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Meanwhile, Dream wants me to stay home with her. She’s tried just about everything under the sun, but I’m not staying at home. Jasha needs me. Gabriel needs me. And I want to make damn sure that every single member of the Cartel is dead before we head back to the United States.
Then, and only then, I will celebrate.
“I sure hope that P50 isn’t in the building they’re using as their headquarters,” Jasha whispers to me so that Gabriel can’t hear it.
I hold my finger up to my lips to silence him. Gabriel will get what he wants, one way or another. If I have to pay triple for another ten kilograms of Protodafinil, I will. I intend to clear all my debts and leave this country with no unfinished business.
I tuck a pistol into the holster on my hip, following it up with another on my shoulder holster, and then a rifle across my chest. We’re mostly going to be using the guns from a series of armed vehicles that Gabriel is supplying, but I’ve learned never to go out in public without a gun.
And if you’re walking into Cartel territory, you’d better take several.
Jasha is the first one out the door, followed Gabriel. Eddy has agreed to stay behind to watch over Dream at the house, a compromise that felt necessary considering Dream’s pregnancy. I wouldn’t want to risk her anyway, but considering the baby, the chances that I’d take her on a mission like this are absolutely zero.
Eddy wasn’t too thrilled to be held back, but he’s still recovering from his time as a prisoner, and when I informed him of Dream’s pregnancy, he finally agreed to stay with her. She insists she’d be fine on her own, but that’s irrelevant.
I’m the one who makes the rules, and I won’t take risks with someone so precious.
I wait in the doorway for her, pretending like I’m messing around with some strap on my shoulder holster, but I really can’t leave without seeing her one last time. She already fucked me like crazy last night, but it can never be enough.
After a moment, she comes hurrying down the hallway in a robe, frowning at me like I was about to leave without saying goodbye. “Are you guys leaving already? I thought you were going later.”
“The Cartel’s Cinco de Mayo party ended an hour ago, according to the eyes we have on their settlement. Our plane takes about two hours to get to the drop zone, and we’re moving in immediately when we’re on the ground,” I explain.
She’s in the middle of a yawn when she realizes what I just told her. “What?! You’re not jumping out of a damn plane, Nikolai. Tell me you’re not.”
I shrug. “I’m not.”
She groans. “Can’t you guys drive? Or at least land first?”
“Driving is too long, which you already know. And landing in the airport in Dimalona with the amount of weapons we have is a one-way ticket to prison. Better to jump and let the plane turn around than to risk getting searched at the airport.”
“It should be a private strip, though, right?” she asks, desperate for an alternative to jumping.
“Notourprivate strip. That’s the difference. Look, you’re not going to be the one jumping out of a plane. I’ve done this dozens of times in the past. It’s not as scary as it sounds.”
“It doesn’t sound scary, Nikolai. It sounds suicidal.”
“Just trust me, darling. I’ll be home soon. Maybe you should try to get some more sleep. It’s too early to be up and wandering around the house like this.”
She glares at me. “I would love to sleep, but you don’t make it easy.”
I pull her toward me, laying a kiss on her forehead. “I promise I’ll be back.”
Jasha is already yelling at me from the car to hurry the fuck up, and I know it’s better to listen to him than risk being left behind. I kiss Dream again, deeply on the lips, but not deep enough for her to believe this is the last time we’ll see each other.
I’ll be back.
I have to be.
I have a baby to raise and woman to marry.
* * *
There’s a particularlyrigid sort of tension in the atmosphere as our little steel tube full of guns and ammunition lifts off the runway. Inside, we’re braced for a relatively short ride in silence before the drop.
I’m supposed to be focused on the mission ahead, but violence is something I’ve dealt with an uncountable number of times before. Becoming a father is something totally new to me, and it’s been occupying my mind since Dream broke the news. I can’t think about anything else.
I already want to be a better man because of it, but I need Dream’s help. I don’t have the skills to raise a child. I can barely keep Jasha out of trouble, and I’ve lived with him my entire life. A baby sounds like a far greater challenge.
