27. Nikolai

27

NIKOLAI

" N ik!"

I'd never heard a sweeter sound.

Oh, thank fuck. She was alive!

Amy's frantic shouts for me had me dropping to my knees to find her. She'd crawled under there when Diego lifted that second gun. From my vantage point of running across the room, I couldn't see if he'd hit her.

I swore my heart stopped beating from the moment he pulled the trigger. The second he did, his attention trained downward, and I shot him. Again. And again. He wouldn't survive a bullet to the brain, and if he tried to, hyped up on some will to live in his psychosis, the three bullets embedded in his heart wouldn't let that happen.

He'd fired at me, too, but the searing sting on my upper arm wasn't a worry.

All I could be concerned about was Amy. My woman. My love .

"Nik!" She cried it in relief as she surfaced from beneath the table. On her hands and knees, she crawled toward me. Tears slipped from her eyes and spilled over her cheeks as she hurried to me, frantic and impatient. Swinging and pumping her arms from side to side to kneel toward me, she showed no sign of being shot. Or injured. No blood stained her. Only a little at her hands from that knife.

"Amy." I hauled her into my arms, rejoicing in the contact of her sweetness. She lived and breathed, crying and sniffling as she hugged me close.

I would never, ever let her go. With her arms around my neck, the force of her approach so strong that she rocked us back, I closed my eyes and buried my face against her.

Breathing her in proved that this wasn't an illusion. Digging my fingers into her sides showed how unscathed she was.

But still, my heart beat so fast, ramped up on adrenaline and the most sickening fear I'd ever felt in my entire life.

"Amy—"

She cut me off as I backed up to look over her face. I didn't want to assume she was uninjured, and I needed to check again.

Instead, I grunted against her lips, instantly falling into the punishingly strong kiss she plastered on me.

I was buoyed by her needy kiss, and I took her offer freely. Her sweet taste. Her boldly fierce desire for me. And the heart-wrenching relief that we were together.

Growling into her mouth, I held her tight and dipped her backward, realizing that while we fought to breathe, lip locked and so zealous to touch each other, she couldn't be so wounded to hold on to me like this.

Still, I had to temper this raging relief. I couldn't be sure until I saw for my own eyes that she was unharmed and not at risk. So many had been shooting. All these men had been fighting. It was the last scenario I ever wanted to find my woman in, but she'd survived it all.

Amy was strong. I knew that and loved it, but I had to prioritize her safety.

She had the same thought. Rearing back and breathing hard, she framed my face and rubbed her thumbs over my cheeks. As though she had to feel me to know I was okay.

"Are you hurt? Did he shoot you? Are you?—"

I kissed her quiet again, groaning against her lips.

This woman wanted me. She cared for me, but hearing her panicked questions like that had me wondering if what she felt for me ran even deeper.

That she could love me, too.

"I'm not hurt," I told her as I started to stand, helping her up with me. Now that I knew she was okay, I had to see to the others.

"Okay—wait!" She furrowed her brow as she climbed to her feet. Tracing my face, then my shoulders, and down to my arms, she'd found my one slight encounter with a bullet.

"Nik! You are injured!" She scowled, worried and on the move. After prying the fabric of my jacket and shirt aside to better inspect the graze on my skin, she shook her head. "I'll stitch it up."

I almost smiled, amused at her insistence to play nurse. This woman. She was perfection. Anyone else might have flinched or gagged, but Amy proved to be hardier than that. The sight of blood and gore didn't repulse her, and I wanted to have hope that one day, she might not judge me as an instigator of spilling blood.

"Not yet." I took her hand and couldn't help myself. Standing up, I had a full view of her and I checked her over. No wounds. No blood.

It's a miracle. She's my miracle .

"But your arm?—"

"Won't fall off," I finished for her. Just because Diego was dead didn't mean the threat was over. He'd come with so many of the Cartel that I wanted to do my duty and make sure none of those fuckers were still alive and posing danger on our turf, in our home.

"I need to help." I ran my free hand over my head, scraping my hair back. It would take hours to restore order in the house. We had plenty to help with that, but I needed to see to my brothers and help where I could.

But not without Amy. I refused to let her out of my sight, and she understood that without my having to explain anything.

Alek nodded at me from the other side of the room. He spoke with a soldier but paused to face me. Behind him, Mila hugged Margie and spoke to the housekeeper, no doubt terrified with this messy violence even though she lived with us and was in deep as a long-standing Bratva woman.

"It's done," Alek said, glancing at where Diego lay on the floor. He winced as he rotated his arm, likely injured from the fighting. "You're okay?" Looking me over, then Amy, he seemed satisfied with the evidence that we were fine.

Diego was done. He was dead, never to be a threat to us again. But the night was far from over.

I couldn't bask in the comfort of relief yet. I couldn't sit down and coax my heart to slow. It felt like it would be a long time before I could lower my guard and think peace was around the corner. Almost losing Amy—and our babies—like that was too stark and awful of a terror to get over that easily.

With time, and keeping her near, I would improve. We all had to. This breach on our mansion wouldn't be forgivable, but eventually, it would be one more dark memory among a lifetime of them .

"Is Maxim all right?" I asked, recalling how he'd been on the ground when we arrived.

Another soldier passed by, helping the wounded. "Yes, sir. I was there when he was hit with the Taser. He's being helped to his wing now for a gunshot wound to his thigh."

"Thank you." I singled out Alek and Maxim because they were my brothers by blood, but all the men who worked for the family were part of my concern. I didn't need to hover over them all. We had layers of help for these specific situations.

"Amy." Mila came close and hugged her, but I didn't release her hand. She would be glued to me whether anyone liked it or not.

"Thank you," Amy told her, squeezing her hand. "Thank you for hiding and getting that knife for me."

She nodded, smiling, but the sound of a man crying out in pain from outside had her furrowing her brow. "I think," she said as she stepped closer to Alek, "that we might need to plan on hiring a better medical crew here."

He grunted, smirking. "More than the obstetrician, you mean?" With a deep sigh, he nodded. "We do. We will."

I shared a look with him, knowing that the last on-duty nurse the Bratva employed was run off by Pavel when Andrey brutally raped her.

"We have a new future we're building," he reminded us all, "and we'd better be equipped to take care of anything that comes to pass."

Amy threaded her fingers with mine as Alek and I spoke about cleaning up the place and securing it. She made no move to leave, and she didn't seem uneasy about hearing our frank talk about dead bodies, removing evidence, and cleaning up the blood.

Given her former career, maybe she had a stronger stomach than most. Her unflinching desire to stay by my side had me wondering if she was taking more steps toward acclimating to the violence of my life.

"Ivan is already outside, securing the perimeter with his soldiers. Dmitri is on his way back now," Alek reported.

Together, with Amy, I handled overseeing the beginning of the cleanup and tallying of casualties. I didn't need to do anything heavy, not with all the soldiers hurrying to restore this place to a residence and official headquarters.

I didn't retreat to my wing yet. Not until I helped where I could and directed the men as much as possible. Alek had his hands full here, but once Dmitri showed up and took over the supervision I'd been doing, I gave in.

"You need to wrap your arm," Amy scolded as I led her toward my suite.

"I thought you said you could stitch me up."

She smiled, leaning against my injured arm as we headed to my room. "I can. I will. If you let me."

I grunted a rough laugh. "I will always trust you, Amy." Even to fight back when I fail you. "I'm sorry this happened."

She furrowed her brow as I opened the door to my suite. "It was supposed to happen. Diego is dead, just as you'd planned."

"It wasn't supposed to happen like that !"

"What did happen? When you left?" she asked as she led me to the bathroom.

I let her guide me to sit on the chair near the vanity. As she rifled through the first-aid kit that was stowed on a low shelf in the closet here, I sighed and rubbed my face.

"Alek and I showed up at the location to find no one there. It was deserted. It was all a trap, a trick to lure us out of the house. "

She came back with supplies and set them on the vanity. Her fingers were cool and soft as she removed my jacket and shirt. "But how? How could they have known that all of you brothers would be out of the house tonight?"

I shook my head. "I don't think they did. And Maxim was here. I think they just wanted me and Alek out of the way because, originally, we were determined to negotiate over you. I think they would've attacked even if Ivan and Dmitri were here."

"I'm sorry they got in," I added.

"It's not your fault." She wiped at my cut, absent with her words as she focused on cleaning my blood. "There were so many of them. Mila and I were eating a late dinner, and then boom. They were there."

"They didn't do anything to you?" I asked. I had to know. If Diego did or said something to her before Alek and I got here, I'd wish for a way to kill him all over again.

"No. You arrived right after they burst in. Diego tried to get me to leave with him, and then there you were." She applied an ointment, shaking her head. "It's not deep enough for stitches."

Good. Because I'd only end up pulling them when I fucked her. Seeing her doting on me and nursing me like this had me all twisted up. She had to care. She had to love me as much as I did her. And letting that thought get into my head, I got hard for her.

"And he's dead now. He'll never be a threat to me again," she said, almost as though she needed to convince herself of it. Her fingers pressed down as she covered the graze on my arm with a wide bandage.

I took her hand, bringing her to stand between my legs. "Nothing and no one will ever be a threat to take you from me."

She gazed down at me calmly, yet with a hint of desire glowing in her eyes. I wasn't sure if she'd be repelled from me after seeing so much violence. It had to be traumatic for her civilian mindset, but she wasn't shy now.

"I love you, Amy. I will always love you and fight for you. It took me too long to understand that one night would never be enough. I was fated to find you, and I will always keep you and love you with everything I am."

On a breathy sigh, she lifted her hand to frame my face. I turned, pressing my lips to her palm.

"I know that you only think I'm a monster, a criminal, but?—"

She moved her fingertips to my mouth. "No. I know better now. You are not a monster. You are a hero. A helper. A man who cares to release a child from hell, and a lover who will defend me."

Sitting on my thigh, she lowered her hand and draped her arm around my shoulders. She snuggled close, bringing my hand to her stomach. "You are the strong, brave father of my children—our children—and I will always love you too."