Chapter 22

I still cannot believe I made it out of that underground bunker. To be fair, there were only five guards and they all went running to the cells when the power was cut. And the kid managed to kill one of them, so that was somewhat helpful.

However, I am now running through a field in the middle of nowhere. I have no idea if my tracker is working, but I can only hope that putting distance between the bunker and remembering where it is, will help our team find me.

My son and his family are more than capable. So I just need to get a signal and stay put. The only problem with that plan is that I have no idea when the signal goes through.

I scan the area, trees surround me on all sides, but I have been careful to ensure I stay headed to the north. That was a skill my father taught me. He insisted I learn survival skills.

As a child, I insisted it was silly to learn because I would always have my men around or a gun. I was naive to believe I would never be in a situation alone.

Thankfully, my father whipped my ass into shape. Literally and figuratively. I was an ornery little shit as a child, and deserved the fair share of beatings I received. In fact, some days I am thankful for them because they forced me to see what was right in front of me.

I keep going up what seems like a small mountain. Thankfully, my clothes are in good condition, even if I do need a shower. Or ten. My shoes are holding up well too, easily stepping on the brush to help me push forward. When I reach the top, I see a cell tower off in the distance. It appears to be a solid fifteen to twenty miles away.

While it is possible my signal gets there before I do, it also helps give me a landmark and encourages me forward. Which is a push I need because every fiber of my being is screaming that I go back to her.

While I could go back and take on each guard one by one with the full clip I have left, my intuition tells me Green will be waiting for just that. I cannot predict his movements, and he could have already called for backup.

With my eye on the tower, I decide to push on. Questions swirl in my brain about all that has happened in the past week or so. Everything feels as if it is changing, and I must admit, I am not a fan.

Nessa and I were happy with our life. We had found peace and passion together, for each other as well as our work.

Now, it feels like all of that could change on a dime.

???

By the time I make it to the large steel structure, sweat dripping from my brow and exhaustion threatening to have me toppling over the side of the mountain, a road comes into view along with a car I know very well.

"Father," Alexi says as he gets out of the vehicle. Evie, Lev, and Damien follow.

"Where is Nessa? Cillian?" Evie asks in a rush, looking around and behind me.

"Back…" I can't get the words out, my throat is so dry. Without having to ask, Lev throws me a bottle of water from the car, and I gulp it greedily, falling to my knees to rest in the dirt. The second I can get the words out, they practically burst from me.

"Fifteen miles, southwest. There is a bunker holding them. Two stories underground."

Evie looks at Lev as Alexi grabs me another water and what looks like a nutrition bar. I try to shove them away, but he pins me with a stare I know all too well.

I grab the bar and hastily eat it while Lev pulls up something on his computer.

"How long has it been?" I ask Evie.

"Nearly six days. We didn't think to look in the Ukraine because of the war. We assumed it would be too hard to cross borders."

I nod in agreement. They must know people in high places to get us here. Thankfully, we do too.

"Oh fuck," Lev says, rushing to the back of the car with his laptop in hand as he pops the trunk. A full LED display opens up and he plugs his computer in, his fingers typing frantically on the keys.

"Did you knock out the power?" Lev asks me.

"Cillian did."

Lev shakes his head, pulling up some screen with a lot of green numbers and weird lines.

"I know how they have been one step ahead of us. The power going out crashed some of their defense systems. But this all makes sense now."

His eyes stay on the screen, a revelation hitting him that none of us seem to understand.

Damien approaches him from behind, putting a hand on his back. "Babe, dumb it down for us."

The way they look at each other, with so much love, scares me. It makes me question if I really could go through with keeping Cillian in Nessa's life because I never see myself looking at him the same way Damien looks at Lev.

"Oh right, shit," Lev says with a laugh, turning to us. "They have tech that has been seeking out my drones. Any time a scanning device appears within a mile of their perimeters, they are notified. Which is how they must have known we were watching them."

"But they don't know who we are, just that they are being watched?" Evie asks.

"Exactly."

Alexi claps Lev on the shoulder. "So, how would we proceed here?"

Lev nods, turning back to his computer while talking. "I can disable it for now, but we will have to be careful from now on. I can't rely on the drones to seek out the kids. We are going to have to do this the old-fashioned way."

Damien's fist pumps the air.

"Woooohooo," he shouts.

Alexi shakes his head, and I look at Evie who just rolls her eyes. "He is excited to beat the shit out of people," she explains.

"We need to get off the road," Lev announces. "This is the main path that goes in the direction you were referencing. If they are sending more men in, they will be coming this way."

"We need to get to them now. I can show you where they are," I insist.

Alexi shakes his head, and Evie's hand wraps around my arm gently. "We have no idea what we are walking into," she says sympathetically. "We want them out too, but we need to be smart about this."

I clench my hands into fists and glare at Alexi. He shakes his head, siding with Evie.

"Nessa is hurt. Badly. She was having a hard time breathing when I left."

Evie runs her hands through her hair, starting to pace. "Okay, in the car. We will find a place to hide out close by and come up with a plan. Damien, call in your alpha team. I want Havoc here. Lev, keep working, get all of the information you can as Boris tells you everything he knows. Alexi, you drive."

Everyone begins to move and Evie pulls me to the car. "How long can she hold on?" she asks quietly.

"A few hours. It took me most of the day just to get here, so I don't know how much she has worsened. But Cillian found a medical kit so he might be able to help."

In truth, I have no idea. But based on her wounds, the way some of them already looked infected, and the severity of the bruising on her midsection, I worry it is less than that.

Once I get in the car, things move quickly. I give Lev every ounce of information I can recall, including the layout of the small bunker. He creates an estimated 3D blueprint and shares it with Damien while he stays on the phone with his alpha team, talking through a plan as I direct them to the best areas and tell them where they need to focus their fire based on the layout.

My adrenaline fades, and defeat swirls around me. I did not even try to get them out with me. Logically, I know that it was the right move to leave them there. Cillian had a plan and the best way to fuck it up would have been to question him or not follow through. But sitting here in a car parked a few miles from my girl with nothing to do is quite dreadful.

"Boris," Evie says softly. "Want to talk about it?"

I shake my head because that is something I cannot do. My son turns in his seat, a disapproving look on his face. Without a word, he looks at Evie, a silent conversation passing between them.

"Let's stretch our legs," Evie suggests.

We have been hunkered down for a while. Alexi forced me to eat and drink a bit so I no longer feel as weak, but I do not wish to stretch my legs. I want to go get my girl.

"Alpha team is twenty minutes out," Damien informs us. I sigh, knowing what they are doing. My hand curls around the handle as nausea churns inside me.

Evie follows me out of the car, and we take a few steps away as she stretches out her limbs. I do the same and try to get ready. Just a few more hours before Nessa should be in my arms.

"Want to tell me why one of my best friends looked like she cried herself to sleep six days ago when we showed up at your door?"

Well, I guess we are getting straight to the point.

"With all due respect, Eydis…" Her nostrils flare and her face turns red. Normally she doesn't mind if I call her by her birth name, but I can see that right now, she minds.

"Don't feed me that bullshit, Boris. We're a family. Spit it the fuck out." She crosses her arms, and I am reminded of the woman I have watched torture men to death, bathing in their blood without so much as a second thought.

"I fucked up, alright?" My words come out a little too harsh, but she doesn't flinch, showcasing just how much power she holds.

"That part was glaringly obvious. Let's talk about how you're going to fix it."

Clenching my fists, I pace back and forth, trying to keep my anger over everything at bay while I talk to the small girl who seems to have more strength in her than her three husbands combined.

"I tried to give her space so she could be with the love of her life."

She laughs and I turn to glare at her. "What is so humorous about that statement?"

She laughs again. "Did you forget that you're one of her loves?"

My anger fades to confusion in a snap. "Not everyone is like you, Eydis. We cannot all be in polyamorous relationships."

Her brows furrow, and she cocks her head to the side.

"Why is that?"

"Because that is just not normal!" My hands fly up in the air as frustration overtakes me before the car door opens.

"Watch how you speak to my wife, Father ."

I take a deep breath as Evie tells him to mind his own business. When the door shuts again, I look back to her.

"Who told you that having love for more than one person wasn't normal, Boris?"

I rub a hand over my face in thought. Dammit.

"No one."

Evie smiles softly. "Sounds to me like you are letting what you perceive society thinks, rule what you allow yourself to feel."

I do not respond to that. One, because she is correct. Two, it does not require a response.

"What is it that is holding you back?"

"I do not have feelings for Cillian like Lev has for Damien, or even how Alexi might have for them."

This time when she smiles, I can tell she is holding back a laugh. "Boris, you don't have to feel any kind of way about Cillian that you don't want to. You can both love Nessa and separate that from how the two of you feel for each other."

"Really?" I question. I have never seen it done like that before. Even Evie's friend Laney has two partners, but they are with each other as well.

"Boris," Evie reaches out for me, wrapping her small fingers around my arm and squeezing. "Family and love are what you make it. Living without any of my men would make me feel as if I were missing a limb. How would your life feel without Cillian?"

I ponder that idea for a moment because some of it would be easier. But every time I saw Nessa struggling, or each moment I could not be there for her, I would think I had failed her in some way by not giving her what she needed. Even walking away felt like I failed her. I promised her together, promised forever, then I turned my back on her.

"It would feel like something was missing," I admit.

She drops her hand and glances up at me as a new worry tears at my heart.

"What if she cannot forgive me?" I ask, ashamed of what I have put her through.

"I have a very strong feeling that she already has."

With that, she walks back to the car and gets in, leaving me with my thoughts. I still feel confused and worried, but for the first time, I think I am starting to understand what my son has found with Evie.

It's not about how the group is coupled up, it is about something so much greater. Family.

And dammit, the kid is family now.