My eyes felt glued together. My entire body felt weak and cold. Groaning, I tried to sit up.
I felt a big hand push me back on the bed. “Easy.”
Viktor. I peeled open my eyes. He was sitting beside the bed.
“Olivia,” I rasped.
“I sent her upstairs to shower and take a nap. She hasn’t left your side since you got here.”
“How long have I been like this?”
“You’ve been out of it for two days. You ran a fever, but it broke this morning. That’s the only reason I convinced Olivia to go upstairs.”
I felt like an invalid as he pressed a plastic cup of water to my lips, but I drank it gratefully. Exhausted, I dropped my head back on the pillow. “What happened?”
“What didn’t happen?” he said grimly. “Do you remember the fight?”
I frowned. “We were catching up to our team when we got hit.”
“You got hit. You took a metal fragment that tore up some blood vessel in your shoulder. Doc patched you up.”
I groaned, hating how weak I felt.
“Olivia assisted in surgery,” he continued. “Held her own. Doctor said she had steady hands.”
“Olivia was in my surgery?”
“Yup.”
I looked at my friend. “I asked you to get her out of here.”
“I tried to get her to leave, but she flat-out refused. Aside from hog-tying her ass all the way up north, there wasn’t much I could do about it.”
I tried to think through the fog in my brain. “Vlad?”
“He’s gone missing. No one has seen him since that night. He’s not answering his phone. And Amelia has checked out of the hotel and is in the wind.”
I worked to lift my head. “She’s at risk here. Olivia needs to get out of here.”
Viktor looked grim. “I know. She knows that. But she’s not leaving you behind. So until you can be moved, we’re stuck here.”
I wanted to get out of bed, find her, and put her in a vehicle, but I couldn’t even lift my head off the pillow. “I want to talk to her. Now.”
Viktor stood up. “She’s sleeping. You need to sleep. When she wakes up, I’ll send her down.”
I wanted to argue, but I couldn’t seem to open my eyelids.
The next time I woke up, Olivia was sitting beside my bed. She wore a worried expression, but her tremulous smile was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
“Olivia,” I scratched out.
She stood up and leaned down to kiss me. “You’re awake.” Her eyes were puffy and her nose was red.
“Were you crying?”
She shook her head, obviously lying. “No.”
My only objective was to get her out of here. “I need you to go with Viktor. Listen to him.”
She shook her head and gave me another watery smile. “We’re not leaving you.”
I felt sick that she was here, in danger, because of me. “That’s not the deal we made.”
She reached out and pushed the hair off my forehead. “I didn’t make that deal.”
I felt my entire world sinking. Everything I had done to keep her safe had been in vain. Now she was at risk while I lay here, unable to protect her. “I need you to do this for me.”
She shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “No. I can’t leave you.”
Frustration washed over me. “Olivia, don’t argue.”
A knock sounded at the door. Viktor stuck his head in. “Police are at the gate.”
“Radio the gate. Tell them I’m in the shower and I’ll be out in fifteen. Find me some clothes.”
Viktor paused, but he nodded and stepped out.
Olivia looked at me in horror. “You can’t get out of bed.”
In this world, you can never show weakness. If word got out to anyone that I wasn’t taking calls from the police, everyone would assume I was wounded. Which would only weaken our front.
With monumental effort, I pushed myself into a seated position. “I need to take a shower. Go get the doctor.”
She looked like she wanted to argue, but I cut her off. “I’m not fucking around, Olivia. Go get him.”
She disappeared out the doors. Somehow, I managed to drag my ass to the shower. It took all my effort, but I got it done.
When I got back to the bed, a pile of fresh, folded clothes sat on top.
The doctor came in and spoke to me in Russian. “You’re getting up. I don’t advise it.”
“Why am I so weak?”
He reached over and checked my pulse. “Aside from the fact that you were shot and lost a lot of blood, your infection took a toll. It’s going to be a while before you feel like yourself.”
“I need whatever shit you can give me that will give me enough energy to walk to the gate and deal with the cops.”
He nodded and opened a drawer. “I’ll give you a shot to freeze your shoulder, so you don’t feel anything.”
“Anything else?”
He pulled open another drawer and injected a huge needle in my arm. “You will feel even worse in an hour, but until then, you won’t feel much at all.”
“Thanks.”
Whatever he gave me steadied my hands and gave my legs juice. I got dressed and even brushed my teeth. I was a little pale and kind of sweaty, but nothing too crazy.
I walked out of the bathroom. Viktor stood there, eyeballing me. “You look like complete shit.”
“Come on. In an hour, apparently, I’m going to feel worse.”
We walked slowly to the gate. I worked to keep my breath steady. The same two detectives from before got out of their car when we approached.
“Gentleman, sorry for the delay.” I tried to give them an easy smile.
One guy cleared his throat. “We just have a few questions for you.”
“Of course.”
“Do you know someone by the name of Amelia Chernov?”
You have got to be kidding me.
“I do.”
“What is your relationship with her?”
“I no longer have a relationship with her. I used to be engaged to her. She recently came back into my life, but I’ve only seen her twice, and then only briefly.”
They exchanged looks.
“You’re obviously here about her. Can you tell me what is going on?”
“Her parents have reported her missing. Her passport has you listed as her point of contact for her visit.”
“She made it pretty clear she wanted to get back together with me. But at this point, it’s not an option for me.”
The one cop cleared his throat. “Seems like all the women who want to have a relationship with you go missing.”
Where was she? How was she involved in this shit show?
“The fact that these women went missing is not coincidental, but it has nothing to do with them wanting to sleep with me.”
“Mind if I ask what that reason is?”
“Bunko. The guy you just released from prison on bail. He’s behind all of this.”
“You have any evidence for that?”
I smiled at him. “Finding evidence is your job.”
“What happened to your shoulder?” The other cop nodded in the direction of my wound. “You’re not moving it.”
“This is an old football injury. It flares up from time to time.”
“American football?”
“No, soccer.”
They obviously weren’t buying my lies. “Did you hear about the gunfight on Highway 99?”
“I did. I heard about it on the news. Not many details.”
“That’s all that you know about that?”
I worked to keep the pleasant smile on my face. “That’s all.”
They exchanged looks. “Well, if you hear anything, give us a call.”
“Will do, gentlemen.”
Viktor and I stood and watched as they drove away.
“Thoughts?” Viktor asked.
“You and Olivia should have left two days ago.”
“I couldn’t agree more.”
“Want to make a game plan?”
“I’m all ears.”
“There will be another hit on us at some point. The fight is just getting started. So, our best option is defense. We need to make a show of force, and then hunker down.”
“You still want to get her out of here?”
Yes. “What do you think the odds are that we will make it to trial in one piece?”
“Slim to none.”
“Agreed.”
Viktor’s phone rang. He listened and then hung up. “Bastelli just called. They found Vlad in one of the clubs.”
“What do you mean, found him?”
“He was at the back of one of his clubs, sitting at a table, drugged up on something. They said they revived him with a banana bag.”
“That makes no sense. Why is he drugged up?”
Viktor shrugged. “No clue. They want to know what they should do with him.”
“Tell them we’re coming to pick him up.” I started walking back to the warehouse.
Viktor drove to Bastelli’s club while I worked hard to not puke. Every bump we hit made me feel more nauseous. Whatever the doctor had given me was wearing off.
A groan escaped me as he went over another bump.
He looked at me. “Doctor said you should be in bed.”
I looked out the window. “Right now, I need to show a strong front.”
He didn’t argue, he knew I was right. He parked in front of the club. The four men we brought with us moved out to check the perimeter.
“Do you think this is a setup?” Viktor asked as he checked his gun.
I thought about that. I couldn’t tell who was the enemy anymore. I didn’t trust anyone. “I don’t know. It might be, but I doubt Bastelli would try anything up-front. His attacks tend to be more sneaky.”
Viktor looked at me. “All clear. Ready to go inside?”
We walked through the night air to move into the dark club. It felt like my legs weighed a thousand pounds. As we walked between the tables, I concentrated on getting to the back of the club. Every part of me ached with the effort.
Finally, we reached the back hallways. One of his men led us to Bastelli’s private office.
When we walked into the office, Bastelli was alone, sitting at his desk. He glanced up, his eyes narrowing on me. “You look like shit.”
“Where’s Vlad?”
“Sleeping off some cocktail in the back office. Want my guys to grab him for you?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
He picked up a radio and said something in Italian. And then looked at us. “You want a drink?”
“No, thanks.”
“Quite the fuck-up the other night, hey?”
I shook my head. “You have no idea.”
His beady eyes darted over me. “Heard you were busted up pretty bad.”
“Do I look busted up?”
He looked between Viktor and myself. “Nope.”
“I need a fucking nap. That’s what I need.”
He eyeballed me. “Carl wants to call another meeting.”
“Have him set it up.”
“He said since the barge attack didn’t happen, he wants to go on the offense again.”
More fights. I looked around his office, knowing that whatever happened, it would end badly. “Sounds good.”
The radio crackled, and he picked it up, talking rapidly. He glanced up at us. “Vlad’s gone. They can’t find him anywhere.”
“I thought you said he was cooked?”
“The guy was fried. Completely incoherent. He shouldn’t be conscious right now, much less walking.”
I kept my voice easy. “Well, if that fucker shows up, give me a call.”
He laughed. “Yeah. Sorry to waste your time.”
Viktor and I walked through the club. I was sweating profusely by the time I got back to the truck.
Viktor started the truck. “Was Vlad even there?”
“I doubt it,” I mused.
“So what was that about?”
This was how these men operated. Everyone was always looking for an angle to exploit. “I think this was just a test, so Bastelli and Carl could see how I was faring.”
Viktor shook his head. “What about Amelia, Vlad, and that detective? Where is everyone?”
I shook my head. “If they were working with Bunko, we can probably assume they are dead.”
He shook his head. “Why does it feel like we’re in so deep, we don’t even know the way up?”
“Because that’s the truth.”
Back at the warehouse, I didn’t return to the infirmary. If I did, Olivia wouldn’t leave my side and then she’d end up sleeping in a chair all night. If I was in our bed, she probably would be too, and no one looked like they needed sleep more than she did.
The doctor sent me upstairs with more pain meds and antibiotics. I dragged my sorry ass up two flights of stairs with her hovering.
Somehow, I made it to the loft. Somehow, I got my clothes off and crawled into the bed.
I was drifting in pain-med delirium when I felt her snuggle up beside me.
I woke up feeling halfway to human. I lifted my head. Beside me, Olivia was sitting, her knees up, reading.
“Still reading that textbook?”
She turned to me and smiled. “You’re awake.”
“What time is it?”
“Four o’clock.”
I groaned as I sat up. “I need to talk to Viktor.”
“He’s coming up at five. He’s bringing dinner.”
I rubbed my hands over my face. “I need a shower.”
Her face brightened. “I can help you.”
Olivia got into the shower with me. She seemed so eager to help that I let her shampoo my hair and lather my body with soap. Sadly, my hot shower lacked hot sex, but it did revive me.
I got dressed and sprawled at the end of the bed. Our eyes met. The only thing I wanted was to get her to someplace safe. “Talk to me.”
“About what?”
“How have you been doing?”
She looked down at her hands. “That night you were shot, it was scary. I helped perform surgery on you.”
I traced my fingers on her calf. “I heard.”
“I’ve gone to the gun range twice.”
That surprised me. “By yourself?”
“Viktor comes with me. He said I’m the worst shot he’s ever seen.”
I worked not to laugh. “Don’t listen to him.”
I could feel her emotions come off her in waves.
“I was so scared you wouldn’t recover.” Her voice shook slightly.
“I’m almost back on my feet,” I lied. “I wish you would have listened to Viktor and gotten out of here while you could.”
It crushed me that she hadn’t heeded my warnings. Now she was stuck here, and I had no idea how we would protect her. At some point, we would need to move her out of here. I needed to figure out a way to convince her to leave.
“Don’t be mad.”
I moved up the bed to give her a lingering kiss, grateful that we had been given more time. “I’m not mad.”
She lifted her brown eyes to me. “This world is a scary place, but you make it feel safe.”
“I make it more dangerous.”
She shrugged. “I don’t see it like that.”
Viktor came upstairs with a box of pizza. For the first time in days, I felt hungry. I knew I would crash at some point, but right now, after food and sleep, I felt more like myself.
Viktor spoke to me in Russian. “Things have been too quiet lately.”
“What is the word on the street?”
He took a sip of his beer. “Everyone is on edge. No one is talking.”
It was the calm before the storm. Something was brewing, but it was hard to say which way things would go. I needed answers. I needed to know who had double-crossed me. I had my suspicions that Vlad was behind the barge mess, but without him around to question, those were only educated guesses.
“Any word on Vlad’s whereabouts?”
He pushed his plate aside. “I got a tip that he’s holed up in some motel. I was going to go check it out after dinner.”
If we could get a hold of Vlad, we could get answers out of him and figure out what Bunko was planning next. It was imperative we find him.
“I’ll come with you.”
He frowned. “You need to sleep.”
I looked at Viktor. He looked as exhausted as I felt. I wasn’t going to send him into any situation by himself. I needed to start pulling my weight. “I’m coming with you.”
I glanced over at Olivia, who was loading the dishwasher, looking cuter than I’d ever seen her. “I need fifteen.”
He nodded. “See you downstairs.”
After Viktor walked out, I carried my plate to the island. “Thanks for cleaning up.”
Her smile was so sweet. “There wasn’t much to clean up.”
“I have to go out.”
She looked crestfallen. “Right now? Why?”
“We are looking for Vlad.” I bent down to kiss her lips. “I’ll be back soon.” I tried not to wince when I put on my gun holster.
She looked worried. “Please be careful.”
I gave her a reassuring smile. “Security around here is really tight, but try not to leave the loft if you don’t have to.”
“I won’t.”
