by T. L Hodel
Silas crossed his arms, while Mase arched a brow.
“We knocked on the Russian mafia’s front door with you.”
“Bratva,” Nikolai corrected.
“Whatever,” Mase grumbled, “We’re not going anywhere.”
My gaze shifted from one to the other. For years I’d kept myself guarded, not letting anyone in. And right now, staring at the faces of two of my friends ready to lay down their lives for me, I couldn’t remember why.
Chapter 31
Lana
I looked at Riley and the man she was glaring at, wondering if I should know who he was. Noah Torres? I hadn’t heard that name before. At least, I didn’t think I had. He didn’t look familiar.
“Your friend seems confused,” Noah’s mouth lifted as he took a few steps closer. “Haven’t you told her about me?”
“Sorry, rapist prick isn’t high on my list of conversation topics.”
My eyes flew open. Rapist? “Did he…”
“No,” this time it was Riley who smirked, “He doesn’t have the balls for that, do you, Noah?”
Noah’s face dropped and I couldn’t help but shiver. I got the feeling I was caught in the middle of some feud I knew nothing about. Not really a good place to be. A little information beyond the tension in the air would be helpful. Like, what did he have in common with Lillianna Whitley?
“Is that what this is?” Riley snarled, “Some half cocked plan for revenge?”
“Revenge?” Noah chuckled, “Oh no, that’s just a bonus. My job is her.”
I shuffled back when his chin pointed at me. “Me?”
“Yes you, sweetheart.” Noah’s gaze shifted to me. “But don’t worry, I’m just the delivery boy.”
Delivery boy? What did that mean? Where, or who, was he delivering me to?
Riley snickered, “Still someone else’s patsy I see.”
He did not like that and I really wished Riley would stop pissing him off. I looked behind Noah at the door, gauging if I could make it before he caught me. My gigantic belly reminded me of how slow I was. I’d never make the distance, but maybe Riley could? She was small and fast. She might be able to get out and get us some help. It was a chance at least.
As if she could sense my thoughts, Riley shook her head and picked herself up off the floor.
“You want her,” she said stepping in front of me, “Then you have to go through me.”
Folding my arms over my stomach, I pressed my back against the wall and peeked around Riley to keep an eye on our captor. The glint in his face as he stepped forward, caused the hairs on the back of my neck to rise.
“That’s what I like about you, Riley. You’re the first to sacrifice yourself for someone else.” Noah tipped his head as the door opened and three other men came into the room. “But this time, all you can do is watch.”
The next second, all hell broke loose. All the men except Noah charged forward, lunging for my friend, and she snarled and swung back at them. I wanted to help her, but I was too afraid my babies would get hurt. I had to protect them. I had to.
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I begged them to stop and helplessly watched Riley get pinned to the ground. And still she didn’t stop. She growled, and spit, bashing her head into any body part that got close enough. She was no match for three men though, and soon there was nothing she could do but lay there huffing out spent breaths.
My eyes locked on Noah, who was staring at me with a strange look on his face.
“I want you to know, this is nothing personal.”
It felt pretty personal. I had no idea what was going on, or why this man was involved, but I did know, I needed to stay away from him. Lifting myself off the ground, I slowly inched along the wall. Hoping I’d get close enough to the door before he caught me. It was still open a crack. If I could get there and scream, someone might hear me. I made it about two feet.
Noah was on me in a flash. Slamming his palm on the wall and stopping my slow escape.
“Leave her alone, asshole!” Riley screamed, and began struggling again.
“No can do,” Noah’s brown eyes trailed over my face, “The job’s not done.”
I sucked back a gasp and waited as dread settled in my gut, pumping panicked spikes through my system. Time literally slowed down, voices drowned out, and all I could smell was the minty scent of Noah’s breath. I whimpered and shrunk back when his fingers wrapped around the back of my neck and he pulled me in closer. His hard body pressed against mine, ear grazing off the shell of my ear.
“Lillianna says hi” he whispered, and threw his fist into my stomach.
Pain folded me in half as my knees gave out and I crumpled to the floor. Riley was screaming, and Noah was grunting as he continued his assault on my belly. I tried to protect them. Curled my body around my babies and shielded them with my arms. It didn’t matter what happened to me. I could take each hit, every spike of pain, as long as my babies were okay. But no matter how hard I tried I could stop him, I couldn’t shelter my stomach from his strikes. My arms weren’t large enough to shelter my whole belly.
When it finally stopped, my entire body ached, tears streamed down my face, and it hurt to breathe. I was too afraid to move my head and look up at the man panting down at me, so I played dead. Tucked my head into my curled body and let my chin quiver. I could hear Riley’s sobs. They called to me, tugging at my heart and making me want to reassure her. But my body seized as my stomach clamped down hard and a gush of wetness soaked through my pants.
“Feel that?” Noah crouched down and swept my hair off my sweat soaked forehead, “That’s your babies coming. And do you know what I’m going to do when they get here?”
My stomach cramped, causing me to cry out as a searing burn raced through my system.
“I’m going to take them out that door and throw them in the ocean.”
Unable to force my aching limbs to do anything else, I whimpered and shook my head.
“You sick fuck!” Riley screamed, “I’ll kill you!”
“I’m sorry,” Noah sighed, and brushed his thumb along my jawbone. “I’ve been paid a lot of money to make sure your babies don’t survive.”
Nan was wrong. Good didn’t triumph over evil. Lillianna won. This time when the contraction came, I surrendered to the pain. Letting blackness bleed into my mind. I’d failed. There was no point in fighting anymore. The last thing I heard before falling into oblivion, was Riley’s desperate screams, mingling with echoing pops.
“It’s time to wake up, Angel.”
Parker was calling me, but I couldn’t see him. There was nothing around me but darkness.
“Parker!” I called out desperately, searching for his comforting arms. “Where are you?”
“I’m right here, Angel.”
I could feel his fingers grazing over my skin and his hot breath warming my cheek. But where was he?
“I’m right here, baby, open your eyes.”
I felt myself floating up, pulled by his voice. Drawn into a world more substantial than the one I was trapped in. Cool air tickled my arms as the soft beep of something mechanical filled my ears. My eyes fluttered open, clearing the haze fogging my mind. The first thing I saw was a pair of grey eyes staring down at me. Parker’s eyes!
Wait…
I twisted my head, looking around the room. White walls, beeping machines, along with a clean floor. I was in a hospital room! Laying on a soft bed with an IV in my arm. But where was Noah? And Riley.
“But…” I turned back to Parker, “How?”
“Don’t worry about that.” He smiled down at me and pressed his lips to my forehead. “Would you like to meet our children?”
Oh my god! The babies!
My heart picked up it’s pace, thundering in my chest. “They’re okay?”
“They’re perfect,” Parker beamed down at me. “Just like their momma.”
Relief unlike I’d ever felt washed over me. It felt like I was taking my first breath, but I neede
d to see them. I wouldn’t be able to relax until I held them and kissed their tiny heads. “Where are they?”
“In the nursery,” Parker strode across the room to grab a wheelchair. “Come on, I’ll take you to see them. There is something you should know.”
Chapter 32
Lana
One week later:
Parker was right, our babies were perfect. He had me worried when he said there was something I should know, and when I found out our daughter was blind, I couldn’t help but blame myself. But it turned out to be genetic. Something my child had inherited from my father’s side. A father who happened to be alive, and the head of the Russian mob! It was a lot to take in.
After I talked to Nan and met Nikolai, I realized that my father knew as much about me as I did of him. I didn’t blame him for it. Nan thought she was protecting me by hiding me. I didn’t blame her, either. No one could use me against Nikolai if they didn’t know I existed. Nan did what she had to, to keep me safe. Just like I was doing for my children, by accepting Nikolai’s men into my house. No mother should have to worry about armed protection for their son. Unless that son was the heir to the bratva throne.
“Nan, stop hogging the babies.”
She scrunched her nose at me. She had our son, Weston, in one arm and our daughter, Winslow, in the other. Meanwhile, poor Ava was bouncing back and forth, waiting for her turn.
“They’re my grandchildren,” Nan argued.
“They’re my niece and nephew,” Ava challenged back. “Come on, give me one.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle as Nan hesitantly handed Weston to his aunt.
Our babies were so beautiful, I couldn’t stop looking at them. They were so different for twins, yet so similar. Weston Sampson Whitley – Sampson was our way of combining Silas and Mason, as they did help rescue Riley and I – had my dark hair, with his father’s grey eyes. His complexion was darker as well, but more olive looking than caramel, like me. His sister, Winslow Greta Whitley, was the opposite. She had my eyes with a light dusting of her father’s sandy-blonde hair, and a creamy light complexion. Lillianna would be proud of her.
A lot had happened in the past week. Too much love for my son and daughter was a good problem to have. Though I couldn’t blame Nan and Ava for fighting over them.
Parker assured me that I wouldn’t have to worry about his mother anymore. I didn’t ask why, or what happened to her, because I didn’t want to know. Nor did I want to know about the man who’d beaten me. Riley was fine, my babies were fine, and that was all that mattered. It was time to move on to the next phase of our lives.
“Is my sister hogging the kids again?” Parker chuckled and strutted into the room with a big bouquet of orchids and lilies.
I had six others just like it. One for every day I’d been here.
“No,” I smiled at him and happily accepted his kiss, “It was Nan this time.”
Nan curled her lip at me as she softly cradled Winslow.
Everybody had come to see the babies. I think the first time I’d seen Micha smile was when Winslow grabbed his finger. He promptly wiped it off his face when he saw me gawking. Logan had started to instruct my son on proper pick-up lines. Which, according to him, Weston was never to use on Logan’s new baby sister Tristan, or else. Riley agreed. Shelby was all about the babies right now. I think it terrified Logan, because anytime she’d mention their future kids, he’d pull her out of the room.
Silas and Mason had been by a couple of times. Silas brought his cousin, Finn, who asked me a million questions, and Mason brought Shelby’s sister and set up a tea party to have with Winslow. And then there was Preston…
He’d hold his niece and do a bit of the typical baby cooing, but when it came to his nephew, he’d glare down at the baby in his arms. The weird part was, I swear Weston glared back at him.
“Well,” Parker said, looking at Nan and Ava, “You two can leave.”
“Hey!” they both cried out in unison.
“Nope. don’t care,” Parker shook his head and scooped the babies out of their arms, “I want to spend time with my family, get out.”
Nan huffed, but obliged, gathering her purse and kissing my cheek before she walked out. Ava was a little harder to shoo away. She argued and stamped her foot a couple times before she eventually gave in, promising she’d be back tomorrow. Which I didn’t doubt. Ava Whitely sure loved those babies, which was a little scary. Chuckling to myself, I watched her shake her blonde head, stick her chin up in the air, and prance out.
“You didn’t have to tell them to leave.”
Parker placed the twins in their bassinet and nodded at the door. “Someone else is waiting to see you.”
I looked at the door in time to see Harper come in. My heart lifted as she threw her arms around me. She was gone on a trip with her dad and I hadn’t seen her in two weeks. And after what Parker told me about Luke, I really needed to. Her gentle smile and warm gaze reminded me what true friendship felt like. Yes, I had Riley and Shelby, but Harper was my person, and she always would be.
I tucked my face into her neck and sobbed, “I missed you.”
“I missed you too,” she sobbed back. “I can’t believe you had the babies.”
“I can’t believe it either.”
We sat there for awhile, catching up on everything. Well, I didn’t tell her about the kidnapping and beating. There was no need to worry Harper when everything was dealt with. I did tell her about my father though. I hated keeping secrets from her, and Nikolai was making an effort, so he was probably going to be in my life from now on. Plus, it was kind of hard to hide the armed guard.
The whole mafia thing gave Harper another reason to be jumpy.. though she did seem extra twitchy today. Maybe it was because Sean had graduated and would be going off to college soon? Graduation was something else I’d missed. I wanted to watch Parker get his diploma, but he didn’t even go. Stubborn jerk wouldn’t leave my side. Just like he refused to go to college until I could. Bastard used the ‘our family has to stick together’ excuse on me.
I don’t know how long Harper and I chatted. Time seemed to just pass by as we cooed over the twins and chatted away. Before we knew it, Harper’s dad was walking into the room.
“Hey Pumpkin, you ready?”
Harper was standing over the bassinet staring down at the twins. “Look at how cute they are.”
Ned Callaghan nodded a greeting at Parker, and strode across the room to peek in on the sleeping infants. My blood turned to ice cold when his lips curved up, baring a gold tooth.
“Remember to keep your mouth shut, Doll.” The ogre smiled down at me, moonlight glinting off his gold tooth. “No one would believe you anyway.”
Oh my god!
“Aw,” Ned cooed at my kids as I fought to pull in a breath. “Look at their cute little faces.”
I could feel his hands on me as clear as if it was happening now. His fingers digging into my skin as he held me down and used me hard.
“Baby,” Parker’s brows knit together with the concern on his face. “Are you okay?”
I wanted to tell him. My mouth even opened to do so, but I couldn’t choke out the words. I just kept staring at Harper standing next to her dad. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and smiled. A big, genuine, smile like she used to. Before her mother ran off and Mason started tormenting her. Ned was all Harper had. How could I take that away from her?
“Lana,” Parker called out with a little more urgency.
I swallowed down my pain and forced a smile on my face. “I’m fine.”
Apparently he didn’t believe me. “Are you sure?”
Looking over at Ned with his hand on Harper’s shoulder, I nodded. “Yeah, I’m just a little tired.”
Truth was, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever sleep again.
Epilogue
Parker
Three months later:
I drove down the dirt road, winding around a clutch of trees leading to the basement.
Every day for the past three months I’d been here paying a visit to the asshole that had beaten my wife. Today was the day I was going to end it. There was something I had to do first, though. Someone else who deserved to carve a pound of flesh out of Noah Torres’s hide.
Riley was sitting on the back of her car, looking rather unamused when I pulled up.
“What am I doing here, Parker?”
I gave her a glance and headed for the middle of the clearing. “Did you tell Micha you were coming?”
He’d lose his shit if he found out about this. Lana told me what Riley did for her. How she fought multiple men to protect her. Someone should return the favor.
“No, I didn’t tell him,” she grumbled, “And what’s with all the cloak and dagger stuff?”
Instead of answering her, I stepped on a rock to my left. Riley’s eyes went wide as a slab of dirt slid out of the way, revealing a set of stone stairs.
I walked down a few steps and paused to glance back at her. “You coming?”
It was probably sheer morbid curiosity that made her follow. Either way, she came down the steps, going where I led. I made it a point to stay away from the branding room, since that was where Ryker had held her and Mase. Plus, she was unconscious when they dragged her out here. The last thing I needed to explain to Micha was why his girlfriend had watched the basement burn.
Once we got to the right door, I stopped and looked her square in the eyes.
“Before we go in here, I want you to know, that you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” Her brow rose as I continued, “But whatever happens in this room, will stay between you and me.”
“Alright?” she stated, with a lip curl.
I sensed she had a question, but the second I opened the door they were lost. Riley was too busy eyeing the bruised body tied to a slab.
Noah rolled his face our way and groaned, “Just kill me already.”