After debating on how to react after I had been boldly kidnapped from one of our clubs, my father had finally decided that a warning shot was better than starting a war.
He had assigned Vinnie, James and two other of our men in a retaliation raid on Peter Mogilevich's shipments. I had been able to insist I join, despite all too aware of the risk of bumping into Mikhail. If I did, I had vowed to myself I wouldn't hesitate again to kill him.
My instincts had always carried me, but Mikhail's sudden appearance in the picture had proved an unpleasant bump in the road, which would hopefully soon end. There would be no possibility of failure or danger once he was taken care of.
James attempted to quieten the whispers between Vinnie and I with a harsh look, reminding us that we were currently camping in one of the large warehouses on the secluded property, hiding behind an unopened industrial crate and waiting for the right time to rush.
"After we've taken care of Gold and Lancaster," I continued about my plans, ignoring James' concern, "we'll hit Mogilevich."
"He has a son ready to take his place. Killing him will start a bloodier war than what we've had in decades," he shrugged, smile widening, "but I'll gladly join you."
"Fantastic," I laughed quietly and nudged the man beside me gently.
James then motioned discreetly that the time had finally come, and we took our guns into our hands. I crouched behind him and followed as the men began making their way closer to the newly arrived shipment on the other side of the warehouse.
Vinnie muttered out a curse when he had kicked his foot into the edge of one of the storage racks, causing the sound of it to echo through the hall. I followed the lead of the three in front of me and ignored it, positive of the ten minute timeframe we had before Mogilevich's men would return.
We made our way stealthily alongside the wall, guns held low and eyes scanning our surroundings for any movement other than ours. When we reached the point we had agreed to separate on, Vinnie went with James and I went with Lucas, while Oliver went by himself.
The high and full storage racks hid us from each other, all assigned to different and industrial wooden crates.
"3013," I spoke to Lucas, who was now following me. I slipped my gun away and slowed down my steps, eyes scanning over the crates to find this specific one.
He trailed behind me and did as I, new to this and with us now to learn.
"3003," he informed me from a few feet away, pointing up at a crate on the third shelf, "it has to be close."
I ignored him and continued searching for it. I found it within a few seconds and grabbed the crowbar Lucas had been carrying.
"I can-" he had begun, but I pried the crate open myself.
I found it offensive that I would be in the vicinity of beginners, when I should be with James and Vinnie on much more challenging missions.
The front of it fell to the ground after I had used the weight of my body to crack it open from the rest of the wooden structure, and white styrofoam peanuts spilled out onto the concrete floor. With it came neatly wrapped packages of cocaine.
"Lucas, take these and-" I began, grabbing one to hand to him. Once I looked over, I froze.
The panicked tears in his eyes made me stand up and glare furiously at the man pressing his gun against Lucas' shivering neck, a wicked grin on his lips with devastatingly sexy and dark eyes drilling into me.
"You really need start being more prepared, sweet Natalia," he advised once again demeaningly, holding Lucas' hair roughly in his grip from behind, towering over the shaking and frightened young man who in comparison looked like a skinny stick figure, "or did you miss me this much?"
"Mikhail," I hissed, aiming my gun at him without thinking twice, "unless you're on a suicide mission, I suggest you leave us."
"I could say the same to you, sweetheart," he mocked, infuriating me further.
I cocked my gun and took a threatening step toward the two, unable to shoot yet without hitting Lucas as well, "the next time you call me that will be your last."
"You're too courageous for your own good," he tsked, dark eyes incredibly challenging as he mirrored my actions and pushed himself and Lucas to take a step closer.
A tear slid down Lucas' cheek as the gun pushed harder against the underside of his jaw, eyes pleading with me to do something.
"You would be a fine asset for us."
I scoffed out a laugh, not letting him intimidate me. "As something Mogilevich and his sick friends can pass around like a piece of meat? No, thank you."
I noticed the silencer on his gun, and knew then that Lucas' fears were genuine. I took another step forward, close enough now to confidently shoot Mikhail right between his pleased eyes.
"Vinnie," I called out, firm gaze unwaveringly on Mikhail, watching only as his amusement grew.
"They're occupied at the moment," he tilted his head up, dark eyes shamelessly travelling over my front. Heat rose in my body, and not just because of the fury I felt at him having ruined this simple mission.
"If you hurt any of them I'll make sure your death will be a slow and painful one," I closed the space between us and, for an unknown reason, Mikhail loosened his hold on Lucas, letting him slip away.
He had ignored my threat, unfazed by it, and instead caught me off guard with his hand wrapping around my neck.
He pushed me against the storage shelf before I had a chance to register what was going on, the large crates on it hitting my back painfully. I bit my tongue and pushed my gun against his jaw now, wanting to wipe that smug grin from his lips.
He was way too close right now, and I began to feel lightheaded for reasons other than hand his rough fingers wrapped around my throat, constricting my breath.
I could kill him right now, but something held me back.
"You're really begging for me to kick your ass," I taunted, glaring up at him as his gun pressed against my stomach, promising a very painful death if he were to pull the trigger, "is this the best you can do?"
Mikhail chuckled lowly, heated gaze fading all common sense from my jumbled mind. I didn't even notice Lucas beginning to rush away from us, until the giant man holding me in place glanced over and fired one simple shot.
My eyes widened, following the sound just in time to see Lucas falling limply to the ground, blood colouring his blonde hair.
"You're a coward," I seethed menacingly, glaring at Mikhail once more, my heart racing, "does that make you feel like a man? Shooting someone from behind?"
Despite the shot I heard no evidence of Vinnie and the others. No words, sounds or footsteps. At least no other shots had been or were fired, and I took the chance of believing they were still alive.
His hand tightened around my throat, and I gasped quietly as I struggled to catch a proper breath. I mustered up strength to keep my gun pushed up against his strong jaw while I brought my free hand to clutch his wrist, desperately attempting to rid it. He was quick to push his front against mine, not wanting me to have the chance to use my legs to fight him off.
"Since when does Wellesley give a kid a Rolex? He was one of Julio's. You should have your newbies checked."
He loosened his grip a fraction, audaciously leaning in to let his lips brush against the side of my ear. His hot breath made me shiver, my treacherous body frustrating me further.
I most definitely did not need him to judge how prepared I was on missions, or imply that our security measures were subpar because of one mole slipping through.
"You're very responsive," he gruffed lowly and I almost lost all sanity then, desperately clinging on to my fading pride, "your eyes betray you, Natalia. You enjoy this."
"Let me go a fight like a man," I hissed, eyes burning into his, "or are you afraid I'll kick your ass?"
In reply he dug the gun harder into my stomach and I winced.
"What is it, sweet girl? I thought you liked pain," he all but purred, teasing me.
I could only imagine what my father would say when he'd find out about our failure.
Everything had started going awry after I had bumped into Mikhail at Julio's storage hall. At least he now motivated me to work for it harder, forcing me to prepare myself more in the future in the all too likely case in which he decided to show up and challenge our plans again. I still despised him, particularly after the unwelcome effects he had on my body.
Mikhail's darkened eyes drank me in hungrily, and I covered up my anger at this simple mission having gone up in smoke. I couldn't move and I knew there was no way he would budge. I could shoot him, knowing Mogilevich rarely cared for his soldiers, but something continued to hold me back.
Instead, I threw all caution into the wind and decided to utilise the one aspect of myself that could possibly save this situation.
I let my eyes flicker down to his lips, relaxing under his intimidating frame. My gun lowered from his jaw before I let it fall to the concrete floor, yet his expression remained unfazed. My hands now free, I grabbed his shirt and pulled him closer to me even when the space between us was minimal to begin with.
His hand tightened around my throat again, but I didn't let him see how difficult it made breathing right now. I dared meet his fiery gaze, which only encouraged me to continue.
"I know what you're doing," he grunted out.
He obviously did, but still, he removed his gun from between us and let me pull him close enough for there to be nothing between us. His hand removed itself from my neck as his hard front replaced to constrain my breathing. With his gun still hanging in one hand, he brought the other to grab a hold of my hair roughly, moving my head up toward his.
"What am I doing?" I wondered innocently, gazing up at him enticingly through my lashes, "you already know I enjoy this. Why try to hide it?"
I let my hands move boldly down to the waistband of his jeans, from where they slipped under his black shirt, tingling at the feel of his deliciously prominent abs. They were hot and silky concrete under my soft touch.
"This won't work out well for you," he warned, jaw clenching threateningly even as he let my fingers gently trail along his sides and abdomen, "I can't save you from this, Mogilevich knows you're here."
I was seducing him with a clear goal, but couldn't deny how exhilarated and hot I felt right now.
I tried my best to push those inappropriate thoughts and feelings to the back of my mind, even when they continued to pop up every other tantalisingly slow second. I couldn't help but crave a repeat of what had happened outside Gold's estate.
It had been a battle for dominance that ended all too fast.
"I was hoping it wouldn't," I purred like a feline in heat and, despite his grip on my hair tightening further, I leaned closer to him, adoring the pain.
I let my eyes flicker down to his delicious lips once more, wondering if it would truly be so horrible to actually kiss him again for reasons completely different than distraction.
"We would make a good team," Mikhail beckoned, a knowing grin tugging up the sides of his lips.
"Oh, honey," I cooed quietly, gazing into his darkened eyes seductively and watching as his amusement faded slowly, "I could tear you apart if I wanted to."
His fiery eyes made each nerve ending light up in my body, the surprising and intoxicating phenomenon clouding my better judgement. His hard body pushed against mine definitely didn't help, nor the rough way he gripped my hair with ease despite how I had already melted against him.
His hot breath fanned over the sensitive skin by my neck before his lips brushed against the side of my ear. My breath hitched, fingers obliviously feeling his incredibly defined muscles and how to flexed under my soft touch.
Believing he had me in that moment, his lips trailed to my jaw and his hand loosened its hold on my hair.
I forced my mind and body to return under my control, and managed to roughly push him off me during the one second he had lowered his guard.
I wasn't strong enough to push the giant man far or to make him fall, but did manage to have his hand leave my hair and give me enough space to slip away from between him and the storage shelf.
Mikhail turned to me, dark and dangerous eyes filled with incredibly sexy anger. I smiled innocently, taking a few steps in retreat while facing his intimidating stature.
"Fine, let's play dirty," he grunted menacingly, cocking his gun roughly and nearing me, careful to observe every move I made.
"You're not capable of playing games with me, Mikhail," I taunted, steps backward fastening the more he neared me, preparing myself to run, "I would've thought you'd had enough of this humiliation."
I watched his jaw clench, gaze burning with increasing threat and promise. My smile widened, finding it all the more exciting and arousing even when I definitely shouldn't.
He looked like he wanted to ravage me like a wild animal, and I loved it.
Without letting him continue, I spun around and sprinted down the corridor between the industrial shelves, heart racing with exhilaration.
I had no idea where the rest of Mogilevich's men were, but knew they were detaining Vinnie, James and Oliver. They wouldn't kill them, unable to risk starting a war with Julio as the bigger threat, ready to strike at the first sign of weakness and distraction.
I ran back toward where we had come from, Lucas' lifeless body and my gun left behind.
I could possibly find respect in the scenario where Mikhail could handle himself without pinning me against a wall and without his gun.
I usually exceeded in hand-to-hand combat because I was quick on my feet and knew the best places to land my punches, but against such a man I doubted my abilities and if my punch was even capable of hurting him.
"If you leave this building you'll be shot," he called after me warningly, accelerated steps nearing me quicker than I had hoped they would.
I turned the corner, sprinting down beside the wall now. I glanced back and found him not too far behind, and knew I had to change my strategy.
I could try to tire him out and then beat him, but he was far too trained for that to be easy. I could surprise him after another corner and attack, but it would only lead to him pushing me against one of the storage racks again.
I decided to call his bluff and head for the exit of the storage hall, near which our car was parked. If I could only get inside it fast enough, I could speed around the large structure and find the others. If it went according to how I imaged, our escape would then be easy and further casualties would be avoided.
I sped up, focused on the open doors through which I could already see the back of the black car.
I took out my phone and attempted to send the rest of our team a quick 'SOS', my feet barely touching the concrete floor at the speed I was going.
I screamed out at my head suddenly jerking backward, a rough grip on my hair halting my sprint. Before I could curse out him and his obsession with grabbing hair, I was tackled to the floor.
The air was knocked out of me, my phone falling and its screen shattering, and my bones felt like they had too. The weight on top of me was unbearable and I couldn't breathe. I was roughly turned around onto my back to glare up at the man now straddling me.
"I'll shoot your knees out the next time you run from me," he gritted out, menacing eyes burning into mine.
"You can't shoot me," I challenged, feeling a strong pain in my chest when I breathed in and immediately knew something wasn't right, "you've had several chances to do so, but I'm still here."
"Don't tempt me. You shouldn't have come here, Natalia," he grunted, "I can't help you out of this one."
I liked this cat and mouse game we had going on, but the increasing pain in my chest forced me to cut it short for today.
I punched him in his abdomen, knocking the air out of him. When he looked down at where he was hit, I punched his jaw, severely disorienting him. I was then able to push him off me.
I hissed at the intense pain as I then got up, before kicking his thigh for good measure while he was left sitting on the cold floor to gather himself.
"I don't need your help," I murmured and leaned down to kiss his cheek, knowing he was in no state to grab me again, "I hope we bump into each other soon."
"Fuck you."
"Later. I have things to do today," I sent him a quick and confident wink before heading back toward where I assumed the others were.
Since they hadn't been shot yet, I doubt they would shoot any of us. I couldn't run, as each breath caused a burning pain in my chest. It had to be a fracture.
I heard Mikhail mutter Russian curses underneath his breath and slowly lift his grand stature up, not bothering to chase after me anymore. In defeat he trailed behind me.
Unfamiliar men came into my view from behind the storage racks, and my steps slowed. They were Mogilevich's.
"Take her," Mikhail instructed lowly from behind me.