know before we do this...something Uncle Gioulio told me. Don't drink yet .”

I looked at her without saying shit. The girl was rattled, couldn't make up her damned mind. Long as she started talking, I'd let her. Maybe the horse piss in my glass would taste an iota better when she threw off whatever was on her chest .

“You keep looking at my coat. It's more than a family heirloom.” She looked down, staring at the crap in her own glass, giving it a little stir, collecting her words. “My Uncle showed me some pictures. It was from the night my mother died. She got run over – somebody flattened her to the ground. Until the other night, he let me think it was an accident, even though I suspected something more all along. He showed me the man who ran her down and killed her in cold blood .”

Oh, fuck. My mind started spinning a million miles an hour, ready to split right through my skull and launch to the fucking moon. I knew who she was gonna name before it was outta her wicked fucking mouth .

“It was your father, Boris Ivankov. Don't deny it wasn't,” she said coldly. “Uncle showed me the pictures. He...he had your eyes. I know Gioulio wasn't lying about this .”

She looked at me like my baby blues were gonna turn her to stone. Fuck !

I turned away in disgust, throwing my shot glass on the floor. It shattered and sent a million little shards in all directions. I wished like hell that sound was enough to wring the neck of whatever demon fate cooked up in our pasts to fuck up our present .

The whole damned cosmos wanted to keep us apart. It was a travesty, a fucking atrocity, when we were so fucking good together. No, I wasn't just talking about being balls deep inside her, throttling her perfect pussy 'til she shook from head to toe. We worked because we were one and the goddamned same, two lost worlds who'd been fucked over by their own blood too many times to count .

No, dammit. If this was what had her all knotted up, I'd untie everything, every dark rope keeping us apart. I turned around, ready to reach up to the ceiling and salute the entire universe with both my middle fingers .

“My old man fucked up. He told me it was the worst mistake of his life, running that poor woman down. He had bad intel – same shit I did when I tried to blow your uncle to kingdom come with all his degenerate buddies. Your mother wasn't the fucking target.” Volcanic air pumped through my lungs. I stepped closer, grabbing for her hands, forcing her to set the small shot glass between her knees .

“Christ, babe. Don't tell me you believe that motherfucker if he told you my old man ran down your ma on purpose?” Shit. One look at her eyes said that was exactly what she believed. “Fuck. You gotta be kidding me! He had no reason for targeting your mother – none. It's not the way we do shit, and we never will. We go after the bastards who fuck us over, the demons who deserve to die. Nobody else .”

“Why should I believe you!?” She cracked. She tried to rip her hands away from me, but I held on like an ogre, unwilling to let her go 'til I took a wrecking ball to the bastard's lies. “God damn it! Every time I hear something from one side, the other's always got another version. I wanted to believe you, Anton. I trusted you. Then my Uncle took out the bug you left in my fucking purse, and I couldn't .”

Fuck, fuck, fuck ...

The confession went through my eardrum and blew my brain apart. If it wasn't for seeing hate and confusion flashing in her eyes right in front of me, I would've marched out, tracked down my damned brothers, and finished the ass kicking we'd started earlier in the great hall .

“It wasn't my idea, babe. I fought the fucking thing tooth and nail. Daniel and Lev...they wouldn't let you leave without having some way to see what was going on. D told me it'd only help keep tabs on you in case something bad happened. Well, we both know it didn't do shit – and now I know why !”

Fuck. This time, my brother's wise ideas had screwed us hard. They'd fucked over the trust I'd built with this girl, stained this crazy thing we had with blood and venom .

“You're not even sorry,” she said, lowering her eyes. Why the hell wouldn't she stop looking at that fucking drink ?

“You're dead wrong. There's a lot of shit I regret because without it sticking to me, everything would be ten times easier for everybody. I regret being hitched to this family, son of a bastard just like me. He killed for cred and money and – yeah – he made mistakes. I regret coming along years later and using you to get to the last Italian motherfucker we've got to take down in the windy city. Fuck, you can believe me or not, but I really regret compromising with my asshole brothers and letting them slip that shit into your luggage. If it was up to me, it never would've fucking happened. I'm sorry .”

Her eyes flitted up, distrusting and dark. I didn't give a shit right then if she hated my ass worse than her dickhead uncle. I wasn't gonna let her .

I'd spun her around and made her fall for me before, and I could do it again. I'd never been the kinda bastard to talk about love in words. All the red hot fucking we'd squeezed into those days did the talking for me before, but now I had to make my damned tongue work, make her realize I wasn't a total dipshit .

I knew how bad I'd fucked up by going along with my brothers' plan. It wrecked what we'd built as well as taking Gioulio down .

“My old man died with regrets too. I already told you, he never stopped beating himself bloody over that night. I remember it then. I was just getting deeper into the biz. He stumbled through the door all fucked up on pills and drink, screaming about the woman who wasn't supposed to be there .

“It was supposed to be some bitch named Mercedes. This French whore with a love for good shoes and riding your uncle's dick back before he needed the blue shit to get it up. She was his partner for awhile before she fucked off back to Paris. Built one helluva gun trade on our turf, and my old man was ready to break the truce to tear her down .

“She was supposed to be there. Bitch was a creature of habit. She'd have her drinks and hit the outlets, harder with Christmas coming. Guess your uncle introduced her to the good old American holiday frenzy, and my old man was determined to make it a fatal weakness .

“Thing is, the sly bitch must've seen it coming. She was still in the bar after my old man did the dirty deed. He fucking saw her smiling at him through the window, right before he sped off and rolled over the woman he'd just crushed into the ground. He panicked. He fucked up bad . ”

Sabrina swallowed. Hard. Neither of us were there, but I could only imagine how bad it hurt to imagine her mother's bones cracking underneath the tires .

“Don't,” she whispered, harsh, holding back tears .

“I'm done talking about that night. We never found the French bitch. She set your ma up, and my old man died with a stinking suspicion Gioulio knew about it too. They had some kinda fallout not long after that sent her scurrying overseas like a fucking rat in flight .

“I'm telling you the truth, Sabrina. I know, you've got all the reason in the world to wonder whether or not I'm feeding you more bullshit. I could offer to trot out more files. Whatever the fuck your uncle showed you, we got our records too. I'm not gonna bother because I need you to hear me out. I need you to listen, babe .”

“What do you think I'm doing?” She sassed. Her cheeks were red, flush with shame and anger .

She was still talking, responding to me. That was something .

I hit the floor and kneeled. I didn't even feel my balls tighten up and try to crawl up my guts. This girl was the first one who'd put me on my knees, and I didn't feel bad about it because she was worth it .

Had to have her. Had to .

Letting her spit in my face and walk away wasn't an option if I wanted to keep my sanity intact, regardless of whatever the hell happened with finishing her uncle. Shit, I'd let her slam those long nails into my fucking eyeballs and rip them outta my sockets if it would make this better. I'd bleed for her, bleed myself dry .

I was obsessed. A totally whacked out junkie for her voice, her laugh, her touch. A frothing, craven jackal for claiming her, mounting her, fucking her. Hearing how she screamed with my tongue between her legs, or clenching around my dick was like rock and roll blasting from the heavens .

I couldn't live without that music. Couldn't live without her .

Growling, I grabbed her by the knees, sloshing out a little bit of that shot she was holding. She quickly snatched it up, held it higher on her lap, just looking and looking, waiting for me to convince her .

Fuck. Okay .

“Just keep your mouth shut and listen to me for a fucking minute. I gotta say this. I already told you about all the shit I regret, all the things my old man died with hanging onto his black heart. All the danger, all the killing, all the assholes I've broken apart with my own bare hands ...”

I sucked in a deep breath, remembering fifty different fuckers I'd killed one way or another over the years, including the twenty bastards who'd died in the blast at Club Duce. Their blood was sacrificial. It brought me here, step by ugly step, straight towards the greatest beauty of my life. My missing piece .

“They're all worth it 'cause they led me to the one thing I've ever crashed into that I'll never regret. It's right here in front of me. It's you, babe. You, you, only you . ”

I grabbed her legs and squeezed them tight. Fuck, I wanted to hold on forever, cling to what was mine and always would be .

Love or hate, heaven or hell, sin or sweetness .

I had to look up. Had to find out right fucking now if ripping out my heart and offering it up was enough, or if her bastard uncle had truly poisoned her against me forever .

Her eyes were softer. There was love there, heat bouncing through a sadness I couldn't understand. Maybe she was overwhelmed .

I stood up, pulling her with me. My brain analyzed every little syllable and cadence when she spoke .

“Anton, please ...”

“Please what? Kiss and make up the way we should've the second you got here?” I pressed my lips to hers, testing and urgent, craving her to kiss me back and really want it .

She did. Fuck, she melted, twining her tongue with mine, and it was absolutely beautiful. My hands ran up and down the mangled fabric wrapped around her, a relic of the dirty secret that almost cost us this forever .

“Babe, come on. I love you, and that's enough. You shouldn't be wearing this thing.” I pulled .

She absentmindedly passed the liquor carefully back and forth in her hands, turning while I gently drew the coat off around her. There was that hot fucking body again. My dick saw red and wanted to nest right against the crack of her sweet ass, rubbing 'til her pants came off, but I checked his greedy shit .

This was our moment to right wrongs and put the bloody, evil shit behind us. There'd be plenty of time for fucking her brains out soon, and when we did it was gonna be dynamite .

“Take it off,” I said. We both paused and listened as it fell to the ground in a heavy lump. “Your uncle's gonna pay for what he fucking did to you. He killed your old man and your ma, and he tried to make you kill me too, didn't he ?”

She shuddered when I said the last part, almost like it was true. What the fuck? She hadn't really come here to put a dagger in my throat, had she ?

I turned her around. She was melting again, her face cracking and breaking. With one arm, I slammed her against my chest, pulling her arms around me .

“It's gonna be okay. Soon as the motherfucker who caused this shit's dealt with, we're gonna give that thing a proper burial. Frame it or make something outta it. A reminder that all the death and hell that's come between us is over , babe. It's past. It's done because I say it is. I'm gonna fill that hole in your heart the same fucking way I love filling up your body .”

She kissed me, smiling as our lips pressed .

Finally. There she was. The Sabrina I'd been looking for all along, the dark haired babe I missed who lit my blood on fire and turned my dick to steel .

Oh, fuck. She tasted so soft, so wet, so warm. So irrevocably mine .

I couldn't hold the lust storm off forever. Soon as she was breathing regularly again and drying those eyes, I'd throw her down on the bed just a few feet away and fuck her seven ways to Sunday. And then seven more after that .

Shit, we'd go seven hundred fucking ways 'til the end of time with all the ways I needed her body hitched to mine .

A happy growl tore my throat like thunder. I broke away, sweeping one hand low to her ass, rubbing my stubble over her snowy neck .

“God damn, you're hot. I'm gonna blow the fuck up if I don't get something in me to cool off.” I reached for the little shot still dangling in her fingers .

Had the fucking thing pressed to my lips before she let out an earsplitting scream. Both her hands clawed at my arm, trying to force it down .

“Stop it, Anton! No, no, no, no, no...you can't drink, you can't drink that stuff !”

Was this some kinda fucked up game? Smiling, I fought her, wheeling her around. We crashed down on the bed in chaos, and I was laughing as she tried to fight that shitty alcohol outta my hand. By some miracle, I hadn't spilled the damned thing .

Now, Sabrina was right on top of me. Right where I fucking wanted her, except with a lot less clothing .

I fought her and she went at me like a mad dog. The whole thing only lasted ten seconds before I had the cool glass pressed to my lips .

“Anton!” She screamed my name, twisted in my arms, and then rammed her little face against mine .

Fuck !

The shot broke away from my lips and I saw it go spiraling to the bed with Sabrina over my shoulder, face first. She was wide eyed and wiping furiously at her lips a second later .

That was when I realized this wasn't just a stupid game .

My girl's chest jerked unnaturally. She couldn't breathe. Her throat was closing .

I pulled her up in my arms roaring, thumping on her back, holding her close 'til I smelled that nasty vinegar shit on her lips .

Shit, shit, shit! The shot glass lay right next to where her face had hit. She must've downed half of whatever hadn't soaked into the sheets .

I went ape, jumped off the bed, and dragged her to the bathroom. She was coughing and struggling against me like mad, but now it was because she really couldn't breathe. I had one arm around her and my other on the phone, howling into it as fast as I could when Grigor answered .

“Get the fuck up here right now! Call a doctor – I don't care how fuckin' much you've got to pay the shit to keep his quack mouth shut. Move your ass!” The phone snapped shut and I hurled it into the tub .

Oh, fuck. This was bad. Her gem-like eyes were bugging and starting to get glassed. I didn't have a fucking clue what that shit really was, or how fast it worked. There was nothing I could do about the unknown poison right now except try to get it outta her system this second .

“Hang on, babe! This won't be pretty. Just remember I'm trying to save your ass!” I didn't know if she could hear me .

She looked panicked, half-blastd outta her mind. I held her over the toilet and reached into her mouth, jamming my fingers against her throat, anything to make her heave that shit up .

It took a few tries to get her to retch. She coughed and let it all out, and I kept going, holding her while she spasmed and expelled what little was in her stomach. Of course, the deadly shit was indistinguishable from everything else .

There was no way to know if I'd gotten it. I held her, shaking like a fucking fool while she kicked and thrashed, one hand on her little belly going through its spasms .

She went limp. I barely jerked her away from the bowl in time before she dove in. Laying her out carefully on the floor, I pushed my hand against her chest, checking her breath .

Somebody was knocking at the door out in the bedroom, but fuck if I was getting up to answer it .

Her breathing was still choppy, shallow, and difficult. The bluish tinge in her lips told me she wasn't getting enough oxygen .

Fuck, fuck, fuck !

I wiped her lips on my shirt and dove, pushing all the air from my lungs into hers, pounding on her chest to get her to suck it in .

Don't die on me, Sabrina. Don't you fucking die on me !

Breathe, baby, breathe .

Come. The. Fuck. On .

My brain was right off its rails by the time old Grigor came bursting in, belting loud Russian orders at the servants. Incomprehensible grief and desperation and terror turned me into a fucking maniac, but I wouldn't let myself do anything but breathe, pouring as much air as I could into her lungs .

“Master Anton, you need to let us through. We have steroids to help. Doctor is on his way .”

I pulled myself away from her just long enough to jabber a few words about poisons and fuck ups to Grigor. I think the old man got the message. He never let a damned line of emotion show in his face .

Exactly like he'd been trained. A last line of defense for reason when all the Ivankovs were flipping their shit .

I wouldn't fucking leave her. Lev and Daniel grabbed underneath my arms and carried me away, kicking and screaming. Last glimpse of her I had was Grigor and two of the maids with First Aid shit piling in around her .

“Brother, please! Calm your ass down before you tear the whole house apart!” Lev leaned down and screamed in my face when we were outside .

The second they let me go, I lunged for them, grabbing both their necks and throwing them to the ground with superhuman strength .

“This is your fucking fault! Bastards! Both of you !”

Daniel's nose cracked beneath my fist and I felt blood come running out. Lev sank his teeth into my arm, but damned if I didn't stop moving it, snarling like a lion on crack while I pounded his head into the floor .

“Fuck! Just tell us what happened, Anton. Anton!” Daniel's words gurgled with the blood pouring down his throat and my continued punches. “Gonna fucking kill us ...”

Fuck. I had them both by the balls. If they were any other men, they'd already be dead, their skulls fractured and their nose bones driven up their brains .

Damn it .

My brothers deserved the ass kicking, but they didn't deserve to die. They were only partially responsible for my woman laid out on the cold floor, fighting for her fucking life .

The real culprit was the sonofabitch we all wanted dead. And if I let my emotions boil over into murdering my own kin, I'd never get Gioulio. Not when it'd take a small miracle to show my face in Chicago without getting picked up and thrown back behind bars by the first fat cop looking to play hero .

I let them go. They crawled, putting some distance between us. Daniel grunted, wiped his face with his sleeve. I'd bloodied his nose and busted his lip bad .

“You gotta learn to talk to us without using your fists,” Lev snarled. “What's this shit about poison? Did that bitch seriously try to kill you in our own house ?”

It took everything I had to stay put instead of marching over and planting my fist in his broad fucking face again. “It was an accident. She was trying to take it back and prevent my dumbass from taking it. Change of heart. And none of it would've happened if I'd thrown the goddamned bug in the trash instead of planting it in her purse like Daniel said !”

D coughed, flashing me the angry eyes in his shattered face. “You fucking turncoat! We all agreed, and her pulling this shit just shows I was right all along. She stabbed you in the back, turned us on each other .”

“Wrong answer!” I beat my fists on the floor, all I could do to avoid breaking his nose, or else breaking it a second time if the fucking thing was already snapped. “She poisoned herself because she stopped trusting me! Asshole Gioulio found your stupid bug and used it to open up her head and pour his crap into it. She was already poisoned way before she got here, before she swallowed that shit he gave her to kill me .”

My brothers lowered their eyes. They were pissed, disappointed, and neither had a damned thing to say to my accusations because they knew it was all true .

“She found out, you know. Both you shits. Uncle fuckface told her about the night our old man ran down her ma, going after that French bitch, Mercedes .”

“Shit!” Daniel's curse was extra shrill through the blood. “No wonder .”

The heavy silence was interrupted by Grigor and the women carrying Sabrina. I heard my girl groan, stood up, and screamed after them, following as quickly as I could .

“What's going on? Is she gonna make it ?”

“Still breathing!” Grigor yelled back. “Doctor is on his way. We need to lay her out in your bed, sir. Somewhere away from the toxin on the sheets .”

Fuck. We moved to the adjoining chamber, and I watched them lay her out in the only bed where she'd belonged from the very start .

Her breaths were coming, slow and steady, an obvious struggle in her chest every time her lungs pumped. My brothers followed us in, but they kept their distance against the wall .

Lev was braver, the first to come over. His hand fell on my shoulder. By some insane miracle, I didn't instantly spin around and break his fucking jaw .

“Patience, brother. We're gonna make sure she's all right. This whole thing has been an epic clusterfuck .”

I turned, shaking off his fingers. “Tell me something I don't already know, asshole .”

“We're sorry. We're gonna make it right. Come on, Anton, you've gotta give us another chance .”

Jackass. I thought it, but I didn't say it, because he was actually trying to help .

My chances for living like a sane man were all flashing before my eyes, spinning and vanishing with every rough breath I watched her take. God damn. Where was that asswipe doctor ?

We stayed with her 'til the quack came in. He got to work right away and surprisingly kept his calm, even with all three of our hell hungry eyes on him .

He pierced her in the arm with a syringe. I watched him push some shit into her. The stethoscope came out, and he listened to her chest. Irrational jealousy raged in my veins while I watched him touch her, feel her .

I suppressed a growl. Yeah, it was insane, but fuck it. I never wanted another man's hands on her for any fucking reason. Nobody got to touch what was mine .

The doc stepped away just before I went off like a warhead. He murmured a few words to Grigor, something about needing a sample of the shit making her sick. Good thing there was still a whole fucking bottle of it in the other room .

I watched the doc grab his things and head for the door. My hands flew to my mouth and I screamed, loud enough to echo through the whole house .

“Well? What the fuck? Is she gonna be okay ?”

The doctor spun, looked at me, clearly jarred. Good. Fuck him .

“She's stable. If you hadn't gotten it out of her right away, she'd be dead right now. I think she'll be okay – I just need to test the toxin to be sure.” He shrugged. “Patience, please. I'm doing exactly what I was brought here for .”

Arrogant little shit. I saw the recognition flash in his eyes. He certainly knew who I was from all the big stories in the media. Good thing I trusted Grigor to bring us a corruptible, but capable man. He always did, somebody who'd take the green and shut their fucking mouth instead of ratting to the Feds .

I shot my brothers a look that told them we were done. Grigor and his women stepped back to the other side of the room .

I sat down on the empty chair next to her, reached for her hand, and squeezed. She was like ice. I rubbed her fingers in mine, anything to make them warmer .

There was nothing left to do but watch and wait .

* * *

M y girl stirred softly in her sleep. She wasn't conscious, but the danger had gone. Took me a good long while observing her before I believed the fuck with the stethoscope .

“It's done, brother. The call went out on the streets an hour ago.” Lev leaned down to me while I perched at Sabrina's bedside. “We've got to move fast. You know how fast info travels down this bastard's pipeline and –“

“Let's go. I'll be back in time to see her wake up. That's a promise .”

My knees bent reluctantly. I didn't want to leave her there 'til I saw her eyes shining at me again and I heard her sweet voice. But we'd just put all our fucking chips on the table to flush the rat out .

It was the only way. Daniel leaked a rumor to the media that we were all sick and dying in Chicago, both the notorious Ivankov brothers plus yours truly, target of the biggest manhunt in recent history .

We had to move our asses. The cops would raid all our properties in the city first, looking for a secret penthouse. I hoped that would keep them distracted while we went roaring after our target, the only fuck who needed to hear the reports .

I knew he had. Gioulio Ligiotti would be all over that shit like a bee starved for honey. Hell, he was probably celebrating this second, not giving a shit that there was no word from his niece .

He used her – fucking used her against me .

Little did he know the cannon was pointing his way now, and I'd only offer my woman the final shot. She was never, ever gonna find herself fucked up in the crossfire again, and everybody who'd put her there was about to pay big .

* * *

M y brothers looked freaked out by the time our black van parked near Gioulio's Chicago estate. Their nerves were fucked, frayed, about to combust. Still, when the war went hot and bullets started flying, I knew I could count on them .

We were synchronized killers. We never let each other down. We never failed – not in any way that would get us killed .

Me? I was all ice. I couldn't imagine fucking this up after the promise I'd made .

No way. No fucking how. Gioulio and his men were gonna pay for decades of blood, plus a monstrous premium for hurting my girl too .

We all had black hoods on our faces. We hunkered in our seats and waited. Soon, we'd be out like hounds, gunning for the house. While we ran, the van was scheduled to plow through the gate, a fierce, noisy diversion to let us inside the mansion with minimal resistance .

The three men crammed in front of us were the best guys we had without Ivankov blood. I had total faith. Brother or not, nobody in this vehicle would let us down and blow the operation .

One more turn. The vehicle wheeled around, and I stood up, got in front of Lev and D, next to the back door. They lined up behind me, ready for the jump. My hands fisted the handles like they were swords, ready to hack through anything and anyone who stood in my way .

Vlad was the first to start screaming from the driver's seat. A good, hearty, very Russian oooraaah roared like thunder from his throat. The van jerked forward faster, making its final run at the gate .

“Now!” I screamed, throwing open the doors .

We threw ourselves out and hit the pavement hard. I saw my brothers right behind me as I stood up. We threw ourselves against the gate and began to climb, heading for good bush cover. A second later, the whole world exploded behind us as the van battered down the gate .

All hell broke loose. Screams in English and Italian rang out while we found our footing, going for a service entrance near Gioulio's garages. The bastard had twelve cars, and right now there'd be no one guarding them while they were pouring out to deal with my guys .

Six dark shapes went flying towards the van. Fuck. My boys were outnumbered, but we knew that from the beginning .

They'd put up a good fight, stall as long as they possibly could, trading fire from inside the van. I estimated we had about ten minutes to get our asses inside and hunt down the kingpin before police choppers and cruisers surrounded this fucking place .

By then, the Ligiotti crew had to be dead or wounded. Our crew in the van needed to be gone, waiting for us in the empty SUV we'd parked behind this place to make our escape .

The garages were near, and crawling with cameras. Whatever. They wouldn't do the fuckers inside much good when they'd spent their manpower fighting my boys in the van. I raised my nine millimeter and blinded one of the little black lenses with a bullet. Lights out .

Lev threw himself at the side door to the garages, hurling his boulder-like weight into it. Three good slams and it collapsed. Daniel and I were right behind him, running like hell, heading for the door leading into the house. We had to maneuver our way through all the shit in the huge garage, perfectly polished collectibles and sports cars from Gioulio's younger dick waving days, before he became an old mob boss with a lower profile .

I stuck out my hand and ripped a golden hood ornament off a sleek black shark on wheels – why the fuck not? I whipped it at the ceiling and heard it fall. The gold shape bounced on the concrete loudly as we started working on the door .

The loud, harsh jingle reminded me of bones rattling. I grinned behind my mask. Sweet music, reminding us what we'd come here for – death and judgment, vengeance for my baby girl, payment for every second she suffered in my bed from the poison in her blood .

Shit. This was really it. Do or die time. The blood hissing through my veins turned my whole body into a foundry, ready to melt from the inside out .

It was a relief when we burst inside and the first goon found us .

He fired at me and missed twice. Guess I stunned the fucker charging right at him. It was a stupid thing to do, but I was gonna get a lot more reckless if I didn't feed my bloodlust now .

I tackled the fuck to the ground, grabbed the back of his head like a ripe melon, and slammed him into the staircase over and over again. His forehead was a bloody mess by the time I was done. By then, the servants had inevitably heard us and come running .

“Freeze! You move your fucking asses an inch, you're dead!” Lev roared, flatting two old maids and a wiry butler against the wall with his rifle .

“Radio your friends outside and play stupid. Act like everything's okay in here. The real fight's out there. This doesn't have to end with your blood added to theirs. We're just here to pay your master a friendly visit.” Daniel sounded surprisingly dark and dangerous when he had assholes under his thumb .

Had to be the Ivankov way. Even the smart ones turn into stone cold killers in the thick of it .

I took off while they secured the entrance. Flipped corners like a maniac spy, gun ready to spit death at any assholes who popped out in front of me .

Shit. Nothing. The whole place seemed like it was deserted .

I kicked down the door to every guest room and the big master suite upstairs. Nothing except the neat, tidy luxury rooms I expected a man like Gioulio to have – all empty .

Motherfuck. Panic shot through my chest for the first time. This wasn't the only time the demon managed to slither away before we hit him where he lived, but now the clock was ticking like never before. I couldn't stand here like a dumb fuck and piss away the only chance I'd ever have to win what my girl deserved .

I took off, mentally guessing we had about six minutes left. Flew down the stairs, crashed through my brothers, and grabbed the asshole butler. He shook like a fucking scarecrow in my lock .

“Where the fuck is he? Where!?” I growled it over and over again, dragging him headfirst through the house .

I checked every little twitch in the bastard's face, listened to every note in his voice when he begged for his life. His eyes were bulging, but I wasn't choking him so bad they wouldn't work. The butler just flailed around like any asshole screaming for mercy when I dragged him through the kitchen, the big sitting room, the dining room, and then back to where we'd started. He didn't reveal shit .

Fuck! Where the fuck is he, asshole? Lead me home .

Lev and Daniel looked at me impatiently. They were just as pissed as I was Gioulio hadn't turned up yet, and this latest stunt looked like fucking insanity. I thought I'd lost my mind too until I absentmindedly shoved the human scarecrow against the banister .

He stomped his feet, looking over my shoulder nervously a couple times. What the fuck was back there? I couldn't believe we'd missed the ratty looking wooden door, something narrow and old, straight outta the fifties .

Bingo. I dropped him on the floor and listened to him struggle for breath while I tore open the mystery door. It led down deep, branching off at one level into the house's basement, and then going deeper .

The air was too warm and dry for a boring old wine cellar. The old door popped open with a jerk. Inside, it looked like a total rat hole lined with linoleum and sleek metal filing cabinets .

A shadow moved between them and fired my way. Fuck !

I ducked, rolled on the floor, and returned fire. Some fucker screamed when one bullet found its mark on his calf. I quickly checked to make sure I was in one piece – sometimes when you're shot and hopped up on this much adrenaline, you don't realize it 'til you keel over .

Everything was still in one piece. Perfect. I stayed low to the ground and ran, diving for the legs in the gray trousers when I swept around the corner .

Gioulio got about two more shots off before I beat the gun outta his hands. They both went wild, embedded themselves in the old decrepit wall. Then I nearly did the same to him, slamming him so fucking hard on the old concrete his bones clacked like the hood ornament I'd bounced in the garage .

Our eyes locked. Bastard looked smug as the devil I expected, smiling through the pain from the hole I'd torn in his leg. Nobody ever looked like that when they were well and truly fucked .

Shit. He wasn't alone .

In one movement, I swung him around, using his pale body like a human shield. My gun lined up with the side of his head and I fired, careful not to graze his skull – not just yet. He had a bullet with his name on it for later .

The goon who'd had his gun trained on me dropped. Now, for the first time, the fuckhead in my arms began shaking. We moved, and I flattened him against the filing cabinets, satisfied with the way his spine crunched when I slammed him on the metal .

Fuck. Only about three minutes left, the clock in my head reminded me. We had to make this fast .

Gioulio didn't say a word. His dark, hateful, arrogant eyes said enough. I watched his jaw working, realizing he had one more surprise to take care of .

“Oh, no, motherfucker. No. You. Don't .”

I reached into his wretched mouth and held his jaw open like a dog. He tried to bite my fingers off as I wrestled around for five obscene seconds, pulling the little glass capsule outta his mouth. It rolled on the floor next to my foot and I slammed my heel down on it .

He hadn't bitten into the cyanide, or else he'd be seizing in my arms. Good. The asshole howled, screamed, despair setting in as he realized I'd just slammed his last escape hatch shut .

My fists went to work. I pistol whipped him near the temple for my old man, remembering the way the fucked up hit tore papa up, reliving the night I found his body bloodied and dead .

Three more blows on both sides of his head for the girls he'd enslaved and pimped to those sick motherfuckers. Didn't know how the fuck we'd set them free, but we'd find a way once his crew was in chaos. Daniel and Lev promised me they'd do it .

I didn't know how many women he'd trafficked. Probably dozens. Unfortunately, those three blows had to make do for all of them. Anything more, and his old skull might shatter underneath my fists .

I clenched my gun like a heavy rock, and stopped just short of pounding it right through the top of his head, into his sadistic brain .

Shit, shit. Hold on. Just a little while longer .

I froze my killer instinct, shaking from the effort. The fear in Gioulio's eyes faded as they rolled, went white, and the last resistance in his muscles faded like a balloon losing its helium .

He was out cold. I grabbed him by the neck and dragged him up those stairs, quickly as I could. It wasn't easy. Every muscle in my body strained to haul his ass up. He'd been a muscular man in his younger years, but he'd clearly let it go, packing on fat while his strength faded like a bloated fucking guard dog in retirement .

Soon as I burst through the door, D and Lev were on me, helping me haul him to the main floor. Daniel aimed his gun at the ceiling and fired a few shots, screaming at the cowering servants. “Go! Get your asses out of here! And don't you think once about calling your boys outside or the goddamned cops .”

The servants took off in all directions, screaming up the stairs and into the kitchen. Who could blame them after they'd spent the last five minutes wondering if it was their last ?

Five minutes. Fuck !

Time was running out. My brothers and I hauled ass through the house, heading for the spa and gigantic pool in the back. We saw dark shapes lingering near the hill. My gun was drawn, ready to shoot our way out, even though we'd be fucked if we took any more delays. We were too fucking close .

Then one of the shadows signaled. Smoke seethed out my nostrils .

Vlad and our boys were waiting, right next to the SUV parked conveniently in the back for our escape. They helped us all over the gate. I got in the back with Gioulio, sat on his worthless carcass like a sack of potatoes, and we were off .

Just in time too .

Three police choppers descended on the mansion with their searchlights going the instant we were about a mile away. Soon, the ashes of Gioulio's empire were bathed in cherry red, glacier blue, and blinding white lights, dead and haunted to the authorities as the ruins in ancient Rome .