Page 82 of Be My Vengeance

I wanted to strangle this guy. Gideon was turning red. “What?”

“You see, I’d like very much if you could kill my father.”

That brought us up short. I wasn’t sure how to respond to that and by the looks of it, neither did Gideon or Penn. But it didn’t matter because Sergey wasn’t done.

“Your silence tells me that surprises you.”

“Why would you kidnap one of my men to ask me for a favor?”

“You say kidnap. I rather think of it more like convincing.”

Penn rolled his eyes and whispered something to Gideon, who nodded and spoke.

“If you wanted your father dead, why not just kill him yourself? It’s not like any of you Ivanovs have honor or anything.”

“Mr. Hendrix, if you think your harsh words bother me, you’re sorely mistaken. You do not scare me, and your threats are useless. If you need more of a reason to kill my father than you already have, I’m sure Maksim has explained how cruel a man he is.”

“Do you think I have late-night talks with your brother?” Gideon countered.

Sergey cackled. “I love how you think I don’t know he’s in your company. I know so, so much. More than anyone else. While I understand why my father retaliated against the Popovs, I am not him.”

“Yeah, kidnapping one of my men proved that,” Gideon said sarcastically.

“You understand deals, do you not, Mr. Hendrix? I will make you one. Kill my father, and Danny will be returned to the hospital.”

“Why take him if we were just going to kill Vladimir anyway? This whole thing seems redundant.” I couldn’t keep quiet any longer.

“My people would be suspicious if I didn’t retaliate. It had to be done.”

Gideon looked at me. I wasn’t sure what to do here. Two things were certain: I wanted Danny here, and I wanted Vladimir dead.

“And they will be fine if you just hand Danny to me after he’s dead?”

Sergey scoffed. “I do not know how things work with your business or family, but in mine it is different. Once my father is dead, I am the head of this snake and they abide my order. If I decide not to kill Danny or anyone else, they will follow that order.”

“I want you, your drug trade, and every trace of Ivanov out of this state. You pack up and go.”

He hummed. “Perhaps business can be discussed at a sit-down.”

“I don’t deal in drugs, Sergey. I’ll never agree.”

“We will talk. In the meanwhile, deliver my father’s corpse to the address I will text to you. You have two hours.”

I wanted to take my time with Vladimir, and while it irritated me that I was being ordered to basically put a bullet between his eyes, getting Danny back was paramount.

“Bring Danny to the hospital. He needs medical attention,” Gideon ordered.

“After my father’s body is found. Not sooner. I’ll text the address.” He disconnected the call.

“What do you want to do, Alex?” Gideon asked me.

“Me? Why are you asking me?”

“I promised you revenge.”

“I’m not gambling with Danny’s life. Dead is dead, and right now I need to get to that safe house and make every second count.”

“This is already a gamble,” Penn interrupted. “If we kill Vladimir and bring him wherever Sergey wants, there’s nothing stopping him from killing Danny.”