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“Who in hell’s balls is Alexie?” she asks, looking around the table at each of us. “And where is my boo baby, Nat? Is she okay? Why isn’t she here with you all?”
Stryker is the one to inform BJ of what we learned. “Alexie is Alexie Volkov, the heir to the Volkov Empire and Andrei’s son. King shot him in a parking garage not far from the crime scene. Natalie is locked in the cell in the basement right now,” he says the last part with a cringe. He tries to continue, but BJ is having none of that.
“EXCUSE ME? You locked a member of this team in a cell? What the hell is going on? You’re going to tell me everything right now, and then I want to see my girl, ASAP!” she scolds all of us. Stryker gives her the cliff notes version of what happened.
When he’s done, I decide it’s time for the team to know about the text I got on my phone. “Right before we got the alert about Reds and the building went into lockdown, I was in the elevator with Nat. Marvin sent me a text, and it was a video of Nat walking arm in arm with Alexie and Katherine, laughing and having a grand ol’ time.”
BJ looks at me, confused. “Okay, so how does that lead to her being in a cell and the Volkov prince shot upstairs?”
“Well, as soon as I saw the video, I confronted her. She didn’t deny anything. Just asked that she be allowed to explain to the team what’s going on. However, the building alarms went off, and we went into lockdown. We knew you and Lane were at Reds, so we said a big fuck you to the guards locking down the building and went to the scene. Upon arrival, we saw the disaster, and after finding Lane, we started looking for you. Long story short, Nat ran off, and I chased after her, following her to a parking garage where she was kissing Alexie Volkov, so I shot him.”
Stryker takes over, “Then King called me, requesting backup, and I headed to the parking garage. Volkov was down and had lost a lot of blood. Nat was holding pressure to his wound, screaming at King that if he dies, she’ll never forgive him and that they’re not the ones responsible for Reds. We brought them both here on my orders. Doc is looking at Alexie, and I had King take Nat to the cell in the basement. We were just about to discuss what the hell we are going to do with her?”
Conrad doesn’t let anyone else say more before adding, “You came in just as we were about to discuss and vote. Marcela was saying she wants her sent to prison for what she did. Specifically, if we found concrete evidence that you didn’t survive the blast. Now that you’re here, you can have a say in what we do.”
BJ looks furious. I am too, so I don’t blame her. It’s obvious that Nat is about to get booted from this team like I’ve wanted from the get-go.Then why do I feel so unsure about that outcome?
“You want my opinion?” BJ asks. We all agree, and she moves to the head of the table with Lane standing right behind her with his arms crossed.
“What the fuck is wrong with all of you people? You’re seriously telling me you’revoting?Fucking voting! Like this is an episode of American Idol, and Nat just won’t get a golden ticket? This is a family; we are hernewfamily. I’m disgusted, I came here to find that this is what you’re all doing. You make me sick.” She whirls her whole body to face Marcela head on. “And you, Marcela! How fucking dare you! Prison? For fuck’s sake, she’s our friend. We’ve been out with her. She told us that her best friend is dead and her boyfriend ghosted her. I’m going to assume this Alexie fella is her ghosted boyfriend.”
Stryker tries to say something, but she snaps her head to him and glares at him.
“Sit the hell down, Stryker, I’m not done. She’s been nothing but kind to all of us. Well, maybe minus you, King, but you deserved it with the way you’ve been acting. I’m not aware of her side of the story, but from the sounds of things, none of you are, either. So no discussion or vote is needed. She’s going nowhere, and you’ll hear her out or, so help me God, I’ll have all your asses. Do you hear me?”
Well, now I feel kind of bad about the vote and that Luci is in a cell in the basement alone.
All of us look down at the table sheepishly. We’ve been properly chastised by our girl. She’s never been one to hold back the punches, so we should have expected this kind of honesty from her.
“Well, BJ...I, for one, appreciate your passionate response. However, this is a team. While I’m with you on saying Nat can stay, for now, we still need to hear the others out, and we will do so by having a simple vote.
So, all in favor of Nat staying with us, at least until we hear her side of things, say Aye,” Stryker instructs.
“Aye,” Stryker says at the same time Conrad does.
"Okay, all in favor of Nat being off the team and locked up for her involvement with the Volkovs say, Aye.”
“AYE,” comes from Marcela. Stryker glances over at me, shocked.
“King, you didn’t vote either way and even though it’s already three against one, I would still like your opinion on the matter. I’m curious about your vote since you’ve been so vocal in the past on Nat being kicked off the team.”
“I’m also using my vote as an aye for staying,” I state simply. Marcela gasps, shaking her head in disapproval of my decision.
“Marcela, I know you thought I was probably a sure thing to vote with you. However, I agree we at least need to hear her side of the story. I’m curious about what led her here and what she was trying to accomplish. It’s easy to point the finger at her for the bombing of Reds. However, as you stated, she has become good friends with you and BJ, and we all knew BJ was at Reds. So, I highly doubt she would blow the place up with her friend inside,” I inform her.
Stryker claps his hands, announcing that the vote stands and Nat stays for now. Marcela leaves her chair in a rage and storms out of the house. Cursing in Spanish about pussy whipped men. BJ and Lane give everyone hugs and head to the living room.
I head upstairs to wait in the room and to see what Dr. Lewis has to say about our Russian patient. I want to know what the prognosis is and what supplies we may need. I want that asshole awake and talking as soon as possible, so I can question him. I want answers as to why he was in the bombing’s vicinity. Why hadn’t he contacted Luci before this if they were so in love?
I can hear BJ yelling at Stryker that she expects Nat out of the basement and well taken care of when she next visits. I chuckle to myself. That woman has always been mouthy and brutally honest, and I adore her for it.
I walk into the room and find Lewis cleaning up and packing up his instruments. “What is the word on our patient here, Doc?”
“Well, it was a clean shot through the shoulder. However, the bullet nicked the subclavian artery. It’s the primary artery that supplies blood to the upper extremities, which is why there was so much blood. He’ll live, but he will need to do some physical therapy to make sure he regains full motion in his shoulder again,” Doc informs me.
I nod and tell him thanks as he heads out of the room. Before he makes it to the door, I call out to him, asking him to check on BJ before he leaves. I take a seat in the armchair kitty-corner from the bed and just watch the bastard sleep.
I must have dozed off because when I wake, it’s silent in the house. I leave the room and lock the bedroom door from the outside, not taking any chances of Alexie escaping or wandering around. I head down to the kitchen to get a glass of water and to see what time it is. Conrad is sitting at the island in the kitchen. He glances up as I walk in and make my way to the fridge.
