As if I gave a shit they wanted a better life. They couldn’t have ours.

  “Come with me!” I yelled, bounding in through a door in the middle of the two. There was no time to waste. Rage tore through me as I continually scanned the area, doing nothing more than concentrating on my breathing and focusing on the sights and sounds in front of me.

  There was an eerie quiet in the house and as soon as I cleared the room into the hallway, I slipped next to the wall.

  And I waited.

  It didn’t take long before three assailants appeared, all dressed in black. All carrying assault rifles.

  Three against one. I’d had worse odds.

  I had the element of surprise. Right?

  What I hadn’t realized was that both Mikhail and Kazimir had followed me inside, now flanking me.

  Together, we fired off a series of shots, blowing through their cover.

  More shots, finally diminishing. I spun around, scanning the area. There were very few people left outside, but the scattered remnants of the horrific event remained.

  A few seconds later, we lowered our weapons together. A phrase came to mind that I’d never given much credence to.

  The silence was deafening.

  I turned toward the house, glancing up at Nina’s bedroom window. There was no reflection, no sign of them.

  “What the goddamn fuck?” Kazimir hissed. “How did this happen?”

  “Don’t you have extra men on the gate?” Mikhail asked, trying to keep his emotions in check. Thank God he hadn’t brought his baby boy with him to the party.

  “Four. Two others walking the exterior of the grounds. Since the security system wasn’t tripped, that meant they likely came in as approved guests or… the caterers.” That was the only possible answer. No one else would have been allowed in without permission.

  “Fuck,” Kazimir growled. “I’ll round them up. They will fucking talk.”

  “Go easy,” Mikhail instructed.

  “Fuck easy.” Kazimir stomped off, both hands still on his weapon.

  Pulling out my phone, I contacted the man I’d placed in charge of approving entrance and watching the activity around the house during the event. While I didn’t keep men on patrol on a daily basis, the extra precaution had been necessary.

  When the call immediately went to voicemail, I realized every foolproof plan had its weaknesses.

  “Lainey.” I made the comment as a moment of suffocation hit me, taking long strides toward where Jaxon had taken Halle, Fallon, and the other women.

  He saw the frantic look on my face and took long strides meeting me at the door. “One of the fuckers tried to get in. He failed.”

  Nodding, I glanced at the group. “Have you seen Lainey or my daughter?”

  The way he shook his head and the look on his eyes was unnerving. “Find out what happened at the gate. Make sure no one leaves without every vehicle being checked.”

  “A few already did.”

  “Stop the rest,” I hissed. If Lainey and the children were taken, I’d rip apart the city to find them. Hell, I’d burn it down if necessary. No one fucked with the people I cared about.

  That’s the moment I tore through the house, going from room to room. Pitching open doors. Several guests had found refuge inside the house. Seeing a crazed man with a weapon in his hand brought back another moment of intense fear.

  Sadly, I didn’t give a shit. I had one objective. Find the girls.

  I raced up the stairs and suddenly Mikhail was behind me.

  “We’ll find them,” he said as I stormed toward Nina’s room and playroom. Seeing the trashed door sent an icy chill down my spine.

  “No. No!” I rushed inside.

  We both saw the asshole in dark clothing at the same time. I dropped down, first yanking off his mask then checking his pulse and noticing the gash in his face and forehead. He was no one I recognized, but that wasn’t saying much with how many people we saw on any given day. His features didn’t appear distinguishable other than his hair color.

  What did hair stylists call it? Strawberry blond? A fancy way of saying he had some natural red tones in his hair. Often a classic sign of an Irish heritage. I checked his pockets and as expected, found no identification. We’d encountered that before. Think. Breathe and think. Where were my girls?

  “Anything?” Mikhail rushed into the bathroom, hissing almost immediately.

  “Not a fucking thing. He’s not dead, but he soon will be.” I grabbed the weapon only a couple of feet away, hissing as I pocketed it. A Sig Sauer. Used by FBI agents, assassins, and almost anyone in the mafia circuit.

  Maybe finding one of them alive would allow us to obtain some important information. He would talk. I’d make sure of it.

  “What the hell? The side of his face looks like someone used it as target practice. Not one of ours,” Mikhail muttered. “What caused his injuries?”

  “Maybe a gun,” I said, scanning the room. “No. A baseball bat. It’s missing from the corner. Lainey.” Oh, my fucking God. She’d attacked him before he could hurt her or the girls. With no signs of blood and little disturbance in the room, either she’d managed to protect the children or someone had taken them.

  I bolted into the bathroom, yanking back the shower curtain. Something caught my eye on the tub’s bottom. A hair clip. Nina’s. The kids had been shuttled into the tub for safety. What the fuck had happened?

  Jesus fucking Christ.

  “Where the hell is she? What the fuck happened?” I was close to panicking, rage hitting me hard.

  “Calm down. I don’t think there’s a chance these monsters managed to take her from the property.”

  While Mikhail’s voice as always was the one of reason, I couldn’t give a shit. I was in his face in a second, barely able to remember he was my Pakhan and I owed him respect under every circumstance. As soon as I pointed a finger in his face, I managed to restrain myself, backing away.

  But not before enduring his initial harsh glare. However, that was quickly followed by his expression of concern. “We’ll find her, Sasha. You have my fucking word.”

  I fisted my forehead, trying to process what had occurred. “How did they get into the house?” Even if they’d gotten out, there was no way the perpetrators could have escaped with two young girls and a woman without being challenged.

  “We’re going to find out. Lainey is a smart girl and she obviously did everything in her power to protect the children. Think. Where would she go and hide?”

  As soon as he asked the question, my eyes flew open. “Oh, my fucking God.”

  “What is it?”

  I ignored his question, racing toward my bedroom, almost ripping the closet door off the hinges so I could get inside. I was shaking from anger as I pressed the hidden button for the panic room.

  The chest shifted to the side, the door popping open and even before I crouched down, I gathered a scent of Lainey’s incredible perfume.

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  My girls were alive and safe.

  All thanks to my beautiful musician.

  Even so, I made a pledge at that very moment. There were no other words for what would occur.

  The person responsible would die.

  CHAPTER 11

  Sasha

  “Daddy!” Nina crawled out of the confining space, jumping into my arms.

  “Thank God,” Mikhail whispered.

  I’d never believed the panic room would be necessary, but it had been something encouraged by my father and uncle all those years ago when I’d contracted with an architect to design the perfect house.

  I knew it was perhaps the only reason this was a happy reunion instead of another descent into tragedy.

  “Oh, baby girl. My sweet girl.” While I tried to hide the angst from my voice, long ago becoming an expert at doing so, I’d be given a failing grade by the lovely elementary teacher turned pop star who’d risked her own life to save two little girls.

  “My… God.” Mikhail wasted no time, moving halfway into the space and grabbing Emily.

  Just then, Alexsey and Halle appeared in the doorway.

  “My baby. My baby!” Halle was close to being frantic.

  Emily wasn’t bothered in the least, her little face scrunched up as soon as Halle yanked her daughter into her arms.

  “I’m fine, Mommy. We were playing a game. Tag. You’re it.”

  Halle glanced into my eyes, hers narrowing with questions but thanking me silently.

  Nodding, I tried to smile even as the rage continued to build. Who the hell had the audacity to do this?

  “Unkie Mikhail. Will you take my little Ninja girl?” I asked as calmly as possible, already handing Nina off to him.

  “Of course,” he said with a lilt in his tone. “So you were playing hide and seek, huh?”

  “Yeah, Lainey is the best. Da bomb.”

  My daughter was a handful, but at that moment, I was so thankful she wasn’t even the least bit flustered that I could barely think. How had Lainey managed to keep the girls from seeing the motherfucker on the floor?

  Lainey appeared, peering up at us with wide eyes. There was a trickle of blood on her lip and redness under her eye. The motherfucker had hit her. “You’re safe,” she said as she locked eyes with mine. “But you’re hurt.”

  Before she had a chance to object, I gathered her into my arms, pulling her to a standing position and against me. “My God, baby. I thought… The worst.”

  The fear in her eyes kept my rage at the surface. “I was…”

  “He hurt you.”

  “Trust me. He’s not doing very well.” She gripped my arms and I could tell she was doing her best to keep it together.

  “I know, little butterfly.” How had she managed to keep her shit together? As gently as possible, I pulled my thumb through the string of blood on her lip. “Fuck.”

  “It’s okay.” She cupped my face; the tender way she touched where I’d been hit and the concern in her eyes while ignoring what she’d been through told me everything about her character.

  She was everything good that everyone should aspire to.

  “No, it is not okay, Lainey. I’m going to hunt down every single person involved in this.”

  I held the back of her head and all I could think about was the possibility of losing the three beauties. Without thinking, I crushed my lips over hers, holding her so tightly it was possible she couldn’t breathe.

  She rolled her arm over my shoulder, tugging on my hair, surrendering to my hold. As soon as she relaxed, I slipped my tongue inside. Just being able to taste her, to caress her shivering body was a gift. The taste of copper was a reminder of what I’d almost lost.

  There was an old Russian proverb my mother had taught me a very long time before. Dwell on the past and you’ll lose an eye. Forget the past and you’ll lose both eyes. Maybe I had tried to forget the past or maybe I’d simply closed the door to it, ignoring who I was and the world that I’d had no choice being a part of. It certainly wasn’t Lainey’s world and it had almost gotten her killed.

  “Daddy. Let her breathe,” Nina said as if the voice of authority.

  While the others laughed, I refused to let go, dominating her tongue in a way to tell her she was going nowhere.

  Finally, Alexsey cleared his throat. “Maybe we should find a more comfortable place to hang out.”

  Reluctantly, I broke the kiss, offering a smile when she pushed her hands against my shoulders.

  “I’m fine. They’re fine. I would never let anything happen to them. They were so brave.” Her words were whispered, but I heard every one of them.

  “I’m so sorry. I will never allow anything like this to happen to you again.”

  She threw a look over her shoulder. “I tried to…”

  “Shush. We’ll talk about it in a little while.”

  Lainey sensed we were trying to keep the two children from realizing just how bad things had gotten.

  “Baby. I’m going to ask Bristol to take you and Emily to their house to extend your birthday party.”

  “Can Lainey join us?” Nina was so hopeful.

  “In a little while. Okay? Don’t worry. We still have presents to open later.” I nodded to Mikhail who took the cue.

  “Let me take you downstairs and find Bristol.” He had a look of relief on his face. The two girls didn’t fight him as he led them to the door, but my baby girl looked back, breaking away and running toward Lainey. As she’d done with me, she threw her arms around a woman I would now forever call a heroine.

  “Best birthday ever.”

  Lainey wrapped her arms around Nina’s head cradling her tightly, but I sensed the adrenaline rush that had turned her into a warrior was beginning to fade.

  Nina raced off after that, which allowed us to take a deep breath.

  Halle had tears in her eyes. We all knew her to be a tough girl. She was a firefighter, racing into a fire without thinking to save the man who’d driven her crazy. Yet as with Nina, the thought of anyone hurting her child could destroy even the strongest person.

  With a heavy sigh of relief, she moved directly in front of Lainey. “Thank you for what you did.”

  Lainey was shaking. “I just reacted to everything my father and brothers taught me.”

  I noticed the bat just inside the panic room, bending down and yanking it into my hand. The girl could be on my softball team any day.

  “How about I make our… unexpected guest more comfortable?” Aleksey offered, a sly smile on his face.

  “Do it. We need him eager to answer questions,” I hissed through gritted teeth.

  Halle backed away, glancing from Alexsey back to me then a quick darting look toward Lainey. She was obviously uncertain what should be said in front of our singer turned heroine.

  “Why don’t you allow Halle to take you downstairs.”

  Lainey sighed, brushing hair from her face. “What happened?”

  “Somehow a gunman managed to break through our defenses.”

  “How many people were hurt? I heard gunshots.” She darted her eyes back and forth.

  “From what it seems, only those involved in breaking and entering were hurt.”

  “They wanted the girls,” she offered.

  I jutted my head forward. “How do you know that for certain?”

  “The asshole who came up the stairs. After he burst into the room, that’s what he told me. That he wouldn’t hurt me and was only here for the girls.”

  My jaw was clenched so tightly my teeth grated together. As expected, both Halle and Alexsey tensed.

  He turned slightly away, grabbing his phone. Whoever he’d called immediately answered. “I need a cleanup crew at the house and a safehouse operational.”

  “Well, it didn’t happen thanks to you, sweet butterfly. Just listen to me. Go with Halle. I’ll be down in a little while.”

  Lainey had heard every word Alexsey had said. “A cleanup crew. Safehouse. You mean for…”

  I pressed my finger across her lips. “Nothing for you to worry about. You’ll need to trust me.”

  “I do trust you,” she whispered. “But don’t do anything stupid, Sasha. Please. Think of Nina. She needs you.”

  “I am. I’m also thinking about you. You are… amazing.”

  “Come on,” Halle said. “I don’t know about you, but I need a damn drink.”

  I squeezed Lainey’s arm and the connection we shared shifted, what we’d both just faced an ugly reminder that we were from two different worlds. She looked away, but I’d caught the quick look on her face. She was questioning her judgment about being with me.

  So would I.

  The two women left and as soon as Lainey was out of my sight, I felt a sense of sadness, but allowed the fury to continue fueling me. I moved around Alexsey and into the bedroom, waiting until the girls had moved downstairs. “I need to know how the fuck this happened.”

  “Calm down,” he told me. “We need to be very careful in the decisions we make.”

  “Careful? We need to develop a plan of retaliation.”

  “Agreed, but we can’t do that if we don’t know who and what we’re dealing with.”

  With a disgusted shake of my head, I moved to the hallway with Alexsey following just as Jaxon made his way up the stairs. There were additional voices. More of our soldiers had been called to the house.

  Jaxon’s face was grim. “All six men at the front are dead. Execution style. From what I could tell, there was no fight. The news gets worse.”

  “How?” I growled.

  “Two of the perpetrators got away. I think they stole a car. I tried to chase after them, but they were gone, even crashing into a vehicle parked on the street.”

  Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

  “Fucking fantastic. What about the guests?” Their quick exit meant within minutes it would be known they hadn’t succeeded. That would keep a target on our backs with almost no time to recover. Maybe the attack had been meant as a warning and an abduction. Weaknesses. My father and uncle had warned us that while family was important, once we had one our lives would change.

  While I’d heard of women being used as pawns, held against their will to try to gain leverage, it was widely known only the most despicable humans used children.

  That was an unwritten rule of men with integrity. Whoever we were dealing with had none.

  My anger was at an all-time high.

  “Nothing unusual.” Jaxon shook his head. “The entire takedown was well structured and if I had to guess, planned for several weeks. Someone has been paying attention to the various family activities. They knew when to hit where they had a chance of success.”

  “We handed them the opportunity on a silver platter.” I took a deep breath. “Where are the caterers?”

  Jaxon’s nostrils flared. “Those who are left alive are waiting in the kitchen.”

  “That’s how they got in,” Alexsey gritted out.

  “Likely,” Jaxon answered. “I checked the records at the front. They used two huge vans and another arrived late.”

  While we’d vetted the company, one we’d used before, it was next to impossible to hand select their workers. Not practical. Not usually necessary.