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“Cristo, the fucking bastard, beat her up. It was bad. Real bad. I was afraid she was gonna die. I couldn’t let that happen, so I busted open the door to her apartment. There was blood everywhere, coming from…you know… Anyway, I shot his bodyguard. Dragged Cristo off her. Then, he went ballistic on me.”
Silence reigned as I tried to process what he was saying, and what he wasn’t saying. “You beat him up.”
“Yeah,” he confirmed, a harsh exhale of breath rattled through the phone.
“The girl okay?”
“She lost the baby. He k-kicked it out of her. She’s a fucking mess, Sef. I couldn’t stand by and let it happen. I’m sorry—”
“Enough,” I cut him off.
Was I pissed? Damn right, I was. His job was to hide, watch, and relay any important information, not barge in and create a fucking mess for me to clean up. Not to let them know they were being watched, and not to get caught. You certainly didn’t bust in a door and get involved in a fucking domestic situation. At the same time, it must’ve been bad for Stegan to violate the carnal rules of spying. My men weren’t angels, by any stretch of the imagination, but I would never blame him for protecting an innocent woman about to be beaten to death. Which was where it was going if he’d felt compelled to get involved. And there had been a bodyguard present, watching over and doing nothing? Typical shameful behavior from the Popescu clan.
“I called his father from his cell phone. The idiot didn’t have it password protected or anything. Figured it was better for Nelu to handle it the way he saw fit. He ripped me a new one and told me to tell you he’d be in touch to deal with this. Then I carried her to my car and brought her to the hospital.”
“How is she?” I gritted out. I didn’t want the girl hurt, but whatever injuries she’d sustained might help during my inevitable negotiation with Nelu. As much as I disliked the man, he was Romanian. Our common enemy was the Bratva. Regardless of what Stegan did to Cristo, we were better off sticking together. There was no way in hell I’d deal with Russian scum, and a bonus of Nelu of partnering with me was that he couldn’t work with them. Not without crossing me. Considering they’d killed my father, this was a given.
Which meant I’d have to make this up to him. Fuck! The more this nightmare unfolded, the more it was imperative I remain calm on the outside. But on the inside? I was burning up. With the marriage still up in the air, this was bad timing. God only knew what he’d extract from me to make this right. I didn’t want to consider the worst scenario. I couldn’t, or I’d lose my shit and go into a rage. And I never ever lost my shit.
“The hospital staff wouldn’t tell me anything ’cause I’m not a family member. I didn’t want to reach out to anyone on her behalf until I got the okay from you. Boss, I panicked. I broke protocol, and I’ll accept the necessary punishment.”
Nina’s fingers wrapped around my wrist, distracting me. My gaze flicked over to her and found her worried eyes glued to me. Christ, I needed to get her in a secure location ASAP.
“I’m in public. Let me get Nina home. Where are you?”
“New York Presbyterian in Flushing,” he answered.
“Stay there and keep an eye out for Una. How was Cristo when you left him?”
“Bad. I…” There was a long pause. “I lost my temper,” he admitted.
“The hell, Stegan? Is there something going on that I should know about? Never mind, don’t tell me now. I’ll be—”
“Aww fuck, Sef, they just brought Cristo in through the emergency room doors.”
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
“Get the hell out of sight,” I growled. “Keep your phone close, and I’ll call you when I get there.”
As I disconnected, I pulled out my money clip and dropped several hundred dollar bills on the table.
“What happened?” Nina asked softly, clearly rattled by whatever she read on my face.
“A clusterfuck, that’s what. I’m sorry, firefly, but it’s time to go. I need you safe at home. This may be war.”
“With Nelu?” she replied in a hushed voice, her plump bottom lip pushing out into a little pout of worry.
“Yeah,” I affirmed, waving to the waitress. Nina’s safety was my first priority. Always attentive, the waitress came over immediately, and I told her to keep the change. Helping Nina into her coat, I shielded her from patrons as we walked out, just in case someone came out of the woodwork. While the chance of an attack in public was slim, my nape pricked in anticipation of chaos.
The days of public shoot-outs were a thing of the past, but there were always exceptions, like what had happened to my father. His death had occurred in broad daylight. While that had been the work of the Bratva, and I didn’t expect a backlash like that from Nelu anytime soon, I was on the alert. Nina brought out my inner beast. Currently, it rose tall, on its hind legs, scrapping for a fight.
Nestling her sweet curves into my body, we waited near the entrance in the lobby. Once the valet threw me the keys, I swiftly whisked her into my Jaguar.
On the way to my apartment, I called Tatum and briefly explained to him in Romanian what had happened, ordering him to be downstairs in the lobby by the time I arrived. He was to stay the night in my apartment. Then I told him to call and alert my mother to go on lockdown until further notice.
Driving into the semicircular driveway near the lobby of my building, I put on the brake and dragged Nina close to me. Scenting her throat, my eyelids shuttered as I drew in her delicate fragrance and let it wash over me for a brief moment of calm before facing the storm. I was going to need every ounce of patience and cunning for whatever awaited me in Queens.
Clawing at my shirt, her eyes clung to mine. “Are you going to be okay?”
