We’ve won. My enemies are conquered. My woman is safe. But my advisor is on death’s door.
Everything has come at such a cost.
***
The hospital is noisy. Patients whine, machines beep, a TV overhead mumbles staticky nonsense at an irresponsibly high volume. I’m in an uncomfortable chair outside of one of the rooms.
Someone opens the door and emerges into the hallway. “Mr. Lavrin?” says a nurse with a clipboard. I stand immediately and then fall back in my seat. I’ve already been tended to and bandaged. The wound on my leg is going to keep me limping around for months, but it’s better than most of the alternatives.
“Is Eitan okay?” I demand immediately.
The nurse shakes her head. “Your friend is still recovering from surgery. We don’t know anything yet. But your, uh ...”
My heart stops. I push inside without waiting for her to finish.
Annie is propped up on a hospital bed. She smiles at me nervously when I enter. “Are you okay?” I ask. My voice comes out in a whispered rasp.
She bites her lower lip and dips her head. Her face is marked by furrowed brows and a clenched jaw. My heart stutters again and breathing becomes difficult. Something must have happened. Did she get shot? Stabbed? Raped? The possibilities horrify me.
“There’s something I need to tell you and I’m scared,” she says.
My heart beats a mile a minute. Was I too late? Did Gino hurt her? A hurricane builds inside me, one of anger and confusion and sorrow. “This is my fault.”
“Um, sort of, yeah.”
My mouth opens and closes but words don’t come out. Her response isn’t what I expected. I mean, yes, it’s my fault she was put in danger. And Annie hasn’t lied to me yet, so I’m not sure what I expected her to say. I sigh. I know what I wanted her to say—that it wasn’t my fault. That somehow whatever she’s worried about telling me has nothing to do with me or the life that I lead.
Annie hesitates, then says, “Nikita, I’m ... uh ... I’m pregnant.”
Words leave me. I stare into those bright, wide eyes, burning with insecurity, and my heart falls silent. But I can’t will my lips to move.
“Do you have nothing to say? Please tell me what you’re thinking,” she begs, her eyes desperately searching mine ... waiting.
Instead of answering her with words, my lips slam down on hers as I press my tongue to the seam of her lips and when she opens for me, I delve inside her mouth. The kiss is hot, fiery, passionate, and demanding. Her arms reach up and tangle around my neck, moaning as she presses her body against mine.
She pulls away and clasps her hands on either side of my face. “I take it you’re happy?”
I nod and place my hand on her belly. I’m going to be a father. I’m going to have a family. I smile from ear to ear. Finally, a chance to be a role model like my father once was to me. “Yes. Yes, I’m very happy.”
I lace my fingers through Annie’s. We’re going to be parents. “I swear that I’ll protect both of you for the rest of my life.”
A knock catches my attention and both Annie and I swing our heads toward the doorway.
Eitan.
He’s holding onto an IV stand, dressed in a hospital gown, and he looks like absolute hell. His eyes are bloodshot, his skin is pale, and he’s barely managing to keep his feet. But the smile on his face is pure and genuine. I’m guessing he overheard our conversation. Part of me expects him to shoot me one of those ‘I-told-you-so’ looks but he doesn’t. He just walks over and hugs Annie and congratulates her, kissing her cheeks.
He turns to face me. I want to tell him something—thank you, I suppose—but instead I just embrace him. He was my father’s advisor, and then mine. But he has become so much more than that. My best friend. My brother.
I open my mouth to tell him that I owe him my life, but before I can speak, two nurses come bounding into the room after him, furious. “You aren’t supposed to be out of your room for days, sir!” they screech. He sighs and says nothing as they load him into a wheelchair and whisk him away.
***
One Week Later
I turn and look to the chair. Gino is strapped to it. His face is still bloodied and swollen. Every breath he takes rattles through the shattered bones of his nostrils.
I run my hands through my hair three times in quick succession and fix Gino in a stare that could have frozen the Atlantic. What the hell to do? The Italian bastard threatened my family, my unborn child. He wanted to kill me, to end the Lavrin reign. So many of my men are dead.
All because of him.
“Nikita, this matter needs to be addressed,” Eitan says and holds out a gun. He’s still in a wheelchair, but he’s recovered enough of his color and energy to be discharged from the hospital. This will be his last act before a well-deserved retirement.
I grab the gun and growl. I stalk over to Gino and put the muzzle of the gun to his temple. The man deserves to die for all he’s done. If I hadn’t arrived when I did, he would’ve raped Annie. My arm shakes and my finger brushes the trigger. Gino deserves to be killed. No one will ever be safe with him alive.
I swallow and turn my head to see Annie. She demanded to be here for this. She wanted to see the end of him, she told me.
