Chapter Twenty-One

The vehicles the men were riding in stopped at the edge of the woods behind the house. Max and Dimitri didn’t want the cars to give them away.

They quietly walked through the woods until they caught up with the men that were watching the house.

“Is he in there?” Max asked one of his men.

“Yes, he went into the house around eight and hasn’t left. Most of the lights are off, but we can’t tell if the lights that are on are on because someone is awake or if it was just left on.”

“We’ll just have to expect that some people may be up. We’ll be cautious going into those rooms. Make sure the silencers are on. We don’t want to wake up the entire house.

“Do you know how many are in there?”

“I was only able to count fifteen; there may be more.”

“Good, we may have the upper hand,” Dimitri weighed in.

Max gave the signal for them to move forward. He had a group move around to the front and a group who approached the back.

Dimitri had a group watching the side of the house and a few guarding the large driveway.

Dimitri went with a group around the front, and Max stayed with the group in the back. When Max felt like the groups were ready, he radioed the signal to break into the house.

***

“Are you not nervous?” Kyle asked Violet.

“Not really. Anatolia promised me that he would come back, and I believe him.”

Kyle couldn’t believe it was that easy for Violet. She actually couldn’t believe that the other girls were calm.

“Just chill. The guys know what they’re doing. They were raised to live this life,” Varina added.

“Ryan wasn’t,” Kyle stated.

“Ryan was taught by the best; he’ll be fine.”

“Oh my gosh, would you please just shut up?” Sarah was sitting on the couch and was getting sick of Kyle’s complaining.

“You cry about everything. You have an easy life. You’re lucky you didn’t grow up around our father, because if you did, this would be a cakewalk for you.”

“I’m not complaining. I’m just worried.”

Sarah stood up and walked over to Kyle.

“No, you’re complaining because your boyfriends are doing something dangerous, which is ridiculous; they’re Mafia people. Their whole life is dangerous.”

“You’re right. I don’t know this life like you, but I did not have an easy life. My life may have been easier than yours, but it wasn’t easy.”

Sarah scoffed at Kyle’s statement.

“It wasn’t easy? It wasn’t easy?” Sarah started yelling. “Did you have a father who tried to sell your virginity for an alliance?”

“Did you have a father who threatened you every day that if you didn’t do what you were told to do, he would hurt your mother and other siblings?”

“Did you have a father who used you to capture your sister so he could use her as a deal offer? I bet you didn’t, but I did.” Sarah let out a sob after finishing her rant and sat on the couch.

Kyle walked over to Sarah and sat next to her. “I had no idea.” She rubbed Sarah’s back, trying to calm her down.

Everything Sarah said opened up a new perspective for Kyle; she now agreed that she had spent too much time complaining instead of being thankful.

Kyle felt like a horrible person. She never considered what Sarah went through; she barely knew her and didn’t put that much effort into getting to know her.

“I’m sorry. You’re completely right. The good thing is that you’ll never have to worry about our father again.”

Sarah sniffled. “I know, and I know that I’m lucky because I have Mike.”

“I think we all lucked out. These guys, in one way or another, have made our lives better,” Violet added. “After all, they brought us all together.”

***

The house was quiet; it was almost too quiet as the guys made their way into it.

“Remember, women and children are off-limits unless your life depends on it or if it’s Gloria.”

Dimitri slowly went upstairs with his groups, each splitting off to take a room. The first room Dimitri came to seemed empty.

He investigated by opening the closets and making sure no one was hiding. When he stepped into the hallway, he was greeted by Anatoli.

“Something seems off. My room was empty,” he told Dimitri.

“Mine too. Do you think they knew?”

“Maybe, they either saw us or someone gave them the information,” Anatolia suggested.

“I think if they saw us, we would have known. I think one of our scouts gave them information.”

“All the rooms are empty. I don’t understand,” Ellis stated as he approached Dimitri and Anatoli, but before Dimitri could say anything, Max came up the stairs.

“We found a hidden bookshelf in the master bedroom downstairs, and I’m assuming all the rooms are empty up here too.”

They all nodded at Max.

“It’s safe to say that they were tipped off and escaped. I think we should regroup and follow; catch them off-guard.”

“What about the person that tipped them off?” Ellis asked.

“Let’s worry about that later. They don’t have time to send out a warning if we go now.”

Max was frustrated; he knew the leaked information was due to him and Dimitri taking a step back. Once this was over, he would take control of his organization, even if Kyle didn’t like it.