Chapter 25 - Adley

Waking up after a hangover felt better than this. I jumped ever so slightly when I came to, still worried that I was in that damned courtroom. I wasn't, of course, but the flinch made my shoulder ache all the harder, and then a blooming nausea filtered out of the depths behind it.

Ugh, one morning when I'm not nauseated. That's all I want. How long is this shit supposed—

"The baby!"

I shot forward in the bed, and then suddenly, hands were on my arms, trying to keep me from shifting around too much. Pain flared through the injury near my neck, and I winced, hissing in a shallow breath.

"Whoa, whoa. You're all right, Adley. The baby is all right. Try to calm down."

Looking up at the woman standing before me, I was shocked to see a woman in a doctor's coat offering a gentle smile. Her strawberry blonde locks were pulled back into a ponytail, and the warmth of her green eyes immediately settled me.

I sucked in a deep breath, giving that calm thing a good try. "I…Where am I?"

She smiled. "You're at Lev Vadim's house. He works with Ivan. I'm Parker. Lev's wife. And the resident MD around the parts. Do you remember what happened?"

Looking down at where I lay in the bed, I noticed the distinct lack of a wedding dress; my body was covered in a hospital gown instead.

"Yes," I nodded, "but how did I get here? The last thing I remember was looking up at Ivan. God, where is he? Is he okay?"

Nervous energy pounded through me, imagining bullet holes riddling the father of my child. He'd knocked me out of the way of Donovan's shot. Did he take the brunt of it? Was he still alive? Oh, God. He has to be alive. I can't…No, no, no. I—

"Hey, hey." I looked up at Parker as she seemed to read my mind. She was shaking her head, doing her best to calm me as my thoughts raged. "He just left to get some sleep. I made him rest in a bed because he'd been in that chair for too long."

Looking to my left, I noticed the small chair pulled up to the side of the bed. It was then I realized that I was, in fact, in some type of medical suite, but it was far from the undecorated rooms you saw in a hospital. Parker had said I was in Lev's house. That made sense. The place had painted walls and carpeted floors instead of the usual all-white walls and tile.

"Oh, okay." I drew in more air, hoping to settle my nerves, and then I looked back up at Parker. "So…Ivan didn't get shot. He's…okay?"

She smiled. "He is. Unfortunately, you caught the bullet in that exchange, but thankfully, it was a clean through-and-through, and it wasn't near any vital organs or bones."

"Umm…" My hand drifted over my stomach as I considered my other colossal concern. "And the baby is…"

"The baby is fine. You're really early in your pregnancy, and it actually benefited you. The blood needed to support the pregnancy isn't as high yet. As far as I can tell, everything is okay. You haven't spotted since you arrived, but we'll keep an eye on it until I can perform a scan."

My heart was in my throat, and I just nodded again. "Okay. I…I just found out the other day. I'm not, umm, far along. I…"

Emotions were a bit too hard to process right now. I was thrilled the baby and Ivan were okay. However, there was still so much ahead of me with all this, and that constant anxiety I'd felt since I found out I was pregnant was still very much present.

With a soft grin, Parker took my hand. "Congratulations, Adley."

My eyes welled up, and I had to blink several times to see Parker clearly.

"If you'd like, I would be happy to help you keep an eye on the development over the next few months. I'm not an OBGYN, but I know what our men do for a living, so…you can be honest when you're with me. Though, I still suggest finding an OB or midwife to look after you."

"Right. That, umm, makes sense. Yeah, I'd like that." I nodded like a bobblehead. "And I'll find a doctor or something. I think…Ivan will probably take me."

My head spun, the details of my potential future swirling around in my brain and making that nausea flare. There was a gradual recession in the pain that thrummed through my neck and shoulder, though—and even the discomfort tucked behind my ribs.

I was alive, the baby appeared to be okay, and Ivan was alive. That's all I could really ask for.

Still, a stitch pulled in my heart with each beat. Because the truth was I wanted to ask for more. I wanted a real relationship, a partnership, with Ivan. Consciousness had been iffy at best after being shot, but the same thought had kept tumbling about in my head.

I cared about Ivan. I could quite possibly love him, and I wished for nothing more than to hear Ivan admit the same.

I want my happy ending, dammit.

"Hey," Parker took my hand as she sat on the bed beside me. "I know this has been a lot. And if your situation is anything like mine, I understand how it feels to be on the receiving end of the Vadim family's unique ‘wooing' techniques."

That one actually got me to laugh. Parker's insight was great, and it felt really good to know that someone else knew what I was dealing with and how overwhelming it could be.

"That is so true." I nodded, wiping under my eyes again. "Is it…is it wrong of us to want them? To be okay with all that comes with who they are?"

A long sigh dragged out of Parker, and she scoffed lightly. Looking down at our hands, Parker chuckled lightly, just a bit of air rushing out of her nose, and then she glanced up at me with a sympathetic smile.

"I'm not going to say it's not complicated, but wrong? No, I don't think so. These men…well, they're criminals, yes, but they're also humans. They have wants and needs and lives that they want to protect. Since being with Lev, well, I've seen the difference between brutal and evil. Does that make sense?"

I considered her words, and after laying out what I knew about Ivan in my head like an invisible conspiracy board, it did.

Ivan and his brothers, the Vadim family, were criminals. They didn't take shit from anyone. But they were also fiercely loyal to each other, they didn't go out of their way to hunt down women and children, and they had their reasons for choosing a less-than-legal career.

Nodding, I squeezed Parker's hand. "Yes. Could you…could you find Ivan? I want to talk to him."

"Of course. I know he'll be thrilled to hear you're awake." She raised her brows at me. "I'd prepare yourself for one hell of a hug."

I laughed, and then Parker was going somewhere in this strange house to find Ivan, my husband .