Natalia
I didn’t sleep much. I tried calling Daniel several times to tell him about the annulment and to tell him to get me. I know he can. His phone is off, though, because he’s decided to play hero and sort out the mess we’re in. The problem is, getting me back after the annulment will be even more complicated. I don’t understand why Ivan is being like this. I knew he hated the Quinns. I know who Ronan is, but I didn’t know how much he hated them.
I suppose you never really know the full story of what’s going on, not even in your family, because there will always be secrets. I give up trying to sleep at around six in the morning and instead wrap myself up and sit in the cool morning air on the back deck. I feel exhausted, but I can’t rest. My mind is going at a thousand miles a minute.
I mean, I could probably get myself out of here. I know Evgenii’s guards well, and I know their schedules.
I doze off slowly and jolt awake when my phone rings. I answer it without looking at the screen. “Daniel?”
“It’s Ivan.” He sounds pissed that I was expecting the man I love. “Your annulment is through. You are free of Daniel Quinn. We can celebrate later. For now, get some rest.”
He actually did it. I can’t believe he actually did it. I feel so betrayed. I hiss at him over the phone. “I will never forgive you.”
I hang up, and a few moments later, I hear Evgenii coming out of his room on the phone. Ivan must be telling him to sort me out. I can hear his end of the conversation.
“She’s stubborn. She doesn’t want to listen to me.” Silence while Evgenii listens.
“Yes, she probably needs therapy. She probably has Stockholm, whatever it is.”
Another pause.
“I’ll speak to her now. It’s probably the pregnancy hormones making her irrational.”
I hear his padded footsteps and don’t look at him as he hovers in the door leading out to where I’m sitting. I stare ahead of me. “Be careful; I bite.”
“I know.” He sighs. “Natalia, you need to listen to reason. You’re not thinking straight. Pregnancy changes how a person acts, thinks, and feels, and you’re not in your right mind right now. You need to trust that we have your best interests at heart.”
I stand up and face Evgenii. “My best interests at heart? I want to raise my child with the man I love, and you threaten to kill him. You try to have me taken from him, twice may I add, and on top of all that, when I do show up to get advice from my older brother, who should always be in my corner, the first thing you do is annul my marriage. The marriage I want.
The marriage I choose. I know the type of man Daniel is. I grew up in the Volkov family. What I don’t understand is what I’ve done to Ivan?”
Evgenii looks at me, confused, and holds up his hands. “Hold on, what do you mean what you’ve done to Ivan?”
“What have I done to him, Evgenii? I have been loyal. I have traveled to almost every shit hole there is to do deals for him. I’ve killed for him to secure arms deals and drug routes. I’ve been in danger for the last few years because I had to kill the heir to a Sicilian family, and Daniel saved me. And for all that, for all I’ve done and sacrificed, Ivan betrays me by having my marriage annulled when I asked him not to.”
Evgenii frowns. “Natalia, this is exactly what I’m talking about.”
“About my fucking emotions,” I roar, kicking the deck chair away from me. “I am pregnant, not incapacitated. You didn’t question Shirley, not once, when she was pregnant. You worshiped the ground she walked on and begged her to love you. I never thought it would be possible for me to love, not with the life I have. Let alone have children. Yes, this wasn’t the plan, but fuck it, Evgenii, this is what I want.”
“You can’t just abandon your family because you fucked some guy,” he shouts at me, poking me in the chest. “You are acting like an insolent child. You ask what you’ve done to Ivan. How about betraying him? You slept with the enemy.”
“So did he,” I shriek. “He fucked the Sorvino girl until she was pregnant, had a half-breed, and is sharing his property with the enemy, but
I’m the bad guy.”
“It’s different!” He turns from me. I grab his arm and turn him around.
“How the fuck is it different? At least I love Daniel. Ivan just wanted Tori as a power move.”
“You wanted Daniel so you could save your hide,” Evgenii sneers at me. “Don’t act like a fucking saint. This isn’t a Hallmark movie, Natalia, this is reality, and there are consequences to your actions. Be thankful that all Ivan did was annul the marriage.”
He turns from me and storms into the house. He has made up my mind for me. I do not belong here anymore. My family doesn’t care about me. They care about losing the person doing their dirty work-because I’m good at what I do. I’m silent and move around easily. They don’t care about the danger I’m in. Ivan hasn’t once offered to negotiate to get the bounty off my head while Daniel runs head-first into danger to spare my life.
I go inside and to my room and slam the door, locking it. I get dressed and sit on the bed, waiting. Evgenii knocks on the door, and I shout,
“Fuck off.”
“I’m going to see Ivan. Grow the fuck up while I’m gone.” I hear him huff off, and I nod. I wait about twenty minutes before I get up and open my window. I’m on the ground floor, but I know the guards don’t often patrol around here because it’s hard to reach. I always considered telling Evgenii about this little security flaw, but today I’m glad I didn’t.
It’s overgrown here, and I pick my way quietly through the bushes, keeping as low as possible. Thankfully I’m not so far along that my body hinders my movement, but I am still cautious. I don’t want to hurt or risk the baby.
I get to a drainage gate and test it. It’s still loose from when I sneaked out to save Ana and Luigi. I tug it and pull it aside, listening for the guards. No one makes a sound, so I crawl through and stand up outside the property. I make my way quickly from the house. I don’t know if anyone sees me, but I am free and move quickly.
I hail a cab and climb in, asking them to take me where I think I’ll find Daniel’s brother. If Daniel’s a Quinn, then he’s related to Ronan. I doubt Ronan will be very welcoming, but I know there’s a possibility that Daniel will go there first to get supplies.
I stare out the window, my mind wandering as we approach the turn onto the freeway. I don’t know what happens next.
I hear the squeal of tires, the shattering of glass, and the sound of metal twisting. The cab flips, and I curl up, trying to protect my belly. It stops, and I breathe hard, praying my baby is okay. I hear voices, it’s not English, but I can’t make out what they’re saying. I’m dazed by the crash. Hands grab me and drag me out. I feel the sting of broken glass as I’m dragged. I try to pull away once I’m on my feet, but the men holding me keep shouting at each other. One walks right up to me and raises a fist. Then everything goes black.
I open my eyes slowly, and my hand goes straight to my belly. I don’t know how I know, but I can tell the baby is fine. Whatever happened, I was lucky. I open my eyes.
I’m in a padded room cell. I’m so confused. What happened?
I try to recall where I was last and remember being in a cab, and someone drove into us. Then I was dragged away toward someone. I touch my face; it’s sore and will probably swell and bruise. I slowly get to my feet, and although I’m still a little dizzy, I look around. There’s nothing in here. Not even a window. There’s a door with a little opening at the top. I stand there and shout.
“Hello? Guards? I want to speak to whoever is in charge. Hello?” I keep shouting for a few minutes, but no one comes, and I hear no sounds.
Fuck.
Daniel
My old bed isn’t built for comfort. It wasn’t when I first got it, and it isn’t now. I can’t sleep anyway, so whether I’m comfortable or not makes no difference. I think about Natalia. I think about the curve of her breasts and how she tips her head back, whether on top of or underneath me. I think about holding her in my arms when we sleep. I want to protect her at all costs. I want her to know that. But the first step to doing that is dealing with the Dons.
Ronan has a lot of connections, more than my father ever had, even more than myself. He has quietly weaved a web of allies, and I don’t think anyone knows how far his reach is. But he isn’t power hungry; he isn’t like other families. He is content with what he has, and as long as no one is stepping on the family’s toes, he’s happy to run things behind the scenes.
I go downstairs early. I’m in a booth by seven, and the waitress, Molly, brings me a hearty breakfast. She smiles. “Ronan will be back in a couple of hours. He has business to attend to.”
“He’s always liked to get things done first thing in the morning,” I comment, smiling at her. She bounces off, and I start on my breakfast before I visit Jarryd’s record shop.
“Big brother,” he greets me loudly as I walk in. I give him a hug and smile. “So this is the shop?”
“This is my life’s work. Including special limited edition records that cannot be sourced anywhere. I have a copy of Bon Jovi’s record from Rhodesia.” He leads me to a section locked in a cage.
I smirk. “I know. I sent it to you.”
“Did you now?” He feigns surprise and chuckles. There’s a moment of silence before Jarryd gives me a look. “Seriously, I’ve never seen you go after a girl before. I thought you said you’d never work for the family again?”
“She’s worth it, Jarryd,” I comment, looking at the displayed records. “And she’s having my kid.”
“You’re going to be a father? Does Ronan know?”
I nod. “Ronan knows everything. I don’t have to tell him.” I shrug. “Even if she weren’t, I have a connection with her I’ve never had with anyone else.”
“Sounds nice. Don’t think I’m designed to be with someone, not with our family.”
“If I can, you can, if it’s what you want,” I point out.
There’s an awkward silence, and then Jarryd’s phone rings. He looks at the screen. “It’s Ronan.”
He answers, “Hey, Ronan. Yes, Dan is with me. Why? No? Oh, okay, I’ll send him back to the pub.”
He looks at me. “Ronan says, get back to the pub quickly. You’re in danger and in shit.”
I frown. “Duly noted.” I hurry out of the shop and down the street toward the pub. I’m immediately on alert as my brother’s men strategically stand guard up and down the road. Something is going on. I walk in, and Ronan shuts the door, locking it.
“What’s happened?”
“Ivan Volkov wants you dead for kidnapping your Bratva girl,” Ronan says in a huff. “I thought we were negotiating the hit on her, not bringing the Russians down on us for no reason.”
“It is for no reason.” My heart races. “I didn’t take Natalia. I haven’t left the street. Fuck, the Dons must have got to her.”
“Daniel, calm down,” Ronan says, reaching out for me.
I smack his hand away, and we share a look. “Don’t tell me to calm down. They’ll kill her and my child without another look.”
“They’ll want to make her suffer. You have time.” Ronan runs a hand over his hair. “I’ll see where they’ve taken her.”
“I can do it faster,” I say. I hurry upstairs, Ronan on my heels, and enter my room. I set up my laptop and turn on the tracker. “She is chipped.” “You chipped your girlfriend?” Ronan asks.
“You chipped your mother,” I point out. “And our baby brother, who still doesn’t know.”
“It’s for his own good,” Ronan grumbles.
The tracker searches for her location, and we watch with bated breath. It lands at an abandoned asylum; I know it well. I used it when I needed a private place to get information from people.
“I’m going to save her. Can you spare anyone?” I ask, standing up.
“I’ll deal with these Sicilian fuckers afterward. My way.”
Ronan smirks. “Take Jarryd and Robbie. They’re both excellent fighters, even if Robbie is a bit…wild.”
“You mean psychotic,” I say, taking out my guns and loading them. “Jarryd?”
“Aye, you’d be surprised. Get Natalia back. I will send word to Ivan Volkov for a meeting to explain your lack of involvement in Natalia’s kidnapping.” Ronan holds a phone out. “It’s my spare. It’s only traceable by me. Keep it on you.”
“Thanks. I’m going to get the boys and get going.” We both walk out.
I wait for my brothers to lock and load. I won’t lie and say I’m waiting patiently. I’m sure it feels longer than it actually is. We take Robbie’s truck. It’s fast and bulletproof, much like I think Robbie is.
Robbie doesn’t give a fuck about traffic as he weaves through the cars. I’m sure I saw a cop car trying to pull him over, but the cop couldn’t keep up. Robbie used to drag race; it’s not surprising.
We’re not even going for subtle. Robbie drives straight through the front gates, forcing them open. “Woohoo!” he yells.
His tires squeal as he skids to a stop, and as one unit, we climb out and start opening fire the minute the door opens. There are numerous guards, all shouting for each other. We don’t have to talk; we’ve held guns since we could walk and were drilled before we could utter for our Ma to comfort us.
Once the first wave of guards is dealt with, we sweep through the asylum. There are a few more guards to take out, but eventually, we find a group down a hallway guarding one door.
That has to be it.
Robbie and I look at each other, but before we can do anything, Jarryd steps out and starts shooting the guards one at a time in the head. I watch, impressed, and when he’s done, he glances back at me.
“You’ve been practicing,” I comment.
“You’ve been gone for years, Dan,” he smirks.
I raise my gun and shoot the guard that’s just stepped out behind him to shoot him. “I still check the corners.”
Robbie whoops and hurries down the hallway. He kicks a few guards to ensure they’re dead, and then we peek into the room. Natalia is lying in the middle of the floor.
“Nat? Nat!” I call her, banging on the door. “Guys, we need to find the keys.”
We start searching the bodies. Robbie keeps guard and shoots one or two guards who come to see who’s making a noise. I think we’ve got most of them, but I don’t care. Nat isn’t responding, which means she could already be dead. I need to know.
Jarryd calls out to me, “Try these.”
He throws me a ring of about a dozen keys, and I start pushing them into the lock and turning. “No, none work.”
We keep searching. I think my panic is washing over my brothers. We find another set. They don’t work.
I find a key on a nearby guard. It’s a single key on a piece of string. I hurry to the door, and a wave of relief briefly washes over me as the lock clicks open. I heave the door open and rush inside. “Nat!”
I kneel beside her and lift her head. I put my ear by her nose. “She’s breathing, but she’s not responding.”
I tap her face lightly. “Nat! Babe! Wake up. Please wake up. It’s me. It’s Daniel.”
My brother’s come over, and Robbie kneels next to me. “Can you carry her? Or do you need help? There’s a hospital about ten minutes out.”
I nod and hand him my gun. I hook an arm under her arms and my other under her knees and get up with her. I carry her toward the door.
Robbie goes through first, sweeping for more guards. Jarryd covers us.
We’re moving slower than I want, but I also know moving too fast could get one of us, or Nat, shot.
When we reach the car, I climb into the back with her while Jarryd and Robbie climb in the front.
“Go! Go! Go!” Jarryd yells at our brother.
He spins his tires as he turns around and speeds the way we came. I hear Jarryd talking on the phone, I assume to Ronan.
“We need guards at the hospital so they don’t attack her there.” I wish they would try.
I would make sure they couldn’t do it again.\