Page 36 of Daddy Brigadier

Dmitri raises the pick, but I hold up my flattened palm to halt him. “What do you know?”

“I know he’s connected to the Russians, that he views the Savins as his enemies. That’s why he’s supplying Bianchi.”

Interesting.The brothers and I exchange looks, caught off guard by this surprising twist.

“Where can we find this traitor?” I growl, anger boiling in my veins. One of our own is not just stealing from us, he’s turning against us by supplying the enemy with top-tier weapons on the black market.

Before he can respond, a piercing gunshot shatters the silence, sending me recoiling into myself, arms covering my face, body shrinking away in a flash as the whole room ricochets and tremors.

Ronaldo’s head jerks back as a bullet strikes dead center of his forehead. A great cascade of bright blood floods from both Ronaldo’s ears and nostrils, and a rain of human pieces pours down.

I grab my weapon and dart behind one of the vehicles for cover, expecting more fire.

Peering through the window, I realize we’re surrounded by Italian mobsters—Bianchi’s men. Gunfire erupts around the warehouse.

“Lev, watch out!” I shout as I pull the trigger, hitting the man aiming a gun at him.

Lev quickly shifts his focus to me, firing his weapon and taking down a man just to my rear. We share a knowing grin. This life of killing and dodging bullets has become second nature to us.

Dmitri and Nikolai can be heard commanding the soldiers, but Bianchi’s men have successfully outflanked us.

“Valentin, cover me!” Dmitri shouts.

I rise and unleash a rapid burst of shots across the warehouse.

Almost immediately, Dmitri emerges from behind the vehicle beside me. “Fuck!” he yells as he reloads his weapon.

The gunfire falls silent. “Savins. Valentin. Lay down your weapons and step out,” a voice commands from beyond. “You’re surrounded. We won’t kill you. Bianchi wants you alive.”

Nikolai signals to us, then says, “Five minutes.” He has called for backup, and we need to stall until then.

I’m the first to raise my hand and stand. As I move around the vehicle, the man demands, “Drop your gun, Brigadier.”

Without hesitation, I toss my gun across the room and notice Lev and the brothers stepping up behind me.

The man laughs. “This must be my lucky day! Two Coalition Brigadiers and the Colonel. I see a promotion in my future.”

Bianchi’s men circle us to grab our guns.

One of them, obviously feeling bold, throws a punch into Nikolai’s gut.

He collapses to the ground, and the man laughs while his companions join in. But underestimating Nikolai Savin is a grave mistake.

Nikolai is known as one of the most brutal men in our world, and it’s foolish to think that a single punch could take him down. I brace myself for what’s about to happen. The man prepares to kick Nikolai. As that kick lands squarely on Nikolai’s face, I watch in awe as his arm shoots out from the ground, driving the ice pick deep into the man’s calf.

With our enemies now wholly distracted by the man’s screams, Dmitri and I dive into a fierce fistfight with those closest to us. I pin one man to the ground with my knee and shatter his nose with a powerful strike from my knuckles.

“Fuck!” I shout, shaking my hand in pain, knowing that I might have just broken my finger.

“Time to retire, old man?” Dmitri laughs as he looks at me.

“Kiss my ass!” I reply, watching him beat the man beneath him.

He looks up at me, his eyes wide and his balance faltering as he struggles to raise himself off the ground.

The next thing I know, a gun muzzle presses firmly against the back of my head, but the fighting has finally come to an end.

“Get up,” the man orders, kicking my foot.