Where the Snow Falls (Seasons of Betrayal #2)(66)

Going back to his office, he snatched a drawer open in his desk, grabbing the gun he had stashed. Not bothering with a shirt or shoes, he headed out the door.

“Don’t worry,” Kaz said to Vasily as he jerked his head at his man down the hall to get his attention. “You won’t be a problem for long, Vasily.”

Vasily’s laughter echoed even as Kaz pulled the phone away from his ear, staring the other man down. “Where’s Violet?”

Recognizing that something was wrong, the man frowned, looking at the service elevator. “She went down to the garage to grab something from the car before she was coming back in so she could leave, she said.”

Why the f*ck—

Even as he brought the phone back to his ear, Kaz remembered then what she had been trying to tell him as she was leaving.

It was with that thought that Kaz knew he f*cked up.

Vasily’s voice grabbed his attention again. “I’ve always hated this car of yours. What did you tell me after defying my order not to purchase it, hmm? You would do as you wanted. Perhaps it’s time I teach you a lesson in humility. It’s long overdue.”

With that, Vasily hung up the call.

Taking off for the stairs, Kaz practically flew down them in his haste to get downstairs. Having heard the name he had used, the soldier rushing to catch up was already making a call, sounding an alarm for nearly every Vor in the nearby vicinity.

Blood rushing in his ears …

His heart racing …

Kaz exploded out of the building, his gaze shooting to where he’d parked his car. The door hung open, and the alarm blared so loud it was like f*cking nails on a chalkboard.

“Kazimir!”

She never called him that, not even when she was mad. To her, he was always Kaz or whatever pet name she was calling him at the moment.

But the sound of her screaming out his name with raw fear in her voice made his stomach drop to his feet, even as he spun in the direction of her voice.

A man wearing all black, two of them in fact, were wrestling her toward an idling, black van, practically dragging her across the cement, her nails leaving score marks as she fought for purchase. Her eyes were wide and frightened, tears spilling from them, and the sight of it set his blood on fire.

His gun aimed at the man, Kaz fired off shots even as he took off across the parking lot.

Kaz had never felt terror—not that all-consuming emotion that made him feel like he was going to f*cking die just from the rapid pace of his heart—but he felt it then.

They were almost to the car …

He had a few dozen feet …

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

One of the men grunted as a bullet slammed into his chest, sending him back a few steps, but he wasn’t the one Kaz f*cking wanted. The other dragging Violet had never loosened his hold or faltered in step as the shots started going off.

And he was now at the van.

“No!”

But it was too late. Violet’s screams echoed around the garage until the panel door slid closed. The sound of tires squealing became impossibly loud.

Kaz was still running, refusing to slow until the van disappeared around the corner. There was no way he could catch them on foot—his f*cking car.

Sprinting back, he didn’t remember until he was at his car that Violet had his keys. Her purse was on the ground, its contents scattered everywhere. Dropping down to his knees, he looked everywhere in a desperate attempt to find them, even as he counted the few seconds head start they had on him.

“Boss—”

“Where are my f*cking keys? Find my f*cking keys!” But when he couldn’t find them fast enough, Kaz was back on his feet, the blood rushing in his ears nearly blocking out everything around him.

That terror fled as rage consumed him. Spinning to grab the soldier at his back by the shirt collar, he jerked him closer. “I don’t care who you have to kill, but I want her back. Tear this f*cking city apart.”

Shoving him away, Kaz hadn’t realized they were no longer alone. Rus was there, but even he took a step back in the face of Kaz’s rage. “We’ll get her back.”

“You don’t know that shit,” Kaz fired back. “He would mail her back in f*cking pieces if he thought it would break me.”

“He won’t.”

He was about to lose his f*cking mind. “What the fu—”

“Zatknis’, Kazimir,” Rus snapped. “If he were going to kill her, he would have done it here—right here where you would have seen it. He took her. At the very least, you have time. If he called you beforehand, he'd call you again just to f*ck with you. Now, reel your shit in.”

“Gallucci.”

“What?”

Kaz thought of the man instantly. The two could have easily conspired this whole f*cking thing, and that meant Alberto would know where she was.

“Call Alfie,” Kaz commanded after taking a breath, starting back for his apartment, ignoring the sirens he could already hear in the distance.

Rus frowned. “For what purpose?”

Ejecting the clip, Kaz counted the bullets—or bullet, as it were—before sliding it back into place. “It’s time to pick a side.”





Her screams echoed in his ears the most.

That blood-curdling yell that made his skin feel like it was crawling. Even hours later, it still made him anxious to the point he couldn’t sit still.