“What the fuck, Theo? Why was Tavia with you?” He blew out a harsh sigh. “I’ll be there soon. Stay out of trouble until then.”
“Pops.” I stopped him before he could hang up. “Don’t leave Mom and Sofia there alone. We don’t know who we can trust.”
“I’m not stupid, son. I’ll drop them off at Anya’s.” With that, he hung up, and I finally dropped down into one of the hard, plastic chairs.
It was over an hour later before the doors opened again. Pops and my uncle Ciro walked into the waiting room, both wearing grim expressions. Pops nodded at Yury and Ivan, who quickly exited the room. Once the doors closed behind my men, I knew it was time to tell them everything.
“Do you have a death wish?” Pops exploded once I’d finished. “You should have told me what you were doing with Petrov. The bastard was putting out feelers. He was talking to Anya, Theo.”
I shrugged. “I had heard that as well. But I didn’t want to drag you or Tetka into this. It was my problem.”
“One that got poor Tavia shot,” Pops grumbled. “She’s a good girl. You had no right to drag her into your shit, Theo.”
“She’s Petrov’s daughter,” I informed him, having omitted that little detail until then.
“Say what now?” Pops’s eyes widened, and he took two steps back from me in surprise. “I did a full background check on the girl when she started tutoring Sofia. Anya looked into her as well. Nothing came up about her father being alive—or his being fucking Viktor Petrov.”
“His men seemed surprised by the information as well,” I told him with a shrug. “And then they were more focused on putting a bullet in her than they were me. Considering I’d just killed their boss, I was surprised they wanted to take her out so desperately.”
My uncle made a noise, drawing both Pops’s and my attention. “If they were trying to kill her more than they were you, then something is definitely off. Who was her mother?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. I doubt Tavia knows either. Viktor only said the mother showed up at his door after Tavia was born, and he took a DNA test that said he was the father. The mom supposedly died weeks later, scoring blow.”
“I’ll put out some feelers. See if Desi can find anything.” Pops nodded his head, and Ciro walked over to the only window in the room to make the call to his computer expert.
“Tavia could be in danger,” Pops said in a quiet voice, glancing at the door as if he expected Petrov’s people to storm into the room any second. “We need to deal with this, and quickly. I also need to do a complete overhaul of my men. Do you trust Yury and Ivan?”
“With my life,” I told him honestly, and then I quickly amended, “with Mom’s and Sofia’s lives.”
Satisfied with my answer, Pops inclined his head. “I will be borrowing them for the foreseeable future, then.”
“Whatever you need, Pops.” My gaze wandered to the door as well, but not because I was scared of being ambushed. Tavia had been in surgery for over three hours at that point. With each tick of the clock, my fear that I would never see her again only escalated.
Chapter 5
Theo
Two more hours passed without word about Tavia. Ciro left, but I barely noticed when he muttered he needed to go see about something personally. I was losing my mind, terrified why it was taking the surgeons so long. I paced the width of the waiting room until Pops barked at me to sit, but that didn’t last long. I couldn’t be still. Could barely fucking breathe.
I needed to know she was okay. Needed to see her. Touch her.
Finally, the door opened, and a nurse came in. She was wearing surgical scrubs and looked disheveled. Her face was tense as she asked if I was there for Tavia Zima.
“How is she?” I demanded, but it came out raspy.
Her lips tilted up in a smile, but it was so grim, my heart felt chilled by it. “She’s stable. There was a lot of damage, and as you’re currently wearing her blood, I’m sure you know she lost a good bit of it before we even got her open. She’s had several units of blood, and we are still pumping it back into her.”
“Will she be okay?” Pops asked, and I was thankful because my throat was too choked up to allow words to escape.
She clasped her hands together, seeming to contemplate what she should say for a moment before releasing a tired sigh. “I think you should let the surgeon fill you in on everything else. He won’t be much longer now. In the meantime, would you like some coffee? I’m sure the stuff in the nurses’ lounge is considerably better than what is in the machine over there.”
“We don’t need refreshments, thank you,” Pops told her.
“Well, the doctor will be out as soon as he can. If you need anything, I’ll be on the floor unless we have another emergency.” She twisted her lips. “And considering it’s a full moon tonight, I’m sure there will be.”
Once she was gone, I dropped into the nearest chair, my legs not seeming to want to support me any longer. Tavia was stable, but that didn’t tell me anything else other than she was alive. I was thankful for that much, at least, but it was everything the nurse had left unspoken that was making me weak-kneed.
Leaning forward, I put my elbows on my knees and thrust my fingers into my hair, pulling at the roots. She had to be okay. If nothing else, the past five weeks without her had proven to me that I couldn’t live without her. I’d been miserable, missing her so fucking much, it was like I’d had a part of myself amputated. Only, I didn’t know which part, so I was constantly living with a ghost appendage. An achy, empty spot somewhere in my body that would never be the same again.
A cup of something hot was suddenly shoved into my hand, and I lifted my head to look at Pops. “It helps,” he told me, nodding at the cup. “Drink it.”
Cautiously, I took a sip of the coffee he’d produced. It was black and smelled weak, but when I took a swallow, it was sickeningly sweet. Forcing myself to swallow what was in my mouth, I set the cup on the floor beside my feet.
“When your mom had her kidney transplant, I was a nervous wreck,” Pops said as he took the seat to my left.
“I remember.”
When I was a kid, Mom’s diabetes had fucked up her kidneys. Thankfully, her twin sister had been ready, willing, and able to give her one of her own kidneys. I remembered how stressed Pops was the day of the surgery. I’d never seen him cry before, but when the doctors finally came to tell us she was out of surgery and doing well, he’d broken down. Unashamedly, he’d cried in front of everyone, thankful she was okay.
“How long have you loved Tavia?” he surprised me by asking.
“From the moment I set eyes on her,” I told him honestly, and I felt him tense. “I didn’t touch her back then, though. She was too young. But about a month or so ago, I drove her home for Mom.”
And I’d been weak. I couldn’t keep my hands off her.
All Pops did was nod, and we both stayed quiet for a while. Thirty minutes passed before the doctor came to speak to us. His scrubs and the surgical cap on his head were drenched with sweat, and he looked even grimmer than the nurse had earlier. The look on his face had the oxygen in my lungs turning to ice, making it hard to breathe as he approached.
I started to stand, but he shook his head, motioning for Pops and me to stay seated, and he took the chair directly in front of us. “I need a breather, gentlemen, so let’s do this sitting.” He pulled off his cap and ran his fingers over his short, graying hair, but then his eyes focused directly on me. “Are you Tavia’s boyfriend?”
“She’s mine,” I confirmed.
“So, you were aware she was pregnant, then?”
“What?” Every muscle in my body seized, my heart contracting. “No, I had no idea she… Wait. Was?” The past tense hit me hard.
“I’m sorry to say she miscarried.”
Swallowing down the lump choking me, I stored that away for the moment. I couldn’t focus on the loss suddenly pressing down on me. “How is Tavia?” I asked.
&n
bsp; He sat back in his chair. “Gut wounds can be tricky, but as long as she takes it easy and has good aftercare, she should make a full recovery—provided she doesn’t get an infection.”
My relief was so strong, I felt dizzy for a second and had to blink to focus on the doctor. “Can I see her?” I didn’t care that I sounded desperate. That was exactly what I was right then.
“She’s in recovery right now, but once she’s moved into a room, you can see her all you want… As long as she permits it.” He stood. “She might not have known she was pregnant. This miscarriage may come as a complete surprise to her. Nonetheless, we should handle telling her delicately.”
I nodded my agreement. He shook my hand and then Pops’s, telling us someone would let us know once Tavia was comfortably in a room. Pops followed him out the door, already making arrangements to make sure Tavia had a private room and any other luxury the hospital could offer.
As the door closed behind them, I fell back against my chair, the reality of what the doctor said hitting me full force. Pregnant. Tavia had been carrying my baby. I wanted to think she didn’t know, but what if she had? What if those times she’d called and I hadn’t answered she was trying to tell me she was going to have my child?
Fuck.
I’d completely messed up with her. She probably thought she had to go through the pregnancy alone. Had to raise our baby alone.
All her life, she had felt just that. Alone. No one to take care of her. No one to worry for her. No one to love her.
I’d make sure she never felt like that again, I vowed silently. I wasn’t ever going to let her down again.
Chapter 6
Tavia
Reality came back to me slowly. The scraping of a chair across the floor filled my ears, then a chilled hand touching mine, the deep inhale of someone before their lips brushed over my knuckles.
Then the pain hit me, and I moaned pitifully before blinking my eyes open. The lighting in the room was dim, but there was daylight shining through the partially shut blinds. The smell of antiseptic was suddenly harsh to my senses, and I turned my head as I vomited, but there was nothing but gastric juices able to come up.
The contraction of my muscles as I heaved only made the pain that much more intense, and I was sobbing by the time my stomach calmed down.
“It’s okay,” a deep voice assured me, a heavy hand stroking soothingly over my back.
Disbelief at who it was had me lifting my head to make sure I wasn’t hearing things. But no, Theo was actually there, his face gray and set in hard lines as he lifted a damp washcloth and wiped it over my brow and then my mouth.
Tossing away the cloth, he took two tissues from a box and mopped up my tears. “Better?”
All I could do was nod, too stunned he was there, taking care of me. Being kind.
Cupping the back of my head, he eased me onto my back and then tucked the covers around me before taking the chair directly beside the bed.
“Are you in a lot of pain?” His voice was so gentle, full of the same tenderness he’d used when he was deep inside me all those weeks ago. Only now, I knew better. He got what he wanted, and then I’d meant nothing to him.
I nodded again, refusing to speak to him.
He drew his brows together, but he hit the call button tied to my bed rail. Not even ten seconds later, the door opened, and not one but two nurses walked in after a brisk knock.
Theo didn’t take his eyes off me as he instructed them to give me something to better manage my pain.
“Of course, Mr. Volkov,” the more petite of the two said. “We can hook her up to a morphine pump, and she can dispense as much or a little pain medication as she feels she needs.”
The second nurse stepped out and was back quickly, pushing some kind of machine that looked like the one holding my IV and the bag of blood that was now empty. Within minutes, the thing was hooked up to my IV site, and the two nurses instructed me how much would be dispensed per hour. Once they were done, they asked if I needed anything else, but I only shook my head, and they left.
Theo once again took his seat, but I focused on the little red button I was supposed to push to administer the morphine.
“Tavia…” I pressed the button once, but that didn’t even faze my pain level. “You haven’t said anything yet.” I pushed the button again and then twice more before the pain began to fade. Only then, the world began to spin, and I quickly closed my eyes before I became nauseated again. “Baby, talk to me.”
I turned my head away from him without opening my eyes. I knew it was childish to give him the silent treatment, but my heart was too broken to care. All I wanted was for him to leave me alone, something I knew he was good at. The morning after I’d given in to my feelings for this man and he’d taken my virginity, I’d woken up to an empty bed, and I hadn’t seen him again until…
Until Yerik took off that hood, and I saw Theo standing there looking like the ruthless mobster he apparently was.
I heard Theo exhale heavily. “Okay, krasotka. Rest. We will talk later.”
I hit the button one more time and drifted off to sleep, wanting away from him just as much as I wanted away from the pain.
I wasn’t sure how long I slept, but the next time I became aware of my surroundings, it was to fierce whispering. “We have to get her away from here,” a quiet female voice was saying, and I lifted my lashes to see who it was.
The lighting was even dimmer than it had been earlier, and I quickly realized that was because it was dark outside now. Theo stood by the window, his father on one side of him and a woman with dark hair I vaguely remembered as his aunt on the other.
“If she goes, I go,” Theo told her, a determined look I knew well on his face. “I’m not leaving her alone. Not now.”
His father muttered something savage in Russian I didn’t understand before finally blowing out a harsh exhale and nodding. “Okay. And just where do you plan on taking her?”
“You know where I’m taking her,” Theo told him with a neutral expression, his thickly muscled arms crossed over his chest.
“It makes sense,” his aunt said, tilting her head to the side. “Few people know our connection to them. Ciro made sure of that. Other than using them for protection for certain cargo hauls, we don’t often have business with them. And those are some scary motherfuckers. Petrov would think twice before stepping into their territory.”
“It’s decided, then. And we do not tell your mom and sister about any of this.” Adrian Volkov looked hard at the two of them. “I mean it, Anya. Not a single detail is to be shared with either Victoria or Sofia.”
“I heard you,” she told him with a roll of her eyes. “But I will have to tell Cristiano. There’s no getting past that.”
“Just make sure he knows not to discuss it with my wife, and I don’t care.” He put a hand on Theo’s shoulders. “We have your back, son. Remember that. Tavia is like family to us.”
Theo nodded grimly, and Adrian stepped back, dropping his hands to his sides. “I’ll make the arrangements to have her transported to the airport. Anya, have one of the Vitucci jets ready for takeoff within the hour.”
“Already on it,” she assured him. I watched through my lashes as she hugged Theo, heard the faint whisper as she spoke something into his ear and stepped back. “I’m only a phone call away. No matter the time, no matter what I’m doing, I will drop everything for you. Stay safe. Watch your back. And trust no one but the Hannigans.”
“I know, Tetka.”
“And try to steer any trouble away from Nova, or Ryan will be pissed.” She grinned and patted him on the jaw. “I would hate for my son to kill my favorite nephew.”
Theo grinned for a second, but it quickly dropped. “I will ensure Nova’s safety. It’s not my plan to put any of them at risk, Tetka. Not Nova or Lexa or anyone else. I only want to keep Tavia safe.”
“I know, and I trust your judgment.” She turned to go. “And by the way, your girl is awake. Has been f
or the last few minutes. You might want to start explaining before she freaks out.”
I stiffened, my eyes snapping open wide. I hadn’t made a sound since I’d woken up, and she hadn’t even glanced my way. How could she possibly know I was awake?
I was still trying to figure that out as the door closed behind her and Theo crossed to sit beside my bed once again. “We have to talk, krasotka,” he said in that tender voice I’d always loved.
“What’s going on? I don’t understand anything, Theo.”
Sighing heavily, he lifted my hand and kissed my palm. Warmth flooded up my arm, going straight to my heart and then spreading outward. “A lot of things have come to light while you were sleeping. I know it must have been a shock to learn that Viktor Petrov was your father. I’m sure his men were just as floored to learn the news. But they must have also known who your mother was, because they were aiming directly for you. Which is why we have to get you out of here as quickly and as quietly as possible.”
My head was starting to ache from everything he was throwing at me, and I didn’t understand a word of it. “What does my mother have to do with any of this? I don’t even know who she was.”
“In my world, everyone has enemies, Tavia. Everyone. Viktor had more than most, me included. But there is one family in particular that Petrov and his brother have always vowed to destroy down to the last drop of blood. No one had thought much of the feud between Petrov and Bykov because as far as anyone knew, there was no one left in the Bykov line. My uncle did some digging and found out that your birth mother was Irena Bykov.” He paused as if waiting for that to sink in, but the drugs still must have been going strong because my head felt foggy.
I lay there just looking at him, not sure what he expected me to do. None of those names meant anything to me. So what that Irena Bykov was my mother? She was dead, and I didn’t even remember the woman. She was a faceless shadow to me.
“Tavia, Viktor’s brother wants you dead.” Theo’s handsome, masculine face tensed even more as he spoke those words, making my stomach knot. “For no other reason than who your mother was. Everyone thought there was no more Bykov blood left, but now it seems there is. You. Why Viktor let you live when he first found out about your existence is anyone’s guess, but his brother, Adas Petrov, won’t be so generous. We have to get you away from here until the bastard has been dealt with.”
Sweet Agony (Angels Halo MC Next Gen Book 2) Page 3