Finally, Aleksandr looks at me. “You’re bleeding.”
“I will be fine. Just go. We must get out of here,” I say, and he goes. I’m close behind him, and we all crawl for what must be ten or fifteen minutes. Eventually, the girls complain and we come out in some sort of room. It’s dusty, riddled with insects, and is downright gross. We’re all okay, and while I’m bleeding, this won’t kill me. It hurts badly, but I’ll be fine. I’ve been through worse, so much worse than something as minuscule as this.
We find a door in the room we’re in, and sure enough, as we open it, we walk out into some sort of park or forest. Aleksandr calls in a favor, and within a few minutes, we have an SUV picking us up, driving us to the private airport, and we’re on our way back to Dublin.
It’s a shame we didn’t get Maxim tonight, but his time will come, and when it does, it will be bloody. The man has much to pay for.
Chapter Nineteen
Sloane
God, they’re back. The entire time he was gone, I was nothing but a nervous wreck. The kids are in the safe house for the time being and being without the twins and Aleksei was torturous. Aleksei and Aleks returned with Aleks’ sisters, Ivanna, Darya, and Tamara.
Aleksei comes through the front door and rushes right up to me. “I mis—” my words are cut off by his palms on either side of my face and his lips slamming down onto mine. His kiss may look ferocious and savage-like, but that’s not the case. He’s kissing me with the most care and sincerity. It’s beautiful, the way his lips roughly yet lightly brush against mine. It’s the best of both worlds, really.
“I missed you too,” Aleksei admits. I spot a speck of what looks to be dried blood on his shirt, so I peel back his jacket. Sure enough, his entire right shoulder is only a big patch of dried blood. The words he just spoke mean nothing, and now I’m in doctor mode.
“Get into the kitchen, now,” I order, and we both head in. I have a medical kit under the kitchen sink, so I yank it out and grab everything I need. I grab the scissors and cut his shirt so I can gain access to the wound. Starting with betadine, I pour it all over his shoulder. I have a headlight in my kit for obvious reasons as the knighted mafia doctor. Turning the headlight on, I look down into his wound and take a peek at the other side. If he’s lucky, it’ll be a through and through.
“Fuck.” I suck in a sharp breath and sigh.
“What is it?” Aleksei questions and looks up at me.
“The bullet, it didn’t come out,” I mutter, reaching for the latex gloves. I put them on as fast as I can. Who knows how long he’s had this bullet lodged in his shoulder? I grab the medical instruments kit I have in the box. I tear the packet open and retrieve the forceps. “I’m sorry, Aleksei, but I’m going to have to fish it out. If I don’t, there’s a risk it’ll get infected and then a variety of other issues will occur.”
“I’ll be fine. Do what you must.” Aleksei acts like this isn’t even a big deal.
“You’re kidding me, right? It’s going to hurt, and I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Sloane, trust me, I’ve been through worse. Do what you need to.” I haven’t asked about the things that happened when he was held captive, but I’ve imagined the horrors he could’ve gone through. The last thing I want to do is hurt him more, but not doing anything will cause him more harm than good.
Holding onto the forceps, I inhale deeply through my nose and insert the instrument into his body. Aleksei hisses and holds onto the arms of the chairs, gripping them. “I’m so sorry.”
“Stop apologizing and get this bullet out of me, baby,” Aleksei grumbles, but I know he’s not angry at me. He’s just in pain and wants this over as quickly as possible. I do my best and feel around for the bullet, eventually finding it. I pull it out with the forceps and proceed to flush out his wound with more betadine. I’ll be able to write him a script for some antibiotics to make sure nothing gets infected over the next few days, but I still need to suture him up. I grab the sutures and the curved needle, tie it off, and move as quickly and efficiently as I can. Over the course of a few minutes, I’m finished closing him up, and he took it like a champ.
We both get cleaned up, I take him upstairs, give him a sponge bath since he can’t get his wound wet, and after we go sit on the bed. It’s when every emotion of mine comes rushing to the surface. Tears well behind my eyes and my neck becomes tight. It feels like I’m being choked.
Tears start to come down my face, and pressure swarms my chest like someone is sitting on me. I gasp for air and every fear takes over my mind. He could’ve died. He could’ve been killed on this trip to go get Aleksandr’s sisters. I know he wasn’t, but it’s not like it helps me feel better in the slightest.
“It’s alright. I’m here. I’m not leaving, not ever.” Aleksei pulls me into his arms and holds onto me tight, but the tears still come. They cascade in a steady stream, and he rubs the top of my head in a soothing manner.
Mumbling against my head, he speaks, “I promised you I wouldn’t leave you again, and I intend to keep the promise. Fuck, there’s never going to be a perfect time to do this.” Aleksei lets me go and walks over to the dresser in my room he’s been using for his clothes. He opens the top drawer, digs past his socks, and pulls out an emerald box.
It all happens in slow motion as he drops down to one knee and looks into my eyes. “I didn’t imagine it going this way, but I’m not gonna wait any longer. Sloane Mackenzie, you’re the love of my life, and I want to spend the rest of my days with you. No matter how good, bad, or any of that they might be. We’ve survived immeasurable pain and have come together when people tried to tear us apart, so I want to know if you’ll be my wife.” Aleksei opens the box and shows me a ring fit for a queen.
I stand here blinking at him like I’m an extra in a movie.
His hands start to shake and he’s growing nervous, but I’m being the dick who hasn’t given him an answer. “Shite, yes. Yes, yes, yes!” I tell him, and he slides the ring onto my finger.
Aleksei stands and pulls me into his arms once more. This time he kisses me with passion, and I settle into his embrace, knowing we’re going to be fine. When I’m in his arms, I don’t have to worry about a damn thing. After all, he’s the one who will protect me from everything, even my inner demons.
Chapter Twenty
Aleksei
It’s a shame, really, sitting in the small chapel as the priest goes on about Maeve. No one here states her real name, yet the family knows. Other members of the household staff are in the pews, crying, missing the woman who made them smile and laugh on any occasion she could.
Even as a toddler, I have memories of the elderly woman who was more than sweet to me. She didn’t have to be, but she was kind to everyone. Needless to say, everyone on the Mackenzie estate is feeling a great loss here today. A loss we’ll continue to feel for many months, and maybe even years. She’s an irreplaceable woman and will be dearly missed.
The service closes, and we head out to the small cemetery where she will be buried privately. None of the staff know this, but they dug up a grave and put a headstone for Maeve, but in reality, she’ll be buried next to her late husband. It says the woman died years ago, but Fiona will be buried where Fiona Mackenzie should rest for eternity.
The crowd disperses and everyone goes off on their way. Leticia, who everyone calls Leti, even arrived to support her ‘cousins’ with their loss. They’ve yet to tell her about her identity, but Sofia is walking with Leti as we speak. There’s another man here, an older Latino man with salt and pepper hair. He walks a bit behind them, and I’m going to take it that’s Sofia’s brother, Alejandro.
“I’m going to get the girls from Keeran, alright?” Sloane asks, and I give her a nod. She wears the ring every day, and I haven’t seen her smile so much. Little does she know our engagement makes me as happy as it makes her.
When it comes to Keeran, he did apologize for what he said. Though, his apology was given to my fiancée. Regardless,
there isn’t any bad blood between us. At least not on my end anyway. The girls still love to spend time with him, and I won’t come between that. He was there for them for a long time, so he can still be in their lives.
Greer walks alongside Sloane, and they both get in Sloane’s car, then head down the lane to go back to the house. Thankfully, the chapel is on Mackenzie property. Our guard hasn’t gone down, but we do have a theory. A woman named Mildred was hired to work in the house as an additional cook. On the day of Fiona’s death, she was never seen again. My theory is she was the one who poisoned Fiona, ultimately leading to her death.
The kids and everyone else’s medical exams and blood tests came back perfectly normal, so Desmond’s mother was the target of the attack. We have our people looking for Mildred, but so far, nothing has come up.
It doesn’t mean nothing won’t, but until then, we have to be patient. In the meantime, we’re not allowing any new people on the Mackenzie estate, whether they’re visitors or employees.
“What in the bloody hell?” Liam murmurs, and I’m pulled away from my thoughts.
Leticia is running across the yard, her hair blowing in the breeze. She’s running like a track star over to the vehicles that are parked outside the chapel. She jumps into a car, starts it up, and before we know it, she’s stepped on the gas and is spinning dust behind her.
“I guess they told her,” I state the obvious.
“And she reacted like that? No.” My brother’s quick to diffuse the situation.
“She was lied to, not only that but was lied to her entire life. She’d be upset,” I point out.
“Naturally so. Hopefully, she’ll come around and realize it was done to keep her alive.” Liam speaks up while my brother and I nod in agreement.
What Sofia did was heroic, giving up her child to keep her safe. Leticia doesn’t understand now, but she will, and when she does, I think the relationship between everyone will be much better.
Sofia and Alejandro are standing off in the distance, staring at the dust Leticia’s tires left behind. I’m sure they’re speaking about what happened. Aleks clears his throat. “How’s your father holding up? He seems a bit reserved.”
Liam shrugs. “He is. I think he knew it would happen eventually, but if I bet on anything, it would be he hoped she’d pass in a peaceful way. Not something like poisoning.”
“What does the staff think happened?” I question, curious but also wanting to know the facts.
“We told them she’d been hiding late-stage lung cancer and insisted on working. No one posed any questions after we gave that answer,” Aleks fills me in, and I nod.
Sofia and Alejandro slowly make their way back toward the chapel. But I don’t focus on them. All I can think about is the woman who was laid to rest today and how much she loved this family. I only wish Maeve was around to see Sloane with her ring. The old woman would’ve loved to see her granddaughter so happy, and I have no doubt about it.
Epilogue
Sloane
Six months later . . .
Holy hell.
Holy fucking hell.
How did this happen?
More importantly, how didn’t I know until now?
I walk straight into the house and immediately look for Aleksei, but I don’t see him at all. Who do I see, though? My mother. “Mom, I need to talk to you.”
“Okay, give me ten minutes to finish making these empanadas and I’ll be ready,” she tells me, pressing the back of the fork against the dough to make the ridges she likes.
“Mom,” I speak in a tone that would let anyone know something is up.
She looks right at me and smiles, dusting her flour-covered hands on her apron. “Well, I guess I can take a quick break.”
I motion for her to follow me into Liam’s study. He’s out for the day with Caprice for their last baby check-up before she gives birth, so I know I won’t be interrupting anything by going in. Once we’re in the study, I let it out. “I’m pregnant.”
“What?!”
“I’m almost five months pregnant, Mom.”
She shoots me a glare, making me think she doesn’t believe me. “You can’t be serious.”
“I am. I promise you I’m not joking. I didn’t see Aleksei here and I needed to tell someone,” I admit.
“You need to tell your almost-husband!” she chastises me before breaking out into laughter.
“I know I do, okay? I know. I just . . . part of me wants to tell him in some special way.” There aren’t many times where I’m a typical woman, but this is special. Last time I didn’t have a man beside me to surprise with the news. We thought he was dead, so I was doing everything by myself. My family helped, of course, but even so, it wasn’t anything like it could’ve been.
“Okay, then do it, but you’d better do it today! We’re Latina, baby. We can’t keep anything to ourselves, okay? It doesn’t happen. We have to shout it from the rooftops. You know?”
She isn’t wrong. “I know. I’ll figure something out. I will.”
“But, congratulations. I’m so happy for you both, and the girls too. They’ll make splendid older siblings. I just know it.”
“Thank you. I think so too,” I admit, smiling.
We get out of my brother’s office, and I call to see where Aleksei is. He won’t be back for an hour, so I text Caprice and ask her if I can take a baby outfit from her room for a bit. I’ll give it back, but I want him to have the experience he never got to have with the twins.
I go get the girls and head to our bedroom. The girls are sitting on the bed with their tablets playing a game by the time Aleksei’s back in the house. He walks in the bedroom like normal but does a double take when his eyes land on the girls. They don’t normally come in here, so he knows something’s up.
“Everything okay?” he questions, cocking a brow.
“Yeah. We’re going to have to postpone the wedding, though.” The two of us agreed to get married two months from now, and almost everything is perfect just the way we want it. But, I’m not getting married in a skintight dress while I’m pregnant. Especially my dream dress that Greer designed for me. It’s not happening.
“What? Why? What’s changed your mind? What can I do to fix it?”
God, what a question. I stifle a laugh as I cross my eyes and look right at him. “Aleksei, there isn’t any fixing this. It’s too late,” I speak seriously, but little does he know I’m fucking with him. Now, I’m thrilled to death we’re having another baby so postponing the wedding is not a big deal to me.
“You should take a look in the bag on the bed. It explains a lot,” I tell him, and he wastes no time. He’s like a man on a mission as he heads over. He opens the bag and pulls out a little twelve-month-old-sized tux.
“What’s this?”
What’s that? Well, it’s our future. I want to tell him this, but I don’t. I can’t believe this happened. I found out I was pregnant at my annual exam. I was just lucky they had an open appointment for me to get an ultrasound and make sure everything is okay. Everything is perfect with the baby, and he’s great. He. Fuck, this is so real.
“It’s something our son will fit in at our wedding,” I answer him, waiting to see how long it takes him to catch on.
He looks at me like I’ve lost my damn mind. “We don’t have a son, Sloane. We have two amazingly perfect little girls. Speaking of, how are my little ones?” Aleksei kisses each of the girls on the forehead, and they smile, laughing like usual.
But Drina, my lovely, sassy Drina, looks right at him. “You’re not the brightest bulb in the box, are you?”
“Aleksandrina!” I snap, widening my eyes.
She shrugs. “What? Doran taught it to me. You’re supposed to use it when someone’s being stupid.”
I put my hand in front of my face and shake my head. I don’t know whether to piss myself from laughing so hard or be mortified.
“And why am I stupid, hmm?” Aleksei asks her in his angry voice.
“Yeah, Daddy, duh,” Stassi adds in.
“That’s ridiculous. I would know if your mum was having a—” Aleksei locks eyes with me, and I crane my neck to the side, silently proving the girls are right.
“Fuck,” Aleksei grumbles under his breath and crosses the room. He drops down to his knees and kisses my stomach. “There’s a little one in here?”
“Yes, a boy,” I comment.
“A boy. Leonide Goncharov. It means lion,” he tells me as he glances up into my eyes. “Our children are fighters, so the name is fitting, no?”
“It’s perfect,” I tell him, bending down to press a kiss to his forehead.
Little does he realize, everything in our life is damn near perfect.
Hi Everyone,
I hope you all enjoyed Aleksei and Sloane’s story. Their reconnection has been a long time coming, and I’m thrilled where they ended up. Out of all the characters I’ve written, their story has always meant the most to me. It’s taken me years to get the story to this level, but I’m hoping you all liked where it left off.
I will be launching a series next year that is mafia mixed with security. If you’re thinking it’s about Luca and his boys, you’re correct. The Mafia Brotherhood will begin to release in the Summer of 2022. I can’t say when it’ll release because I made a promise to my editing team that I’d write the books and then put them up for pre-order, but Keeran’s book is coming first, and I plan on matching him up with Leticia.
Their story will take place right at the end of Dangerous Love, but they’ll be well worth the wait.
Sending you all much love.
Elizabeth
Dangerous Love (Mackenzies Book 3) Page 10