I could have screamed for him to stop as I did when he tackled the police officer earlier this week, I could have shown him his daughter was safe and unharmed, but something held me back. I want to say it was because he was serving justice to the man responsible for killing our baby, but that would be a lie. I wanted Dimitri to get his revenge, to end the life of the insolent man who had caused him years of pain, then hopefully, when I reveal just how far the pain extends, he will handle the news better since the ringleader has already been executed for his crimes.
As Rocco races us through sloshy fields, Dimitri’s eyes bounce between Fien and me, their springiness only slowing when I pull back the locks fanning Fien’s face. It exposes more of her adorable rosy cheeks and plump lips, but it also reveals she’s sleeping.
I’m not surprised. Crying is exhausting. The sob I released when I woke up in a pool of my blood had me napping for hours that day.
When Dimitri scoots to the edge of his chair, his face expressing his desire to run the back of his fingers down his daughter’s chubby cheek, I nod my head, encouraging him. He can’t come to our side of the ambulance since Audrey’s gurney is wedged between us, and although I’d love nothing more than to hand him his daughter, the weapons strapped to his chest would make that awkward. Thankfully, the impressive reach of his arms won’t throw up any obstacles for him to caress his daughter for the first time.
Dimitri’s hand makes it to within a hair’s breadth of Fien’s blooming cheek when Audrey murmurs his name again. It’s a groggy, pained wail that rips my heart out of my chest as effectively as it jerks Dimitri’s hand away from Fien. He isn’t retreating with remorse. Audrey conjured up the strength to slip her hand into the one she mistakenly believed was for her.
Her show of strength has me hopeful her injuries aren’t as life-threatening as suspected, though I’d be lying if I said I also wasn’t panicked. Dimitri appears as torn now as he was when he held a gun to my head in the woodlands outside of Hopeton. I don’t believe he wants to kill me. He just has no clue how to process everything happening.
He isn’t the only one lost. Fien is asleep now, but I had to fight her with everything I had to get her to settle. I’m not just the stranger who pulled her out of the line of fire, I’m also the woman who held her back when she attempted to race to a man she has mistaken as family. It broke my heart seeing her outstretch her arms for Rimi. I’m certain the cracks will heal when she learns to do the same for Dimitri, but for now, it still stings.
While Fien’s daddy attempts to understand what her mother is saying beneath her oxygen mask, I carefully rake my fingers through her glossy hair. Audrey’s voice is so frail, I can’t hear the word she’s speaking, but I’m confident it’s only one. Her lips make the same weak movements on repeat, only stopping when an alarm overtakes the shrill of my pulse in my ears.
She’s flatlining, and we’re miles from nowhere.
With tears welling in my eyes, I watch the scene unfold. Ollie commences CPR while Dimitri tilts Audrey’s head back, plugs her nose, then prepares to breathe air into her lungs. If I didn’t know any better, I’d swear he’s done this before. Saving lives isn’t something the head of a cartel gang does. They usually take them, not fight for them.
Dimitri and Ollie continue compressions until the ambulance screeches to a stop at the front of a residence I’ve never seen before. I assumed we were going to Dimitri’s New York compound, but I guess that was stupid of me to consider. Dimitri’s crew just massacred over a hundred men. More than just local authorities will be chasing them.
The doors of the ambulance are tossed open by two large men flanking a petite blonde with big blue eyes. “Theater is prepped and ready. Take her through the double doors, into the elevator, then down one floor,” instructs a lady I’ve never met before. She’s only young, perhaps a year or two older than me. Blonde, regal-looking, and seemingly aware of who I am. Not only does the sweat beading on her forehead double when she spots my watch, fine lines crease the top of her lip. “I’ll take care of Roxanne and Fien, you look after Audrey.”
Although I appreciate Dimitri’s quick glance my way to check I’m okay with the blonde’s plan, it isn’t necessary. He shouldn’t feel torn between his wife and me. She’s the mother of his child, and I no longer am. There’s no competition. Fien needs both her motherandher father, and I refuse for my selfishness to steal that from her.
Besides, I rarely put myself first, so there’s no chance of that changing today.
“Go,” I whisper to Dimitri when his exit stalls long enough for the blonde’s pencil-thin brows to join together. “I’m okay.”
Dimitri lifts his chin, strays his eyes to Rocco for not even a second, then hotfoots it in the direction Ollie and a group of men dressed in white coats wheeled Audrey.
“You good?” Rocco’s voice is full of suspicion, cautious of the hiss I involuntarily released while stepping down from the ambulance.
Since Fien is still cuddled in my chest, I placed our combined weight onto my sore foot to ensure my step down didn’t wake her.
I shouldn’t have bothered being vigilant. I’ve barely jerked my head up half an inch to assure Rocco I’m fine when Fien is ripped from my grasp.
“Hey!”
I’d say more if Fien responded to the woman’s clutch with the devastation she displayed when I pulled her away from Maestro. She doesn’t repel away from the lady like she did me. She startles, peers at her wide-eyed, then nuzzles back into her chest.
“While I get Fien settled, show Roxanne to the guest bedroom so she can get cleaned up.” She spins away, takes one step, then whips back around. “Thedownstairsguest bedroom. I reserved the one on the second floor for Audrey and Dimitri.” After dragging her crystal blue eyes down Rocco’s blood-stained body, she purrs out, “You can stay down there too if you’d like. There are enough towels on the bed for both of you.”
“Oh, we’re not… we aren’t…” I lose the chance to get out my stuttering reply that we’re not a couple when she spins back around and stalks away, taking Fien with her.
Although my focus should remain solely on Fien, I kill two birds with one stone by asking, “Will Dimitri be okay with this?” I’m battered and bruised, but I am not so far down the rabbit hole I can’t continue to fight to ensure Dimitri’s wishes are being met. He has only just gotten his daughter back. I don’t want her palmed from person to person like she was bounced state to state the past twenty-two months.
While rubbing at a kink in his neck, Rocco shrugs. “Dimitri isn’t a fan of India’s, but the fact she’s Audrey’s best friend means he has no choice but to put up with her.”
“Oh.” Now the disdain on India’s face makes sense. She’s defending her friend from the woman who kept her husband ‘occupied’ during her captivity.
Bearing in mind the circumstances, she’s handling Dimitri’s betrayal better than I would if it had occurred to Estelle. I wouldn’t offer her husband’s mistress to sleep in my guest room. If she was still breathing, she’d be in the doghouse.
Mistress. Yuck. The word alone makes me sick to my stomach, much less wondering if that’s how I’m now viewed.
“No.” Rocco adds a finger waggle to his abrupt reply to the question in my eyes. “I have some random dude’s puke on my shirt and a ton of adrenaline to work through. I’m not up for an in-depth conversation on the uprising of deceased wives.” He doesn’t say how he usually expels his excessive energy after a raid, but his eyes most certainly do. “So how about we get cleaned up, fill our bellies with food, then tackle the shitstorm that comes with Audrey’s rebirth?”
When I nod, cowardly bowing out of a fight I know will be the shitstorm Rocco is worried about, his lips curl at the ends. “Do you want a piggyback ride, or would you like me to carry you to your room wedding-night style?” His smile grows when confusion strains my features. “I know you’re hurt, Princess P, you know you’re hurt, and so the fuck does Dimitri. Why do you think he was so torn up about leaving you?”
