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“I’m calm. I’m calm.”
I am anything but calm.
“I need to go.” I turn to leave.
“Shirls.”
“I’ll catch up with you later, Ma,” I call as I hurry out of the greenhouse. I pass by several family members as I rush up the stairs to grab my purse. I can’t be pregnant.
I’m not pregnant.
One time can’t…
Was he even inside me when….
No, I would have used a condom.
I look in the mirror and take several deep breaths. I need to confirm this. I need to get this distraction, this simple misdirection, out of the way. Once I confirm I’m not pregnant, I can relax and continue working, sit down with Ma later, and tell her she had it wrong.
I fix my hair and pick up my purse. I almost bowl Carmine and Frankie over as I exit my room.
“Where are you going?” Carmine asks.
“I’ll be back in like an hour,” I call, taking the stairs quickly. “If you need something, see me then. Something urgent came up.”
I hear them mutter behind me, but I don’t have time for anything other than getting this test. I go to one of the drivers. “I need to get some medication at the pharmacy. Can you take me to the closest one?”
“Yes, ma’am,” he says with a deep, thick Italian accent. He opens the back door, and I slip into the car.
I settle back and close my eyes.
I can’t be pregnant.
Chapter 14 - Evgenii
I haven’t slept at all. I always knew I’d hurt Shirley, but I guess I was blind to how hard she had fallen for me. And now, in hindsight, I see how hard I had fallen for her. I’m still so in love with her.
As I pull into Ivan's driveway, my mind is groggy with fatigue and jumbles of thoughts and emotions. I get out of my car and glance over my shoulder at the sound of steel grating on steel. Something’s jammed the gates.
I look to my right. Ivan is coming to see what the noise is, and that’s when it happens: A car with dark-tinted windows pulls across the driveway, and the windows roll down far enough to push an assault weapon through the front and back windows.
“Ivan! Get back!” I shout, preparing to dive to safety myself. Bullets start flying, and I feel a sharp pain in my arm. Guards are shouting around me, and I hear Ivan calling my name.
“I’m fine! I’m fine!” I call back, crawling toward the house despite the pain in my arm.
The car speeds off as fast as it pulled up, and we’re left in stunned silence until my men start shouting. Two of our guards are not breathing.
I get up off the floor and stumble forward. Ivan catches me and leads me into the house, barking orders to his guards to send the injured to the hospital and to cover the bodies of those who didn’t make it.
We go to the living room, where Tori is holding a sobbing Roman against her chest. “Oh, Evgenii, are you okay?”
I give her a soft smile. “Flesh wound, barely felt it, Tori.”
Ivan insists I lie on the settee while Tori takes Roman out of the room, probably to one of the staff to watch him.
“I won’t stand for this,” Ivan growls. “No one attacks my men or my house.”
He gets up and takes out his phone. “I’ll get the doctor to give you stitches and something to prevent infection.”
