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She couldn’t hide the disbelief in her voice, but Chloe didn’t seem offended by it. “I had a hard time believing it too, but he confessed to me. Then, he tried to kill me.”
Chloe pulled the neck of her blouse aside to show Alice a scar on her shoulder.
“Is that a bullet hole?”
“Courtesy of Agent Calloway.”
“Heshotyou?”
“And Alek shot him. He’d throw a fit if he knew I was telling anyone this, especially an FBI agent, but I trust you, Alice. And I understand being torn between what you think is right and what your heart tells you.” Chloe took a deep breath and held her eyes. “Rick Calloway is dead, Alice. And I’m glad. He was corrupt and violent. A truly bad man.”
Alice understood what she was saying. Alek and Nickolay and whoever else was a part of the Bratva were men that did bad things sometimes, things that she probably didn’t want to know about, but they could be good men too. Nickolay was a great father and a caring lover. He was someone that she would have been happy to spend her life with under different circumstances.
Just because Rick Calloway was a federal agent, that didn’t necessarily make him a good man.
Alice was still processing all of this when Chloe’s eyes suddenly widened and she gasped. “Oh my God!”
“What?” Alice rushed around the counter toward her, only to skid to a stop as she rounded the island and saw that Chloe was standing in a puddle of clear liquid. “I-is that…”
“My water broke.”
“I guess it’s not a false labor this time, huh?”
Her joke fell flat as Chloe doubled over in pain. “Oh….”
“We’ve got to go.” Taking Chloe by the arm, Alice led her out of the kitchen, only to stop and stare at Max as they entered the living room. She’d almost forgotten he was here. “Okay, we’reallgoing.”
Despite the fact that Nickolay was with him, she tried to call Alek as she brought Chloe to the car. Max was in the back already as she helped Chloe into the passenger seat. She was in more pain than last time, making this all feel so much more real.
The phone rang and rang, but Alek didn’t answer. When the voicemail picked up, she left a brief message, explaining the situation, and she was sure that the seriousness of it was punctuated by the sound of Chloe’s painful moaning in the background.
As she pulled out of the driveway, Chloe’s contraction eased up just in time for Alek to call back. She answered it, panting as they spoke.
“He’s going to meet us at the hospital,” she told Alice when she hung up the phone.
“Are you okay, Chloe?” Max asked from the backseat, his voice fearful. Alice wished that she could comfort him, but she was focused on weaving through traffic.
“Yeah, I’m okaaaaay,”
Another contraction hitting her made her words slightly less believable, and she groaned for the next few minutes, writhing in her seat and breathing heavily.
Alice tightened her hold on the steering wheel, feeling the pressure to get her to the hospital as soon as possible. Shereallydidn’t want to have to deliver this baby in the car.
Finally the hospital came into sight, and she pulled into the parking lot. The labor and delivery ward was right next to the emergency room entrance, but there weren’t a lot of cars in the lot, so she was able to park close to the entrance.
Getting out, she went around to the passenger side and opened both doors so that Max and Chloe could get out. Her latest contraction had just passed, but she was still weak, so Alice lopped an arm around her waist to help support her.
“Chloe!”
Alek’s shout came from behind them, and Alice’s heart dropped at the sight of Nickolay rushing toward them as Alek’s side. He was glaring at her.
“Get away from Chloe,” he snapped.
Alek looked startled, but he quickly came to Chloe’s other side.
“What are you doing here? Why were you with her?” Nickolay’s questions were delivered with an aggressive tone that made her chest ache.
“Nickolay, don’t…” Chloe said, her teeth gritted together as another wave of pain took over her.
