AllFreeNovel
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“Viktor!” I bark, spotting him over by the entrance to the locker room.
He hurries over. “What’s up, boss?”
“I need your keys.”
Viktor’s brow crinkles as he digs them out of his pocket. “Okay? I—”
Whatever else he says fades into the background as I head for the exit a second time. Mentally, I’m tracing the route from here to the hospital. We have a safe house, where injured men go to get treated, so I’m not as familiar with the building as most people in dangerous lines of work probably are.
“It’s the black Mercedes at the end.” Alex appears beside me again.
I say nothing but pass him the keys. My thoughts are slippery and spiraling. Probably best not to get behind the wheel.
Usually, I’d push straight through any uncertainty. But Lyla is my Achilles’ heel. Risks I normally wouldn’t think twice about are unfathomable where she’s concerned.
Alex reads the worry I’m trying to cover up.
“Hey.” He grabs my arm, pulling me to a stop. “You don’t have to bePakhanright now.”
“I’m alwaysPakhan.”
“She’ll be fine. Lyla is tough.”
“I know she is. I just…” I exhale, attempting to let out some of the worry as well.
“She’ll be fine,” Alex repeats, gripping my shoulder and squeezing it tightly.
I let out another deep sigh and nod. Because there’s no other outcome I can comprehend, and worrying about worst-case scenarios won’t help anyone.
Minutes later, we’re racing along roads, streaked with white from salt. It hasn’t risen above freezing in weeks, which is reflected in the frozen heaps of snow piled on either side of the highway.
Alex stops right in front of the hospital’s main entrance, recognizing I don’t have the patience to park.
I rush through the automatic doors, not really registering any of the looks I’m receiving.
It’s chaos inside. Screaming children. Shouting adults. An endless rush of activity.
At the first opportunity, I turn. The hallway is lined with numbered doors. Not a one of them gives me any indication of where I should be heading to find Lyla.
“This is an authorized personal area only.”
I turn in the direction of the female voice. A woman in scrubs stands with her arms crossed.
“Where is labor and delivery?”
The woman’s lips purse. “You’re here to visit a patient?”
“Yes.”
Her eyes flicker between the bulge of my gun beneath my jacket and my face before she lifts the tablet she’s holding. “What’s the patient’s name?”
“Lyla Morozov.”
The nurse pales but holds my gaze, obviously recognizing the last name. Under other circumstances, I’d admire her bravery. Right now, I’m seconds from losing my shit.
“Are you family?”
“She’s my wife.”
