Every day that went by, I thought about my wife and her condition. I wondered how she was holding up and whether she was in good shape. I could’ve easily given her a phone so we could communicate daily.
But I didn’t.
I couldn’t risk being distracted by her voice.
The plan was to stay focused on the mission and not return home until I’d taken care of this situation. However, Ilya reported to me at the end of every day. He’d take short videos of her when she wasn’t looking and forward them to me.
That was the instruction I gave him. I needed new photos and videos every evening. Just to be sure she was doing okay. From the videos and images, I noticed she was gradually losing weight.
It had everything to do with my absence.
According to Ilya, she barely ate. And even when she did, she’d just take a few bites and abandon the food. She was thinking too much, and I didn’t like that.
I hated the fact that she was already losing some weight. It wasn’t obvious, and not many might even notice it. But as her husband, the one man who’d memorized every curve of her body, I did. I noticed it.
The only way to get things back to the way they were was by first winning this war. Luckily, for the first time since this scandal, we had the upper hand. We were one step ahead of him.
Sergei had received intel from a reliable source about Rocco’s current location. The men on my team suggested we tear a page from his book: play dirty and attack him when he least expected it.
There was no honor in ambush, and I didn’t like the idea of attacking a defenseless man. Sneak attacks were cowardly, and I did not operate like that. But then again, we were at war, and this same bastard had attacked my home twice. Unprovoked.
Honor or not, he was going down. For good.
The plan was simple: infiltrate Rocco’s hideout with a handful of our most skilled soldiers, kill the guards silently, and get to his room. We had all the information we needed: the location, the building’s blueprint, and an insider.
Once it was time for the attack, we wasted no time arriving at the abandoned warehouse. I chose five of my best men; Anatoli and Sergei also did the same.
Dressed in black, we blended with the night, moving through the shadows with practiced ease. Our guns had silencers attached to their nozzles, so whenever we shot down a sentry, no noise was made.
With drawn blades, we took out the guards, one by one, slitting and stabbing the right organs. Before anyone could make a sound, we’d seal their mouths with our gloved hands, then lay them down silently.
We moved through the building that night, coordinated in every way. None of us made a sound. We communicated through sign language and coded signals. Even while sprinting across the dark hallways, our boots were soundless against the floor.
The more we took down Rocco’s men, the more I figured something was wrong. This was way too easy. Then I began questioning everything. Like, why were there only a handful of guards around the warehouse?
With all that’s happening right now, it didn’t make sense that Rocco’s safety wouldn’t be his top priority. Some of the guards weren’t even properly armed. The whole operation was too easy, and the building seemed like a stage.
“This way,” Sergei whispered to the rest of us, taking a sharp turn down another hallway.
He’d been the one leading us ever since we entered the building. Almost as though he knew his way around the place. Like he’d been here before.
When we finally reached an open space at the center of the building, Anatoli stopped in his tracks.
“Wait!” He held my hand, his eyes meeting mine. “Something’s not right.”
Then came the lights that lit up the entire building, leaving us completely exposed.
We all stopped, drawing close to one another as Rocco’s men marched into the open and surrounded us.
“It’s a trap!” Anatoli announced, gripping his gun more tightly.
I didn’t say a word, even though I already knew who had double-crossed us.
“Well, well, well…would you look at that?” Rocco approached us, clapping his hands in mockery. “All my enemies in one place. How interesting!”
The sound of his single claps and scuffing shoes echoed off the high walls as he drew closer.
“How did you know we were coming?” I asked, my voice calm and composed.