Tracking Shadows: Enemies to Lovers Dark Past Mafia Romance by Blake Nikki

Author:Blake, Nikki
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-13T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9 – Alexei

We pull up to the safe house, and the silence between us is thick enough to cut through. Irina hasn’t said a word since we left the ball, her jaw tight, her eyes forward, refusing to look at me. She’s still pissed, and I get it. Tonight didn’t go as planned, and now we’re here, both of us simmering in our own frustrations. The car’s headlights cut through the darkness, illuminating the front of the old house. It’s nondescript, just another forgotten building on the outskirts of the city. Exactly how it’s supposed to be.

I kill the engine, and the silence deepens. Neither of us moves for a moment. The car still feels safer somehow, like stepping out will bring all the chaos from the ball crashing back onto us. But we don’t have that luxury. We never do.

“Go on,” I say, breaking the stillness. “I’ll lock up behind us.”

Irina shoots me a glare, but she opens the door and steps out, her heels clicking against the pavement. I follow, scanning the shadows as I close the door quietly behind me. Something doesn’t feel right, and it’s gnawing at me, a cold knot of unease in my gut.

We walk up the steps, and she punches in the code at the door. The soft beep of the keypad is the only sound, and it feels too loud in the stillness of the night. I’m tense, every nerve on edge as we step inside. The house is dark, the air stale from being closed up for too long. It’s just as we left it—safe, empty, untouched. But that feeling in my gut is still there, a whisper that won’t be silenced.

“I’ll check the perimeter,” I say, moving toward the back of the house, but the words are barely out of my mouth when it hits me: a prickle on the back of my neck, a shift in the air, the unmistakable sense that we’re not alone. I freeze, listening, every sense straining for a sound. Then I hear it—a soft creak from the floor above, too deliberate to be anything but human.

“Get down,” I hiss, shoving Irina behind the nearest piece of cover, a sturdy old table that’s seen better days. My hand is on my gun, and the adrenaline kicks in, sharp and hot, drowning out everything but the here and now.

The door slams open behind us, and everything erupts into chaos. Gunfire shatters the silence, bullets tearing through wood and plaster. I drop to the floor, rolling behind a wall as shots ricochet off the walls, splintering the furniture. Irina’s beside me, her eyes wide but focused, already reaching for her own weapon.

We exchange a glance, and in that split second, the plan forms without words. We’ve done this too many times to need them. I signal left, she nods and moves right, her steps silent and swift. The men are coming in fast, too fast. They’ve got the numbers, but we’ve got the advantage of surprise. They don’t know this place like we do.

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