Chapter 10
1322 Words
Nicholas didn’t blink.
Didn’t move.
But inside?
A storm was brewing.
Dimitri Volkov wanted him.
Which meant one thing—the Russians were here to collect.
Luca shifted beside him. “Boss?”
Nicholas exhaled slowly. Controlled. Calculated.
This wasn’t a fight he could walk away from.
Not yet.
Not until he knew exactly what Volkov wanted.
So instead of drawing his gun—
Nicholas smirked.
“You came all this way, Dimitri.” His voice was smooth. Cold. Dangerous.
“You might as well tell me why.”
Dimitri chuckled. “You already know why, Wolfe.”
Nicholas’s jaw clenched.
Yes. He knew.
Years ago, when Nicholas was still building his empire, he made a deal.
A deal with the Volkov Syndicate.
A deal that should have never come back to haunt him.
Yet here they were.
“Your debt is due,” Dimitri said, voice like a blade.
Nicholas’s fingers itched for his gun.
But he didn’t pull it.
Not yet.
Instead, he took a slow step forward.
“Let’s talk,” he murmured.
Dimitri’s eyes gleamed.
“Good choice, Wolfe.”
At the Penthouse
Elara paced.
Heart pounding.
Hands shaking.
She knew Nicholas told her to leave for her own safety.
But something felt wrong.
The way Dimitri Volkov looked at him.
The way Nicholas’s body had gone rigid.
Like this wasn’t just another business threat.
Like this was personal.
Elara grabbed her phone.
Dialed Nicholas.
Voicemail.
She tried again.
Nothing.
Her chest tightened.
Something was happening.
And Nicholas Wolfe was in the middle of it.
Alone.
Elara’s grip on the phone tightened.
There was no f*****g way she was just going to sit here and wait.
She needed to do something.
Sitting still wasn’t an option.
Not when Nicholas was out there—alone.
Not when the Russians were involved.
Elara knew who Dimitri Volkov was.
He wasn’t just some criminal.
He was a f*****g kingpin.
And if he had come for Nicholas, then this wasn’t business.
This was war.
Elara grabbed her coat. Her keys.
She had no plan.
No backup.
But she had one thing.
She knew Nicholas.
She knew where he would go.
Where he would face Volkov head-on.
And she sure as hell wasn’t going to sit here while the man she loved walked into the lion’s den alone.
At the Russian Safehouse
Nicholas sat across from Dimitri, expression unreadable.
The room was dark, lit only by a dim chandelier.
Too many Russians.
Not enough exits.
But Nicholas wasn’t worried.
Not yet.
Because Dimitri hadn’t made his move.
Not yet.
Dimitri leaned back in his chair, swirling his vodka.
“You look tense, Wolfe.”
Nicholas smirked. “You look old, Volkov.”
Dimitri laughed. “Same bastard as always.”
Then his eyes sharpened.
“You owe me, Wolfe.”
Nicholas’s fingers twitched.
He didn’t like owing anyone.
Especially not the Volkov Syndicate.
But the deal he made years ago—
That deal was coming back to haunt him.
And now, Dimitri was here to collect.
“You want money?” Nicholas asked, voice casual.
Dimitri chuckled. “You know that’s not what I want.”
Silence.
Then—
“You stole something from me, Wolfe.”
Nicholas’s blood ran cold.
Dimitri’s lips curled.
“And I’m here to take it back.”
Nicholas didn’t flinch. Didn’t blink.
But inside?
Every muscle in his body coiled like a predator ready to strike.
Dimitri leaned forward, a smirk playing on his lips.
“You look surprised, Wolfe.”
Nicholas’s jaw ticked. Not surprised. Just calculating.
He knew exactly what Dimitri was talking about.
The shipment.
Years ago, Nicholas had intercepted a cargo from the Volkov Syndicate—one they weren’t supposed to have in the first place.
It wasn’t drugs.
It wasn’t weapons.
It was a person.
A woman.
A high-value asset Volkov was planning to sell to the highest bidder.
And Nicholas had made a choice.
He took her. He hid her. He made sure she disappeared.
And now?
Dimitri wanted her back.
Nicholas tilted his head, masking his rage behind a lazy smirk.
“I don’t know what the f**k you’re talking about.”
Dimitri chuckled. “You always were a good liar.”
The Russian leaned back, swirling his drink.
“Here’s the deal, Wolfe.” His voice turned ice-cold. “I want her back.”
Nicholas’s fingers curled into fists.
“You know that’s not happening.”
Dimitri exhaled a slow sigh, as if he’d expected that answer.
“That’s disappointing,” he murmured.
Then he nodded.
And in an instant—guns c****d from every direction.
Nicholas barely moved.
He had walked into a trap.
And yet, his pulse remained steady.
Because what Volkov didn’t know?
Nicholas always had a backup plan.
Elara’s fingers tightened around the steering wheel.
The address Luca gave her led to a rundown industrial district—isolated, quiet, dangerous.
She wasn’t supposed to be here.
Nicholas would kill her if he knew.
But she didn’t care.
She couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
She parked a block away, heart hammering.
Then she moved. Fast. Silent.
As she reached the safehouse, she pressed against the wall, listening.
Voices.
Nicholas. Dimitri.
Her pulse pounded.
She needed to get in. Now.
She slipped around the side, searching for an entrance.
Then she heard it—
The unmistakable sound of guns being c****d.
Elara’s stomach dropped.
They were going to kill him.
Not if she got to him first.
No time to think.
No time to call for backup.
Nicholas was inside—trapped, outnumbered, and seconds away from getting shot.
Elara’s pulse pounded as she scanned the area.
She needed a distraction. Fast.
Her eyes landed on an abandoned delivery truck near the loading dock.
Perfect.
Heart hammering, she ran toward it, climbed inside, and yanked the wires from under the dashboard.
Her father had taught her how to hotwire a car when she was sixteen.
He never thought she’d actually use it.
A spark.
The engine roared to life.
Elara gritted her teeth, slammed her foot on the gas—
And drove straight into the warehouse wall.
Inside the Safehouse
The moment the crash shook the building, Nicholas moved.
In a blur of speed, he grabbed the nearest gunman, twisted his wrist, and snapped it.
A shot fired—missed him by an inch.
Luca reacted instantly, drawing his gun and taking down two Russians before they could react.
“f*****g HELL!” Dimitri roared as chaos exploded around them.
Nicholas ducked behind cover, eyes narrowing as smoke and dust filled the air from the impact.
Then he heard it—
A car door slamming shut.
Footsteps. Rushed. Determined.
And then—
“Elara?”
His heart stopped.
She emerged from the smoke, gun clutched tightly in both hands.
Her breathing was heavy, but her eyes burned with fire.
“Get the f**k away from him,” she snarled at Dimitri.
Nicholas felt something dangerous snap inside him.
Dimitri’s lips curled into a slow, cruel smile.
“Well, well,” he murmured. “Isn’t this interesting?”
Nicholas stepped in front of Elara, shielding her with his body.
“Leave. Now,” he growled at her.
Elara stood her ground. “Not without you.”
Nicholas’s teeth clenched. f**k.
She had no idea what she had just walked into.
And now?
Dimitri had leverage.
“You should listen to your boyfriend, printsessa,” Dimitri purred. “You just walked into a war you can’t win.”
He snapped his fingers.
More guns aimed at them.
Elara’s fingers tightened around the gun, but Nicholas could see it—her hands were shaking.
This wasn’t her world.
This was his.
And now?
She was caught in the middle of it.
Because of him.
Nicholas’s jaw flexed.
No one was taking her. No one was touching her.
If Volkov wanted a war?
He was about to get one.
- Writer
