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I was surprised when I came out into a parking garage, but it was completely contained underground. I couldn’t see any exits other than an elevator that likely led up to a very public place where I could easily be spotted. I would have to deal with it, and probably acquire more ammo along the way. I got the feeling I was probably going to die in this endeavor, but it was better than dying on their terms I supposed. I said a silent prayer as I ducked behind a car, hoping no security cameras caught me and gave me away too soon. I really wanted a miracle to get back to the two people I called my family.
I took a deep breath and dared to go to the elevator. I didn’t think anyone else was coming down right now. In fact, I suspected those three men were supposed to have taken me somewhere. I went to the elevator and took it up. I knew better than to try the ground floor since whatever kind of building I was in would have some kind of busy desk or something going on on the first floor. I chose the fourth floor at random, hoping I could quickly find the exit and get out of there. Once out, I would run several blocks and get a hold of Ion.
But as soon as I came out on the floor, I saw that it was also busy. The place was a boutique hotel, the kind with restaurants and shops in it. I suspected that at least some of the guests were involved with the mafia, and I felt like all eyes were on me as I walked through the halls, frantically searching for the way out. I wasn’t at all surprised when I found myself almost barreling into two men in suits. I shot without a thought, knowing I needed to incapacitate them enough to grab more bullets or guns. I grabbed a gun from one, seeing they were both alive but bloody. I kicked them a few times for good measure, hearing the screams of guests that saw. This was going to be a big mess Ion would have to clean up when it was all over. I couldn’t worry about it, though. I had to find the way out, and as more men came towards me, I realized I needed to go back to the elevator and get to another floor. That’s when I saw it, the door that said “stairs.”
Chapter 21
Mariana
I hiked my dress up as I disappeared behind the door, knowing the men would soon follow. I padded down the steps on my bare feet, and it was like de ja vu. I had almost died in a stairwell once. In fact, I had been certain I was as good as dead as I bled to death while Jonas and his men took away my baby girl. This time, things were going to be turning in my favor. I had ammo, and I had a reason to believe there was life outside of the walls around me.
I had a real life to fight for.
Just as I knew I had gone down a whole flight, there was commotion from above and below. I got my gun ready as I continued, thinking that they had surrounded me. But as a shootout could be heard below, I realized what was happening. I would know the shout of his voice anywhere. The same day that I tried to escape was the day Ion had found me and come to save me. The best I could do now was make it easier. Though, I fought the desire to call out to him. I didn’t want him to get distracted and get hurt.
One of the men who was coming down was gaining on me, pulling his gun. I whipped around down onto another flight, coming down to the fight quickly. I hoped I could stay out of range and get positioned with Ion and those at the bottom before I had to face the men who were coming from above. Otherwise, I would lose all my bullets and not even take a man completely down before I joined the war.
I ran the last two flights, taking two steps at a time until I crashed hard into one of the men who had turned the fight physical at the bottom of the stairs. He went careening into the metal door and fell over, allowing Ion to take him out. I couldn’t believe I found myself in the middle of a shootout as I placed one foot on the bottom stair, the gun aimed in front of me. I had a few bullets left to spend in the revolver and then whatever was in the automatic I had taken. There was no time to celebrate that I had been reunited with Ion or to ask if Bianca was at home safe. The two men from before were coming at me with their guns. A shot went past me as I weaved and then shot at them. I also missed. These were the experts they had sent out for me this time, not the dipshits that I had been dealing with in the basement.
It was an all-out war, and I had the feeling if we didn’t get out of there that more would join. There was something that felt strange about the location of this. I couldn’t believe we were in some ritzy hotel instead of a warehouse or an abandoned home. Even with all the money that the clan leaders had, they were usually more secretive about their business. How could they afford to be conducting seedy dealings and holding prisoners in a public place? This whole thing must have been bigger than Ion or I expected.
I had a theory, and not a good one. The only people that I know of risky enough to pull a stunt like this are the Russians. I’d hoped I was wrong; I really hoped I was…. but this made sense to me. No one knows of this, but my mother confessed to me on my fifteenth birthday that her father wasn’t her biological father. Her biological father is Fredrik Volkov, Valentin Volkov’s father. Valentin Volkolv is the head of the Russian Mob.
I’m not just Romanian; I’m half Russian. I have ties to the thrones of both mobs, and I’m wondering if this has been discovered. Why else would I have a bounty on my head?
I heard Ion scream out in pain behind me, and I knew he had been shot or stabbed. I wasn’t sure how bad it was, but I knew I was the only one who could make sure we got out of there. His men were surely waiting with a car somewhere nearby. All I had to do was finish off all the other men and get him to the car. We would be scott-free and could beef up security, even stay somewhere else if we had to. I wasn’t getting separated from him and Bianca again.
I focused, taking a deep breath and remembering everything Ion had taught me. I shot two bullets through the chest of one man and got the head and neck of the other. They fell before me, and I felt the adrenali
ne running through me. I thought I would feel awful, having killed people today, but I felt like I was finally deserving of my last name. I wasn’t laying down and taking it. In fact, I had just taken care of things for Ion.
I turned around and helped him up, seeing that he had been shot more than once, though it didn’t look like anything permanent or serious. He would need to get the bullets out and treat the wounds, but that was it.
I led him out the door where a car was waiting as I suspected. We got in the car, and I told them to drive in a voice I didn’t recognize from my own throat. I sounded in charge, and it was nice. I turned to Ion and whispered the question I was dying for an answer about. “Is Bianca safe?”
He nodded before grunting in pain while pulling me down to his lips. He kissed me so passionately, and not in a lustful way. This was different, and I wondered what was happening between us as the car took us to the local hospital, finally letting me know where I had ended up; Toronto. A short drive from New York into another country. Did they think that we couldn’t reach them if they crossed the border? Hopefully, Ion would be able to think of better answers than me.
Chapter 22
Mariana
I felt exhausted as I turned off the lights and began removing my dress, finally. I had gotten to talk to Bianca on the phone while we were at the hospital for Ion. She was so excited to hear from me, and I promised her that we would have a redo for her birthday so that I could be there. She was asleep now, though, and I didn’t get to see her other than lying in her bed peacefully. Security had been beefed up, doubled in fact, and I finally felt safe going to sleep in that bed next to Ion. I put my gun under the bed just the way Ion did. Being taken again was not an option.
I sighed as I pulled off everything I was wearing. I had been wearing the same grimy clothes since I had been taken at the party for our engagement, and it felt nice to be out of them. I knew it was late, but I felt so filthy, I just had to grab a shower.
I turned on the water, which instantly got warm in this place. I stepped in, letting the water spray all over my body, chipping away at the dirt that I felt but couldn’t see. My muscles began to relax, but I jumped a little when I felt hands on me, massaging my upper back and neck. Then, kisses began to encircle me, our bodies touching under the warm water.
I turned around a concerned look on my face. “You should be resting. You were shot and had to have surgery, and, and you’re not even supposed to be in the shower. Your wound could get infected,” I told him as he leaned down and kissed my neck just the way I liked. I couldn’t help but let a pleasured sigh escape my lips. Ion knew just how and where to touch me. He was a magic man, as some might say.
“It was minor surgery,” he told me, sucking at my skin. “Besides, I have missed you. I didn’t know if you would come back to me alive this time.” I heard the concern in his voice and felt a chill run down my spine. He was sincere in what he was saying. I don’t know how we had suddenly morphed into whatever this was, but I had a feeling that I hadn’t had in a long time, or ever for that matter. I had a vague memory of Ion when we were younger, and I had talked for weeks and weeks about the way he had held my hand. This was the grown-up version of that.
I turned my back to him again, enjoying the sensations of his fingertips on my skin as they ran down my spine. I could feel him growing against me, sliding up against the inside of my thigh. He was so close to being inside me, and I wanted him to keep going. Instead, though, he leaned in and whispered in my ear. “I love you, Ana,” he said, surprising me. I didn’t ever think those words would come out of his mouth, but now that they had, I felt the overwhelming need to answer them.
I turned my head to the side so he could hear me over the sound of water. “I love you, too.” I didn’t know it was true until that moment, but it was irrevocably so. His hands wrapped around me, sliding across my wet stomach and my breasts, massaging them expertly. I felt him slip inside of me, and I spread my legs a little, letting him slip further inside of me.
I gasped at the feeling of his cock sliding against the flesh inside my pussy. I bent over and hung onto the sides of the tub, and he made it further, slamming against my cervix with his length. I moaned loudly, calling out his name as it echoed around the bathroom. It was good to be home, my fingers turning to prunes as my legs shook in complete pleasure. I finally knew where I belonged.
Chapter 23
