Alina

Alessandro

It's been almost two months since we set our plan in motion.
This is the biggest raid we've had in a long time and it has taken a lot of planning.

We knew their base would be heavily armed and guarded and would take more manpower to pull off. The estate is the center of all the Russian activity in America. When we take this place down, the others will fall too. 

We've known the Russians have a rat in our mafia for quite a bit. As fucking annoying as it is, it has been quite useful in our plan. We released the information of the raid under a false date. We knew he'd report to the Russians and they would evacuate in a hurry. That's when we strike, in the midst of the chaos.

Of course we killed him before we left.

Roman has picked up on three vans heading north along a remote road. I know that's where the Ivanovs are.

My brothers and I rushed from the house as soon as we received the message.

We're not too far from their location, but our youngest brother is alone out there. Granted he's in a bulletproof car with a ton of weapons and armed drones at his disposal, but I still worry for my sibling.

My phone rings. It's Roman.
"Alessandro, my drones' scans show the vans are just decoys. One driver each." Fuck. "What do I do?" My brothers look at me with curiosity in their eyes.

"Get rid of two. I only need one man alive."

"Yes sir." And HE ends the call. Hell no. I'll deal with his disrespect later.

"Decoys?" Luca asks from the front. I nod.

"CRAP! How did they know?" Domenico yells in frustration.

"I don't know. But what I do know is that the Ivanov brothers are the most unpredictable pricks out there." I say.

"No shit." A few of them comment.

"Do you think they thought the rat was false?" Damien questions.

"I don't know that either. But we will find them and we will experience the victory of ending their lives, and take a long ass time doing it. Count on it."

"We're here guys," Luca says as he stops the car.

As we get out of the car I see two vans, one on its side and the other completely flipped upside down. Both are burning in powerful flames. I don't see the third van so I assume it's up ahead.

Roman approaches us with an annoyed expression on his face.

"He escaped. Once I shot his tires, the third driver jumped out and ran into the woods. I managed to shoot him. He's bleeding a lot and shouldn't be too hard to find. Especially in the cold ass snow. His van isn't too far ahead."

"Are you hurt?" I ask, approaching him to check for anything.

"Lay off dude. I'm not twelve. I can handle myself. Can you just go find him before this turns into a lecture?"

I roll my eyes.

"We are still in enemy territory. Do not split up. Domenico, you're with me. Damien, go with Luca."

"And Roman can fly his toys to help." Damien teases.

"Shut up! And they're not fucking toys! I'll literally shoot you with one if you call them that one more time!"

"Damien plays with t-" Roman fires a warning shot right passed his head.

"Roman, just get in the car. Damien, stop teasing him. You're not middle schoolers anymore." Luca says. They roll their eyes in sync and begin to walk off.

"Come on Nico."

"Let's find this fucker." He says with a grin.

"FIRST GROUP TO FIND HIM GETS TWENTY BUCKS!" Damien yells.

"YOU'RE ON LOSER!" Nico shouts back. I shake my head at their stupidity.

I hear drones speed by overhead. "TRY TO BEAT ME AND MY FUCKING TOYS!" I don't know how I'm related to them sometimes.

I walk with Nico along the tree line towards the third van. This should be fun. We've been waiting to get our hands on the brothers forever. The Russians rarely break. But I'm sure the guy they literally assigned to die would love to talk for us.

I see something out of the ordinary in the snow across the road from the van. There's no way he's over there. Roman shot him on this side of the road and that area has been monitored since.

My brother sees me looking. "You know there's nothing there right?"

"Just hold up. I think I see something in the snow. Look right there."

"It's probably an animal or something."

"I'm going over. Continue to look around over here." I reach for my gun in case it's something dangerous.
I know there are bears around here. It could be a cub and I'm not in the mood to deal with a mama bear.

I approach the snow and I see small drops of red over the smooth white surface, blood.
I continue to approach and I see a clear disturbance in the snow. It's not the driver, nor is it a cub, it's, a child?

A little girl lies in the snow. Her body is covered in cuts and bruises. She's unconscious and ice cold. The only clothes she has on are an oversized plain tee shirt with some holes and socks. I feel for a pulse and thank god, I find one.

How is this girl not dead?

I call all my brothers over saying I found a kid and it's an emergency.

Within a few minutes, we're back in the truck speeding to the airport where our father is waiting.
We can't risk going to a hospital in this area. Just because we overtook the estate doesn't mean they don't have men out here.
We have to get her out of this place now.

My brothers and I gave up on the missing driver and made the girl our top priority. She's in my arms, wrapped up in my jacket. If it weren't for the situation, I would've thought this was fucking adorable. But she's still frozen, her pulse is unsteady and her breathing labored. For the first time in a long time, I'm afraid. Why?

"CAN'T YOU DRIVE ANY FASTER!?" Domenico yells at Luca.

"IM DOING MY BEST!" Luca shouts back.

"I can't find any missing children in any surrounding towns. You think she's involved with the Russians?" Roman says over the phone. His car is behind of us.

"Alexei and Dmitri don't have a sister and never in a million years would they let a child, let alone someone else's, live with them. And if she was related to them, she would be dead by now knowing how the Ivanovs treat women. I don't want to imagine what'd they do to a young girl." All my brothers nod in agreement.

"But if she didn't come from a van, why was she alone on the road?" Luca adds.

"She probably escaped from an abusive household and ran wherever she could. Look at the cuts and bruises all over her arms and legs."

None of us have checked her back or stomach yet. I'm honestly not looking forward to it.

"The explosions down the road could've spooked her and knocked her off her feet and she passed out from hitting her head," Damien suggests.

It seems unlikely but from what we know about the Ivanov brothers, she would've been in much worse condition if she came from the estate. Those boys have zero mercy.

"We have to talk to father. She clearly can't go back to wherever she was before."

I don't know what's going on with me right now. She could be a devil child like Damien was for all I know, but I want to protect her and make sure she never gets hurt again. Her current condition and what her home life must've been like make me so angry. If I find her parents, I'll make them wish they never walked this earth.