The American Soldier Collection 13: Her Lucky Number Thirteen (Siren Publishing LoveXtreme Forever)

by Dixie Lynn Dwyer

  “Okay, I’m done. I’m tired of running,” she said as she slowly turned and acted defeated.

  The one guy lowered the gun and smirked.

  “Easier than expected,” he said to his buddy.

  She struck her forearm hard against the man’s throat. He coughed and released her and the other one raised his gun. She kicked it from his hand, using the other guy’s shirt to grip and hold on to. It was a martial arts move she mastered well. The one guy went down hard and the guy she held on to she kicked in the crotch, sending him down to the ground before she turned to run.

  Shots were fired from their position on the ground, missing her somehow. She heard yelling in the background, two more shots, and the pain in her side. She reached down and pulled her hand away as she ran. Blood. Oh God, they got me. She was running on pure adrenaline when she ran across the street right through traffic.

  Horns honked, people screamed out but she ignored them and continued to run as fast as she could. As she got to the other side she slammed into a car. She hit the hood, rolled over and landed with a thump hard on her shoulder. The side door opened and a man looked at her with evil in his eyes. She rolled, pulled her gun, and shot him. His buddy shot back and she used the door to push against the car then returned fire, killing him. She gripped her side, looked around to be sure no one else was there to shoot her and she took off, and ran as fast as she could.

  She needed to get to the trailer, grab her things, and disappear. They’d found her.

  She hurried into the trailer after being sure that no one could see her. She climbed through the back window and felt the pain. As she got inside she ran to the bathroom and looked at the damage. A flesh wound, she thought, hands shaking and covered with blood. Thank God. It hurt so badly though and the blood wouldn’t stop. She might need stitches and she couldn’t get any. She couldn’t go to a hospital. She grabbed the washcloth and pressed it against the wound. She knew she needed to leave. She had to get the hell out of there. She would worry about the gunshot later.

  Her hands were shaking. They felt numb from pulling the trigger on the gun. She just killed some more men. My God, will I ever be safe?

  She grabbed her things and knew she needed to hurry. The night was on her side, her only means of getting out of this town, this state alive.

  She grabbed her things from under the bed and made sure she didn’t leave anything behind. She took off out the side door and across the grass. Once again, she was on the run. When would she finally be free?

  As she ran toward the wooded area and around the last set of trailers she screamed. Thick hard arms wrapped around her waist, holding her tight. She kicked and screamed and tried to grab her gun. It was removed from her and a heavy body had her on the ground and completely restrained.

  “Nalia, you’re safe. You’re safe, baby.”

  She locked gazes with Boian. She widened her eyes.

  “Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me, Boian. I didn’t kill my father or my mother. They did. Raymond and Vincent did,” she cried and saw four other men all holding guns and standing around them yet watching that no one else was coming.

  Boian released her arms. He cupped her cheek. “We know that. Your father is alive, Nalia. We’ve been trying to find you for months. We’re here to protect you,” he told her and she felt the tears fill her eyes.

  “He’s alive?” she asked through blurred vision, the tears threatening to spill. She’d held them in for so long.

  “Come on. We have to get out of here now.” One of the other men barked an order and they all reacted, even her. Boian pulled her up and she cringed in pain.

  “Follow us. The SUV is around the corner.”

  She fought to not show weakness. But Boian was there. He came to rescue her, to find her and tell her that her father was alive. Was he lying? She tried slowing down and he pulled her along. He held her around the waist as the adrenaline rush was beginning to leave her body. They got her into the SUV. They all piled in. Five men and her.

  She panicked as Boian released her and she grabbed the gun he’d stuck in his waist and she turned it on him. She squatted on the seat ready to shoot and kill.

  “I want to talk to my father. I need to know that he’s alive.”

  “Calm down and put the gun away, Nalia,” Boian whispered to her, hands in the air.

  She shook her head, felt the tears roll down her cheeks. The gun shook in her hands. “No. Don’t tell me what to do. I need to know he is alive and that you’re not lying.”

  She glanced at the others, who didn’t seem too concerned at all that she held a gun against Boian’s head. In fact, they looked cold as ice and she felt the trepidation hit her gut. These men could kill her, she just knew it.

  “Have I ever lied to you, Nalia?” Boian asked.

  “I don’t know these men. None of them. I don’t know you, Boian. It’s been years since I saw you so don’t even try that shit with me. My father gave me orders. Get him on the phone now!” she screamed.

  “Here.” One of the men from the front handed over a cell phone. He put it on speaker.

  “She can hear you, sir,” the driver stated aloud.

  “Nalia, put down the gun.”

  “Who is this? You’re not my father. I want to hear from my father.”

  “They’re waking him now.”

  “Who is this?” she asked.

  “Nicolai Merkovicz.”

  She gasped.

  “I take it your father at one point informed you of who I am. You are safe now. These men were assigned by your father to find you and protect you. He is alive, Nalia, and these men are now your guardians until further notice.”

  She covered her mouth with her hand.

  “Here, someone wants to speak with you.”

  “Nalia?” She heard her father’s voice. She gasped and started to cry.

  “I’m alive. You saved my life in that garage. You’ve been so strong, baby girl.”

  She began to sob and turned the gun around and handed it to Boian. “Daddy, oh thank God, Daddy.”

  “I know, Nalia. Everything is going to be just fine. You did so good. You did as I said and you ran and didn’t trust anyone. Now I’m asking you to trust Cosivan and his team.” Her father coughed.

  Her eyes widened and she felt afraid. “Are you okay? Daddy?”

  “I need to rest. Trust them. Do as Cosivan and his team says. Do whatever Nicolai asks of you.”

  “Let the men take care of you. We have a plan for your protection,” Nicolai said and then disconnected the call.

  She covered her face with her hands and slumped back into the seat.

  Boian held her on the waist, gave a gentle reassuring squeeze, and then covered her knee with his hand. She gasped and pulled her legs away.

  “What the hell?” Boian said as he looked at his hand. She saw the blood and so did the others.

  “Who got hit?” the one man across from her asked. He had very blond hair, and despite being dressed in all black, he looked large and muscular.

  “None of us,” the one across from her said as he continued to stare at her.

  “Someone was shot?” the man driving asked.

  “That would be me,” she whispered.

  “What?” The question came from the man driving. He was huge and his forceful tone made her jump.

  She felt the hand on her thigh as the one large man in front of her leaned forward.

  Boian clutched her chin. “How bad and where?” he asked as the other guy began to feel around.

  She grabbed his hands. She felt an instant tingling and she locked gazes with him. “A flesh wound, on my side, I’m fine,” she said to him.

  He leaned closer and grabbed her hoodie, unzipped it then pulled up her shirt as he spoke to her. “How the fuck do you know it’s only a flesh wound?” he demanded to know as he lifted her hoodie and tank top up higher. The other guy next to him leaned forward as he pulled something out.

  She stared at him very s
eriously. “It isn’t my first,” she told him. The truck went silent.

  “We can stop if we need to but it wouldn’t be smart. We have an hour’s drive to the private airport and the jet,” the man driving said from the front seat.

  “I’ll be just fine,” she said to the guy who was so close to her she could see the definition in his cheekbones, the light blond streaks in his hair and his firm lips. The other guy used the light from his phone to shine on her skin.

  “Fuck,” he whispered.

  The blond across from her cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb along her lower lip. “Are you certain?” he whispered.

  She couldn’t believe it. He was so good looking. So sexy and older like Boian. She felt an instant attraction which was completely ludicrous considering the current situation. She nodded her head.

  “Here’s the first aid kit. I’ll hold the flashlight,” the other guy said. She locked gazes with him as Boian helped her to lean back.

  They were silent and she winced a few times as the guy cleaned up the wound to check it out. His hands felt so warm, so gentle against her skin. He was big. They all were, and a feeling of claustrophobia began to simmer in her gut. The space was confined and the air palpable.

  Boian wiped the blood from her swollen lip, and stared at her with a firm expression, and those striking dark blue eyes of his. She couldn’t look at him. Those old feelings, the attraction was instantly back and she knew nothing could come of it. She was a different person now. These last months had changed her. She jerked when the man in front of her cleaning her wound brushed against the underside of her breasts. She locked gazes with him.

  “Thank you. Whoever you are,” she whispered.

  “I’ll make the introductions,” Boian stated. “This guy right here who’s so good with his hands is Viktor. The one with the flashlight is Dusty. In the front passenger seat is Chatham and the boss, our leader, Cosivan is driving.”

  So the commanding one with the deep voice she immediately responded to was their leader. Interesting.

  She nodded toward them and could tell even in the dark cab of the SUV that they were very dangerous, important men. She knew instantly that they were Boian’s team members, American soldiers who served together in war, and were Special Forces. These were the men her father hadn’t wanted her to ever meet. Why was Boian here now? Her father changed his mind and she wondered why. She couldn’t feel excited to know that Boian was here. He was just doing his job. She understood that. But she had feelings for him. She had thought about him so much over the last several years. That’s why her father sent him. He knew she wouldn’t have trusted anyone else and she probably would have shot them. A deeper feeling of loneliness struck her core.

  Then she felt the fingers under her chin and Boian tracing her lip with his finger. “I was so worried about you.” She felt the tears reach her eyes.

  “Why did my father send you, of all people?” she asked and saw his eyes squint at her directness. There was no room for pussyfooting around. She was direct, and she wanted answers. She earned that right by fighting for her life and taking lives of people out to get her.

  “Your father knew that my team and I would be the best ones to protect you. He felt that you would trust us, because…because of the fact I trained you years ago,” he said, and she couldn’t help but to think that wasn’t the complete truth. Or maybe she hoped Boian would say that he insisted he be the one to find her because he still cared for her and didn’t care what anyone said. That was some silly girl fantasy and hope. This was reality. Death, violence, and being on the run for her life. She had to be smart and keep in control.

  “Raymond said you were going to kill me. That they planted the gun to be found that killed Karlicov and my mom. That the Russian heads would issue an order to kill me. My father said to me to trust no one and to run, so I didn’t use the burner phones. There was no one to trust,” she said and then blinked the next tears away.

  She felt the heat against her side and looked down to see Viktor caressing her skin. She locked gazes with him.

  “You’re not alone anymore. Your father sent us to watch over you and protect you. That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” Viktor said to her.

  Her heart felt heavy, and her body ached as the pains, the bruising and the possibility that she was indeed somewhat safe filled her mind. They were five large men. Men she really didn’t know, but was asked to trust. She didn’t think she could ever trust anyone again, and show weakness. She definitely couldn’t show weakness when it came to Boian. She had to be strong. Her past life was behind her and her future was something she needed to look at a day at a time. That thought had her heart aching and her closing her eyes and hiding the emotion these men would surely see. Nalia learned fast that showing weakness gave others power over a person. No one would have power over her ever again. No one.

  * * * *

  Cosivan nodded toward Boian once they were settled in on the jet. Boian looked over at Nalia. She kept fighting falling to sleep. She was exhausted but still in defense mode despite them assuring her that they weren’t there to kill her or take her back to Chicago. Even though she’d talked to her father and to Nicolai she was still on the defensive and untrusting. He knew it would take time. She had gone through hell and then some.

  He watched as Boian patted her knee. Cosivan felt his chest tighten. Thirteen damn weeks the woman remained hidden and on the run. He was beyond impressed, and especially with her ability to kill when needed. It upset him that she was forced to take lives in order to save her own. But knowing what those men did for a living and how brutal and barbaric they were, he felt no remorse and hoped that Nalia wouldn’t either.

  “Yes?” Boian said to him as he took the seat beside him.

  “How is she?”

  “In pain but fighting it. She won’t let us look at her other injuries, but I think they’re just cuts and bruises on her shoulder and back. Viktor assured me that as long as we keep changing the bandage and applying the ointment then the risk for infection on her hip where the gunshot wound is will decrease.”

  “I’m sure we can have someone with medical skills to evaluate her if you’re that worried.”

  “I trust Viktor, and I trust you. There’s no need to make our presence in Salvation known. Viktor and you know what you are doing. You both took care of us how many times in the service and with worse wounds than Nalia’s. Plus, add in your skills, and if need be you can do stitches if she needs them.”

  Cosivan nodded his head. He couldn’t help but recall the close calls they did have, but they always had one another’s backs. Even Viktor, who came from this Russian mob business. It had taken him the longest to trust them and for them to trust him.

  “Do you think she’s a flight risk once we land?” Cosivan asked him.

  “I don’t believe so. We were close, once, and hearing her father’s order over the phone and reassurance helped. Plus, she knows who Nicolai is. She wouldn’t go against him,” Boian replied and then looked back at Nalia. She was watching them with hooded eyes. She didn’t trust them despite them being here to protect her.

  “That was years ago, Boian. She’s older, more mature and more experienced in life.”

  “She needs me. She needs all of us.”

  Cosivan took a deep breath and exhaled.

  “I’m trying to determine the best location for the hideout. Storm assures me that their friends have a definite secure location and that no one will ask any questions. We don’t even need to leave the house. Supplies will be delivered as needed. Plus, Aspen will be nearby along with her men.”

  “Whatever you think. You’re our leader. I respect your decisions.”

  “I think someone needs to keep a clear head here. We’re not out of danger.”

  Boian squinted his eyes at him. “I’m keeping a very clear head.”

  “Are you?” he asked, raising one of his eyebrows up at Boian.

  Boian ran his fingers through his hai
r and then massaged the back of his neck.

  “I’ll do whatever is necessary to protect her. I’m never leaving her side again. Never,” he told him and then stood up and walked back over to Nalia.

  Cosivan locked gazes with her, his expression firm and protective of his brother. She wasn’t one of them. She wasn’t part of the family because Karlicov didn’t want her to be. He hoped his brother would be careful. This was a serious time and a blood war could take place wherever Nalia was located.

  * * * *

  Nalia gasped, went to jump up from her seat and Viktor held on to her.

  “You’re okay. You’re safe,” he said firmly with his hand over her belly and hip. She blinked her eyes open and licked her lips before she swallowed hard and cringed.

  “Here, take a sip of this.” He offered her a bottle of water. She reached for it with shaking hands and he covered her hands and helped her to take a drink. His chest tightened. She was so scared and he knew it would take a long time until she wasn’t so skittish.

  She looked around the cabin of the plane. He followed her line of sight straight to Cosivan and Boian and then to Chatham and Dusty who pretended to be sleeping. He knew his team members, and they were never fully asleep. “Where are we?” she asked him and then moved in her seat and winced.

  “About thirty minutes away from landing.”

  “I need to use the ladies’ room,” she whispered.

  “I’ll help you,” Viktor replied and undid his seatbelt and then reached over and undid hers. He couldn’t resist sliding his hand along her waist and to her hand. There was just something about her. He stood up and helped her to stand next.

  “I’ve got it,” she whispered, looking up at him with those gorgeous dark blue eyes. She was sweet, beautiful, young, and he carefully released her. She started walking and held her side then let go. She was being tough again. He showed her where the bathroom was and then walked back to the front.

  “Should we check the wound again?” he asked with concern.