by Lia Lee
“He left here on foot, that’s all I know,” Katya explained. “He must have been standing out there. You know him. He does that sometimes.”
“Yeah.” Toni thought about the walks she’d taken with Dimitri. He enjoyed being outside and looking up at the sky. “He does like to watch a sunset.”
“It would be almost too easy for Anatoli to ambush him like that.” Katya sounded sad.
Toni took a deep breath and then heaved Dimitri up another step. He pitched forward with the effort of moving his own body, and nearly face planted on the porch. Toni tried to take most of the weight. She didn’t want the poor pregnant girl getting herself injured or accidentally starting her labor early because of this.
“Dimitri, sweetheart,” Toni coaxed. “Please try to walk. Okay?”
“I’m not walking?” He slurred his words like a drunk.
Katya let out a strangled sob. “He’s lost so much blood! Listen to him!”
“Yeah, but he got this far, right?” Toni said, trying to be positive. Most people would have quit back there in the grass.”
Dimitri finally stumbled onto the porch from the stairs. Toni braced his weight on her shoulder. “Get the door. I’ve got him.”
“Okay.” Katya pulled it open. “Can you walk him through?”
“Dimitri!” Toni snapped. “Move! Come on. Walk!”
He picked up his feet and moved them with exaggerated motions. He was bleeding worse than ever. She and Katya had awkwardly tied Katya’s sweater around his injured shoulder, but that wasn’t doing much. With Toni’s luck, he was going to bleed out before they could get the doctor here.
“Go call Dr. Poole,” Toni ordered.
“Are you sure? What if he isn’t on Dimitri’s side?”
“The guy does medical for almost all of the mafiya. He can’t possibly take sides if he can manage to stay alive doing that. Besides, we have no choice. It’s either that or Dimitri dies.”
Chapter Seventeen
“I’m going to have to dig for the bullet.”
Toni stared at Dr. Poole and wished she didn’t feel quite so murderous toward the poor man. He was only doing his job. Still, it absolutely gutted her to see Dimitri lying helpless on the table like this.
They’d managed—with Dr. Poole’s help—to get Dimitri onto Katya’s little dining table in the breakfast nook. They’d cut his shirt off and revealed a nasty looking bullet wound in the shoulder. Now Katya was boiling water while Dr. Poole probed and searched for the missing bullet.
Dimitri was pale. He’d lost so much blood. She stared at the bag of blood hanging from a curtain rod. The little breakfast nook had windows with pretty little lace curtains. Dr. Poole’s first task had been to remove the curtain from the rod nearest the table and hang a bag of blood. Now a little clear tube stretched from the bag to Dimitri’s arm. Still, Toni couldn’t help but wonder if it would be enough. There was no telling how long the man had lain in the field bleeding practically to death.
“I’ll need you to hold him down, Toni,” Dr. Poole instructed.
Toni sprawled across Dimitri’s broad chest. He usually felt so warm. Now he was faintly clammy. He smelled of damp earth, grass, and the coppery stench of blood. She gently threaded her fingers through the hair on his chest. It was so oddly familiar and yet foreign given the circumstances.
Dr. Poole dug a sterile package out of his bag and ripped it open. He put his gloved fingertips through the holes in the hemostats and clicked them open. Then he looked to Toni as if he was waiting for her to give him some indication that she was ready.
Her stomach cramped as she realized that she was about to participate in something that was going to either save Dimitri’s life, or just cause him a horrific amount of useless pain. How come life was so complicated?
“Ready?” Dr. Poole prompted.
She gritted her teeth and put most of her weight on Dimitri’s chest. “Ready.”
Poole stuck the hemostats in the tiny hole just below Dimitri’s collarbone. Dimitri went from limp to full alert rock hard awareness in a millisecond. Toni struggled to keep him from arching right off the table.
“Katya!” she managed to shout. “Come hold his legs!”
Trying to protect her belly in the process, Katya leaned on Dimitri’s legs to keep them from thrashing about. Between the two of them they managed to hold him still long enough for Dr. Poole to work.
“There it is,” the doctor began. “No! It’s only a piece. Damn. I’ll have to find the other half.”
“Half?” Toni’s stomach flipped over and the nausea nearly overwhelmed her. “There’s half a bullet stuck in there still?”
“Yes.” Poole sounded hoarse as he switched the angle of his hemostats and started digging again.
Toni didn’t even try to stop the tears that were running down her cheeks. Pain. There had to be so much pain.
PAIN. THERE WAS so much pain. Dimitri tried to move, but something was holding him down. No. Someone was holding him down. There was another round of stabbing pain. He tried to open his eyes, but his lids were so heavy.
“Just stay still, Dimitri. It’s almost over.”
The soft voice was accompanied by an even softer touch. He inhaled and caught the familiar scent of Toni. The knowledge that she was there, and that she was telling him to settle affected him deeply. He felt his stress level begin to lower despite the fact that his shoulder felt like someone was sticking a hot poker in it.
He drifted a bit. He could hear voices. Toni’s, maybe his sister’s voice too, and then the low husky tone that was familiar and yet he couldn’t place it. Dimitri struggled to open his eyes again. Had they given him something? He hoped they hadn’t. He needed his wits if he was going to survive whatever Anatoli had up his sleeve.
Anatoli! His brother thought he was dead. What if he came here to Katya’s and found Dimitri injured but still alive? He could easily overpower them or even kill them. Dimitri would be powerless to stop Anatoli from murdering everyone he loved.
He forced his eyes to blink, made them open. It took a moment to focus. Everything was a blur of light and color. Then he saw Toni leaning over him. The expression on her face suggested she was quite tense. She touched his face. The feel of her cool fingers against his burning hot cheek was a relief.
“How are you feeling?” she whispered. “I know that’s a stupid question. you probably feel like hell.” She looked at someone off to the right. “Dr. Poole dug the bullet out of your shoulder in two pieces, but the good news is that he’s pretty sure he got it all.”
Dimitri wasn’t feeling like this was particularly good news at the moment. He was still struggling to remember exactly how he’d gotten shot. He knew it was Anatoli. Had his brother said anything? He felt like there was something he should remember, something important.
“I suppose I will go about making myself feel at home.”
That was what Anatoli had said. The last words he’d said before he left Dimitri on the ground to die. Dimitri struggled, trying to sit up.
“No. You’ll make yourself start bleeding again. You have to stay lying down,” Toni pleaded. “Please calm down.”
“Your father,” Dimitri croaked. “Anatoli is going to go after your father.”
“What?” She frowned. “Why would he do that? You guys already took care of him.”
“No!” he protested. “I forced Anatoli to let Boris go. Boris will want payback.”
IT TOOK TONI all of three seconds to realize that there was real danger in what Dimitri was suggesting. If Anatoli was really looking to prove something, and Dimitri had interrupted whatever her father’s plans had been, then Anatoli was going to want to rectify the insult to his manhood. No matter how ridiculous it seemed.
“Men,” she muttered.
Katya appeared by her side, peering down at Dimitri. “What?”
“We have to go.”
“We do?”
“Yeah.” Toni sighed. “We have to go save my father from
his own stupidity.”
Katya drew back, her expression suggesting she couldn’t think of much in the way of something that was more distasteful to her. “Why?”
“Because your idiot brother is probably going to go after my idiot father and we need to stop them both from being idiots,” Toni said practically.
Toni really couldn’t blame the woman for not wanting to participate in such a task. She probably hadn’t even seen Boris since he’d dumped her. If he’d dumped her. Somehow Toni wasn’t really too clear on what had happened. Maybe it was something she could find out.
Katya heaved a giant sized sigh. “I don’t suppose you even brought a car, did you?”
“Nope. I took the bus.” Toni smiled. “Let’s take yours.”
Katya made an irritated noise. Then she glared at Dr. Poole. “Stay with him, won’t you?”
“Yes.” The doctor nodded. He appeared to be putting together a whole pharmacy’s worth of medical supplies. “I can stay for a short while. Are you certain it is safe?”
“Go,” Dimitri gasped. He coughed, clearing his throat. He still sounded painfully raspy. “I’ll be fine. If Anatoli does come, I’d rather the two of you be out of the line of fire.”
“You heard him,” Toni said, feeling a little disgruntled at the notion that she couldn’t take care of herself. “Let’s go, Katya.”
Dimitri’s sister didn’t say anything. She pursed her lips and grabbed her keys. “Fine. But you’re not driving my car.”
Toni didn’t mind, following the girl through the breezeway into a tiny garage. They got into a low slung sports car. It took some maneuvering for Katya to get her round belly behind the wheel. She pushed the start button and they pulled cautiously out of the garage.
“I don’t see anything,” Toni murmured. “What do you think Anatoli is up to? I know what Dimitri thinks, but what about you?”
Katya seemed to waffle a bit before finally speaking. “I think he probably will go after Boris. He was so angry.”
“But it seemed like it was mostly because he felt disrespected. Right?” Toni was completely familiar with that sort of thing. “My father is like that.”
“Yes. He certainly is,” Katya muttered.
“What happened?” Toni wanted to know. “I mean really. I know what happened, but not how it all went down. You know?”
“What, you want the dirty particulars about how your asshole father just sent me a text one night that said, I changed my mind? Is that what you’re wanting to know?”
“Wow.” Toni couldn’t come up with one more word to fully express her surprise. “Just. Wow.”
DIMITRI LISTENED TO the garage door close. He exhaled a sigh of relief and then looked over at Dr. Poole. “You and I both know you’re not going to hang around to wait and see if my brother shows up to make another attempt on my life.”
“That is a true statement.” The doctor was already gathering up his things, preparing to leave. “I’ve left supplies there on the kitchen counter. You should most definitely take the antibiotics even though I know your kind rarely takes the pain pills.”
“My kind.” Dimitri snorted. “That’s priceless. My kind pays you a hefty sum of money. In fact I believe you make a damn good living without even paying for that malpractice insurance your kind is always bitching about.”
“Malpractice insurance?” Dr. Poole said sarcastically. “That would be pointless. If I screw up, one of you is more likely to shoot me than file a claim.”
Dimitri laughed. There was a lot of truth to that statement. He rolled to a sitting position, his legs hanging over the side of the table. “Damn I hurt,” he muttered. Dr. Poole was still staring at him. Dimitri shot him a glare. “Why are you still here? Eager to die? Tired of living?”
“Fine. I’m gone.”
Dimitri watched the good doctor exit very quickly. The man literally scooped up his bag and left, letting the door bang closed behind him. Once the house was empty, Dimitri got to his feet. He was shaky and felt horribly weak, but there was no time to spare. He needed to get to the main house before Anatoli returned.
He moved toward the door, his steps getting surer with each one he took. His chest was bare. His shirt had been lost to the procedure that had removed the bullet from his shoulder. He flung the door open and felt the cool night breeze whisper over his skin. Stepping carefully onto the porch, he had a flash of memory. He recalled a moment not more than an hour ago when Toni had practically dragged him up the three stairs. Now he maneuvered his way down onto the pathway. He could see the lights of his home beckoning through the trees. It was time to get in touch with his men and make a stand.
Setting his jaw, he moved forward with deliberate, measured movements. Each step got easier. He knew that he should have been lying in a bed somewhere taking it easy. More than likely he was injuring himself even more. He felt the warmth of blood seeping into the bandage and knew he was risking a lot by doing too much too soon. But this couldn’t wait. He needed to rally his men and let them know that their boss—their real boss—was still alive. With his phone lost in the grass somewhere, he needed the resources he had available at the house.
Chapter Eighteen
Toni started to give Katya directions to her father’s house, but abruptly shut her mouth when she realized that the other woman knew exactly where they were going. Katya made good time in the little sports car. They whizzed through the streets and in no time they were pulling up at the gate in front of her father’s house.
There was no little guard booth here. Dimitri’s estate was much larger and usually far more guarded than her father’s home. Boris Rustikov was far too arrogant to believe he was vulnerable, which was pretty much what made him a sitting duck for Anatoli to blow out of the water.
“Do you think he’s home?” Katya murmured.
“I would say yes, because all the lights are on,” Toni mused. “Except he always leaves all the lights on. He says it makes the house seem more occupied. My mother used to say that he wanted everyone to think that our house was the place to party.”
Katya snorted. “Sounds like Boris.”
“Whatever attracted you to him in the first place?” Toni asked suddenly. She turned in the little car and stared at Katya in the muted glow of the dash lights. “I mean seriously. You’re beautiful and young. My father is twice your age.”
“You don’t understand.” Katya sighed, resting both her hands on the top of the steering wheel. “Your father is charming. He pays attention to women and he knows how to make us feel important.”
“You have two brothers who dote on you.”
“Oh please!” she scoffed. “They pay attention to me now. Before? I would be lucky if they’d say two words to me. We all lived up in the big house together, but they were so busy that I never saw them. They made sure I never got to date because they chased away any guy that dared to talk to me.”
“I know how that is,” Toni said darkly. “That’s what Boris is like on the other side of the action.”
Katya laughed. “I think they all are. They’re a bunch of controlling jerks who act like babies when they don’t get their way.”
“True enough.” Toni gestured to the little speaker box beside Katya’s window. “Are you going to ask them to buzz us in? Or are we going to sneak through the fence on foot?”
“There is no way I’m sneaking anywhere like this.” She gestured to her baby bump.
Toni had a chuckle at that. “Then buzz the house and let’s see what happens.”
Katya opened her window and leaned out as far as she could. Her belly got in the way and Toni couldn’t help but chuckle at the mother-to-be’s squirming and muttering as she finally managed to push the button on the speaker box.
“You look exhausted,” Toni commented.
Katya made a face. “I’m telling you, that is why pregnant women are so tired all of the time. It’s because it’s so damn awkward to move around with this huge basketball under my clothes.”
Toni started to speak, but Katya beat her to it. “Katya Alkaev here to see Boris Rustikov.”
There was a very long pause. Toni could imagine her father’s security guys freaking out as they attempted to find out if the boss wanted to see his discarded baby mama or not. There was something completely surreal about the notion of her father actually having a baby mama. Seriously. Couldn’t he grow up and act normal?
There was no more commentary from the speaker box. The front gates simply swung open. Katya drove right up the front steps and parked her car. By the time they started to open their doors, Toni’s father had exited the house and was waiting.
It was obvious that he’d truly believed that Katya was coming to see him all on her own. When Boris spotted Toni, he did an almost comical double take. Then he lifted his hands and grinned so wide that his face practically split open with the effort.
“Pyotr!” Boris shouted. “Go find Uday. I want him here immediately. And get the paperwork. My errant daughter has returned!”
Toni was getting a really bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. “We came to warn you that Anatoli Alkaev is very likely to be on his way here to make an attempt on your life. It’s not a social visit, and we’re not hanging around.”
“Katya,” Boris said with an exaggerated flourish. “Surely you’re going to stay and have a chat with me? How are you feeling? You look simply radiant!”
Toni gaped, watching Katya’s hard expression soften even as she stood there. What sort of strange mojo did her father have that a woman like Katya who had been summarily dismissed at such a vulnerable and sensitive time of her life, would now consider giving Boris even ten minutes of her time?
“Ah, here is Uday!” Her father gestured to a young enforcer she recalled seeing about the house a few times in the last several months. The youth hadn’t been in the US for long. He spoke most Russian, and now he looked very, very confused. “Uday, I’m going to give you a very special honor today,” her father said it Russian.
“Sir?”