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Vengeance was mine.

A thought that had been running through my head during the last painful miles of driving. While the rain was slacking off, rumbles of thunder now in the distance, the pressure on my chest remained heavy.

“How many?” I asked Mario as I pulled him toward me from where he’d come around the side of the house. He was dazed, his head bleeding, but he hadn’t been killed.

“Four. I think the same boat returned. They came up the beach. I tried to stop them.” He was pointing toward the churning ocean.

“A boat?” I swung my head toward Sergei.

Mario nodded. “The same one as a couple days ago. Kristoff was supposed to tell you.”

“He’s not to be trusted, Mario.”

He pressed his hand against his head. “Yes, sir. I know. He’s the one who hit me.”

“Where are my fiancée and my daughter?”

“Still inside.”

“Hunt Kristoff down, Mario. Keep him alive.”

Mario ripped his weapon from his holster. “Yes, sir.”

Pop! Pop! Pop!

Sergei jerked me toward the trees. “Jesus Christ.”

“Find Mina and Hope,” I told Sergei. “If I know Isabel, she’s had them hide.”

“The woman is a lot like you. I think that’s a compliment.”

Somehow, I was able to laugh. “You’re right.” I moved into the shadows, heading for the door, already having men instructed to surround the property.

There was something to be said about the element of surprise. But I didn’t mind a big, splashy entrance complete with a full range of security lights flooding the property.

A fucking boat.

If the bastard managed to get Isabel and Mina on the boat, there was a good chance I’d never see them again. That just wasn’t going to happen.

There was also a reason almost everyone who acted solely on the need for revenge made mistakes, allowing their anger and despair to erase all training and common sense. I’d suffered from loss of mental acuity while living for seeking vengeance.

Because of that, I’d lost all sense of myself. Becoming an emotional wreck had almost cost me everything that mattered to me.

In seeing the house dark while all others in the area maintained their electricity had been a dead giveaway the house was surrounded. Calls had been made, three dozen of my men swarming my house.

They’d done so quietly, without being seen.

The electrical box had been located and, on my orders, the main switch had been pulled to the on position, the house once again glowing with light.

That’s when we’d advanced for an attack.

There was a sense of calm running through me. Some might call it ice in my veins. With two weapons in my hand, I fired off several shots as necessary, all while searching for the man in charge.

A horrifying whimper dragged my attention, the pitiful sound yanking at the sectioned-off anger. Shadow crawled on his belly toward me from the darkness of the half bath, his huge brown eyes indicating he was in pain.

At least his tail was wagging, the hard thump matching my labored breathing. “It’s okay, buddy.”

“Fuck,” Sergei hissed. “Where is Mina, Shadow?”