“Nikolai, no, I can’t leave yet. The threat is still very much out there, I can do this. I’m so close,” she insisted, hurt turning to frustration at the flick of a switch. I was a little surprised that she didn’t stamp her foot to drive her point home.
I was so proud of her, but I couldn’t let her continue alone. It was much too dangerous. “Look at you! Ana you’ve come so far, you’ve changed and adapted so well. Maybe a little too well… I give you my word, we’ll deal with Bellucci. But together, I won’t let you deal with this alone.”
“But that wasn’t part of the plan,” she said, lacking all of her fight.
Oh, I knew it wasn’t a part of the plan, but I knew she would see it my way in the end.
“Plans can change. When you came here, you asked me to trust you. Now I need you to trust me.” It took her a minute. My Ana was beautiful but stubborn, she didn’t relinquish her control very often. Which was why, when she gave me a reluctant nod of her head, my heart soared.
I had to act fast before she changed her mind and things became difficult again. I pulled out my phone and hit the speed dial for Drex. She watched me closely as I spoke into the phone.
“Drex, get the boys, we’re gonna take down Bellucci. I need you here asap,” I said as soon as he answered. There was a murmur of agreement on the end of the line that sounded suspiciously like ‘about time’. “Tell them they should be ready for some resistance, but nothing out of the ordinary.”
“Okay, boss. Got it. A dozen?” I considered what I knew about the Bellucci Family compound. They had a lot of land but the house itself was small. A dozen trained men should be more than adequate.
“That should be fine. Text me when you’re here, we’ll meet you over at the Bellucci estate.” I hung up with faith that my brothers would be here as soon as possible. They knew where to meet us because we’d done a ton of recon at the Bellucci place shortly after I found out my Ana was betrothed to one of them. Hopefully, that knowledge could come in handy tonight.
I turned to Ana who was still watching my every movement. I meant what I’d said to her, she had changed so much, adjusted so well. I was so proud of her, for all that she’s had to put up with in the past, to then be thrust into this world… she’d just gotten on with it like none of it was a big deal.
“Come on, let’s go back to the hotel room. We’ve got some things to discuss before we meet up with the guys,” I said, taking her hand. We walked to my truck. I didn’t think she was too concerned about leaving the Varelas behind. Good riddance.
I dropped Finch a text before I drove us back to the hotel, just to tell him that she was with me. I supposed he would appreciate knowing she was safe since he was the one that alerted me to the appearance of the ambulance after all.
“Do you have your keys to the house?” I asked, thinking on my feet that Ana needed a change of clothes. She couldn’t go around wearing bloodstained pyjamas and a hoodie, as much as I loved her legs in those shorts.
“I can’t go back there, Nikolai. I won’t ever be able to enter that house again,” she said, looking blankly through the windshield.
“I know, I need clothes, but I can’t go back. All that blood on the bedroom floor. I can’t do it.” She sounded calm, but I knew beneath that stoic exterior she must have been a mess of emotions. Shock was the only thing keeping her together, right now.
“Hand the keys over to me then. I’ll get you your things. Then we can go back to the hotel and you can get cleaned up. It’ll be a little while before Drex and the guys get here.” It was a five-hour drive, so even if they got moving straight away, we still had plenty of time.
She dug the keys out of her pocket and dropped them into my open palm. “My hold-alls are under the bed,” Ana said, before turning towards me in the seat, tucking her legs up to her chest, and closing her eyes. She must’ve been exhausted.
I pulled up outside the Varela house and got out of the truck. Ana blinked at me sleepily.
“Do they have a housekeeper?” I asked. The last thing I needed now was to be arrested for trespassing.
“It’s her day off. Upstairs, the room at the end of the hall,” she murmured, nodding. How fortunate.
It was cute that she thought she’d had to tell me where her room was. I’d spent weeks staked out front watching her every move. I knew where her room was...
I jogged up the drive to the house and unlocked the door. I immediately headed up the stairs and down the hallway to Ana’s room. I side-stepped a large pool of darkening blood at the foot of the bed and dragged out the two hold-alls she had mentioned. I shoved in everything I could find; her bathroom stuff, her makeup, and as much clothing as I could stuff in the bags.
There wasn’t anything in the room that told me she treated it like a home. It seemed like a hotel room, blank and featureless. I felt a twinge of satisfaction knowing that she didn’t need to be here anymore, that she was coming home with me as soon as the Bellucci matter was settled.
I was ready for tonight to
