Meera's eyes were screaming at me not to move as Jay dragged her away from me.

I could only watch hopelessly.

One of the Singhania's men took the butt of his gun and brought it down on the back my head. I stumbled but didn't go down, Anya had her arm around me to keep me up.

I could feel the blood trickling down my temple, dripping onto the concrete floor but I couldn't care less.

"Stay out of our affairs, dog," the man said with a thick accent. "We will leave you with your lives since we have what we want."

I grab him by the arm, getting so close to his face that I could see his pupils.

"I'll hunt you down," I growled, ignoring the pain. "I'm going to rip you to shreds if you do anything to her."

He snatched his arm away and kicked me on the chest. I felt my ribs throb as I crumbled.

"Ivan!" Anya rushed to my side. "What the fuck are you doing?"

"They took her," I growled, getting back up. "They took Meera. They must not want to live."

It was tense in the garden. My mother and the rest of her guests were inside without any idea what was going on here.

Singhania's men outnumbered us and they were more heavily armed.

I gently pushed Anya away. "Find Nik," I whispered.

Hey eyes widened. "And leave you here?!"

"Better me than you." I stated. "You can mobilize everyone and I can buy you time."

"Ivan..."

"Go." I pleaded. "Just go, I'll keep their fire off of you."

Eddie stepped forward with his gun drawn. He pulled Anya behind him.

"I got her, Boss!"

"Get going."

"Yes, Boss!"

I watched Anya and him retreat, fixing their way back into the party hall. I trusted them to get the rest of our back up here on time and evacuate the hall.

Things were about to get bloody.

If I had to get to meera, I had to cut and shoot my way through all her fathers men.

Fine.

I could do anything for her, even murder.

It's just another day at the office.

I took my gun and aimed at the man who hit me, squeezing the trigger.

It was a bloodbath after that.

The garden was alright with gunfire and blood. I hid behind one of the trees, taking well aimed shots. Several bullets sprayed across the lawn hitting the tree and sending splinters everywhere.

I ducked down, covering my head and neck.

"Hey, boss!" Eddie grabbed me and pulled my down next to me. "If we survive this, I think we'll need to invest in better security."

I scoffed. "If we survive this, I'll buy you a whole fucking warehouse."

"That's more like it!"

"Where the fuck do these guys have the energy to keep going?!"

"No idea, Boss!" Eddie plucked a grenade from his suit pocket and pulled the pin. I watched as he tossed it over near the fountain.

I ducked down again as the fountain exploded, whatever was left of it raining from the sky.

"Where did you get a grenade from?" i asked incredulously.

Eddie shrugged, pulling out another one. "They from my grandpas old Vietnam kit. I thought they might be useful."

"You couldn't have used them earlier?"

"Oh." He said. "I forget."

"How the fuck do you forget about a grenade?!"

"We're in the middle of a shootout, Boss!" He yelled. "Is this really what you're concerned with."

"Unbelievable!"

"Enough!" Someone yelled out and gun shots which were outrageously loud stilled. "Stand down! Now!"

I peeked behind the tree trunk.

A man in a dark red suit stood in front of me. He had eyes like Meera, but his reminded me of a bird of prey.

He proceeded to chew out his man, screaming so loud that I could hear him from where I was standing.

Eddie and I exchanged confused glances as the Singhania men fell into line and didn't dare object to him.

If they were listening then this meant that he was part of Ottavia's family...or worse, a Singhania himself.

"Where's my sister?" He barked out. "Your orders were to find her not bring her back!"

"Sir!" One of the soldiers said. "We had order to retrieve—"

"From who?!" He asked, hissing the words through his teeth.

"Well, Sir...your father."

The man—I think this was the eldest, Kiran—pulled out his gun and shot the man in the head without an ounce of hesitation. He fell to the ground, drowning in his own blood.

"Akhil Singhania isn't the king of Mumbai anymore," he said, words full of deadly promise. "Any order of his is of no importance. Not his, not the psycho Ottavia! Do you understand?!"

The men responded, clearly afraid. They were all tall and well built, most likely former military or fighters but here they were cowering to the man in front of them.

I stood up and put away my gun, walking over to him. Eddie tried to stop me but I could care less.

I dont think Kiran expected me to walk out from the shadows with my own men behind me.

We both stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say to each other without triggering another shootout. I was getting sick of them.

"You—"

"Yeah, Asshole. I'm Ivan Farewell. Who the fuck are you?"

He seemed disgusted at the mention of my name. "Kiran. Kiran Singhania."

"Ah," I grinned in a feral way. "You're the bastard."

"I know you have her Farewell."

I spat out a glob of blood, making sure that it landed on his expensive leather shoes.

"Thanks to that idiot you sent after her, she's not here." I said. "And I'm going to kill you for making her suffer."

"I didn't send him!"

"Yeah, right!" I lifted my chin up to his men. "Who the fuck is that then?"

"You have no idea what you've involved yourself in, Farewell!" He grabbed me by the collar and pulled me up. "I'm not here to hurt her! I'm here to make sure you don't get killed!"

"She's paid for whatever she's down years ago. There's nothing you can do."

"My father has a grudge against her because of the losses we suffered," he said. "He's furious because he's indebted to Jay Ottavio."

"Indebted?"

His eyes flashed. "Yes, Mr Farewell. Why do you think Ottavio is able to come here and take my sister. She's the price He has to pay for failing."

I scoffed. "Sounds like a hard choice," I said, my voice dripping with sustain and sarcasm. "You look as if you had a hard time choosing."

"Do not mock me!" He hissed. "If it wasn't for me—"

Nik burst with our back up providing me the perfect distraction.

I kicked the guys holding me down and grabbed my gun, pointing it towards Kiran Saravana.

"She's not your property."

"Meera knows the rules of this game," he said. "She's might survive this time. Who knows."

I shoved past him. "Yeah, that's not good enough for me."

"Listen to me!"

I whip around and grab him by the throat. "No! You listen to me, you prick! I don't care if you're here to help. You're getting in my way."

"I know where he's taking her!" He gasped. "But, you have to let go of me first."

Anya rested her hand on my arm. "Let him go, Ivan." She said quietly. "We need him alive if we want to find Meera."

I hesitated. His eyes were just as angry as mine, I could see him scheming but I knew that Anya was right. I slowly released my grip and let him go, watching as he gasped and sputtered.

"I can't blame you for your anger, Farewell," he said. "I'll tell you everything but first you have to listen to me."

"You have five minutes," I said. "Talk."