Chapter 386: Lock The Doors, Lower The Blinds

[FROLO]

The Aslava blackout mission was a success because now they had the data they had been looking for. Doctors who had been paid off by the previous administration of Aslava and who were also on the payroll of the bratva.

It wasn’t easy, but with the data they had been collecting over the past five months, this was due to be a success either way.

And when power was restored to the hospital, Svet and Andre left.

Meera had long gone by the time they were done, because her part of the assignment was over.

But in the private ward where Raul Kosov was sleeping, where Aleksandr was losing his mind over the one person that he loved the most, nothing was the same.

Kenzo watched as the alpha got into bed beside the patient, fully believing that the man was the one person he had been seeking out all these years, the person he refused to believe was dead.

Whatever that doctor had said to Alek had to have fucked up his brain because Aleksandr wasn’t thinking clearly.

Not that he was everything right at the moment.

The sight was so heartbreaking that Kenzo had to tell their men to wait for them outside. It was the first time they were seeing the man like this. Even the doctor had to step out a while after stabilizing the patient. It was a sight that no one understood.

Kenzo knew he would not be able to talk Alek out of this soon, so he too left.

"I’ll be outside if you need me," he said, because there really wasn’t much he could say or do with Alek right now.

Once outside, Kenzo’s phone rang.

"Sir, we are being attacked at the depot by Moskowsky men. They are not taking anything. It’s a bloody massacre. Send help!" the man on the other end said before the phone was snatched from his hands.

"The Moskowskys send their regards," Yaroslav said before he hung up, but not before Kenzo heard the way he murdered the owner of the phone.

Kenzo was conflicted for the first time in a while.

On one end, he had the alpha who believed that his dead boyfriend from years ago was back. On the other was the fact that they were being attacked simultaneously. And now Kenzo was suspicious of the doctor who had come.

Sure, they had checked her credentials and all, but that didn’t make it any easier.

Because that doctor had been in the room and Aleksandr got emotionally compromised.

"Fuck!!" Kenzo shouted, punching the nearest wall as his men looked at him, waiting for his command.

Asking about the depot was a lost cause by now because if Yaroslav had gotten to the one making the call, then there was no doubt that the massacre had been massive. And they were hunting down any survivors to make sure there were none left.

It was not pretty.

Peeking into the room, Kenzo saw Alek resting his head against the head of the man he believed was Joe. It was unsettling, and he knew he couldn’t leave the man alone. So defeatedly, Kenzo pulled the only card he had left to play.

The only one he hoped would work, because if this didn’t work, then there was nothing that would work.

Kenzo dialed the governor.

"Governor Morozov’s office," Leon answered on the other end.

"Where is he, Leon? It is urgent," Kenzo said, the urgency in his voice something that had Leon transferring the call instantly. When he was patched to the governor, Kenzo didn’t even let out a sigh of relief.

His men were dead.

There was no coming back from that.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this call, Kenzo?" Governor Morozov asked.

Kenzo let out a sigh.

"I need a cleanup crew at the docks. The depot had been attacked by Moskowsky. If possible, send them fast before the Moskowskys share the videos. We need to have it all under control as soon as possible," Kenzo said before he hung up.

He didn’t even need to ask if the governor would do it. He knew the man would. It wasn’t even a matter of when or how.

Right now, with all that they were working around, there was no denying that this was more than just what they had agreed upon.

Things had escalated faster than Kenzo had anticipated.

"You three, stay in this room with the patient and the doctors. If this patient dies, your family will pay the price," Kenzo said, and the men nodded shakily.

They knew it wasn’t even a lie. Over the years, they had been recruited because they had things to lose. Things to be leveraged, and that was the only way to ensure their cooperation with everything that went on in the bratva.

Because people with nothing to lose were dangerous and weren’t easily controlled.

But now...

Gods, now it seemed like there was a whole other war going on even as Kenzo walked in to try to get Alek out of the bed.

"We need to leave, Aleksandr. Now," Kenzo said, but Alek held onto the patient in the bed.

He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but fuck, they had already lost so many men. And if they stayed here, they would lose more because they knew nothing of what the Moskowskys were planning.

Not at the moment anyway, and that was far too dangerous for them all.

This man was Joe, and Kenzo was asking him to abandon the man? What the fuck kind of fate was that then?

"I am not abandoning Joe here. I am staying with him. If I have to leave, I leave with him. Do not make me make the same mistake twice, Kenzo," Aleksandr pleaded softly, his eyes wet with tears as he looked at the patient who was still in a vegetative state.

This man was going to die.

Not because Kenzo was going to kill him. But Kenzo had just interacted with death far too many times to know its clients.

Yet... Aleksandr was determined to save him.

Determined to make sure that man survived.

This was a ghost of their past fast-forwarded to the present while they were being simultaneously attacked by a group of mercenaries who didn’t care what was right or wrong.

A group they had fucked with and was taking their sweet time showing them why the fuck it was so wrong to wait until the final stage. Oh, but hells be damned if this was the kind of shit that they wanted for each other.

"Sergei Moskowsky sent his son to the depot. We know what that means, Aleksandr. We need to leave. The patient will be fine. He will live," Kenzo lied, giving the kind of hope that he knew was too costly to give to a man who was clinging so hard onto the past.

But did he have that much of a choice at the moment?

"He will?" Alek asked like that was the only thing he had heard from the man.

"Yes. He will survive. But what’s the point in him waking up and recovering when you will be dead? Because if we don’t leave now, the Moskowskys will come for us.

"We are pointing targets at the patient. Think, Alek," Kenzo insisted. He knew it was unfair what he was reaching for, but they did not have time.

The bratva needed its leader.

There was nothing that they could do that hadn’t been done yet, and fuck if this was probably their last peaceful battle.

Sergei had declared war. Openly. Brazenly, and they had to do something about it because, at the end of the day, the Kumarin bratva had the reputation of standing for itself.

Would it work though?

Would it ever make any sense?

"Okay... let’s go then," Alek agreed, like that right there was everything to him. It wasn’t every day that he was given so much hope.

"Wait," Kenzo said, and Alek looked at him tiredly.

"If we step out of this room, you can’t be Daniil anymore. You have to be Aleksandr. Because our people need the bratva leader, not the heartbroken boy who just got his beloved back. Can you do that?" Kenzo asked sternly.

"If it’s the only way to guarantee a happy life with Joe. Then yes. I will be the bratva leader," Aleksandr said.

And Kenzo...

He let out a sigh of relief.

This was going to be hell.

Because Sergei...

Sergei had decided to hunt them down.

Would they make it through?