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O’Connor. Jo. She said she’d send help. I’d forgotten about her. If I could just get away, I might be able to get to them before my father caught up to me. I let out a scream, knowing my uncle was going to cover my mouth, and the minute he did, I bit down hard on his palm. He shouted, dropping me. Since I was expecting it, I used the momentum to throw myself forward and away from them.
“God damnit, Rebecca!”
Instead of heading back to my condo, which is what they would’ve expected, I saw several cars fishtailing coming around the corner and raced towards them. To come after me, my father would have to face Liam O’Connor and his team. It was a risk I didn’t think he’d be willing to take. Not for me.
“Shit! Leave her! If they brought the Russians, we won’t get out of here alive,” my brother called out.
I’ve never been more thankful for Dmitriy Volkov than at that moment. I dashed across the street, straight towards the speeding vehicles, barely hearing the car behind me take off in the opposite direction. One of the cars sped past me, heading after them, while the other slammed on its breaks, squealing to a stop by my side. The angry Russian himself threw open the door and I didn’t stop until I was caught against him and I knew my father couldn’t get to me.
“Jaime! We have to get to Jaime! They shot him!”
He let out a growl and threw me into the back seat before taking off towards my condo. I pointed it out to him, my whole body shaking. He tried to demand I stay in the car but I refused, shoving the door open and racing inside. He had no choice but to follow me as I dashed up the stairs and down the hall to where Jaime’s lifeless body lay.
I hadn’t noticed people following us until I landed on my knees next to Jaime. I didn’t even get a second to touch him before he was hauled off the ground and dragged away. Dmitriy grabbed my arm, bringing me back outside and into his car. He barked out instructions in Russian to a few who stayed behind before dropping into the driver’s seat and taking off again.
It was starting to snow but I couldn’t think about that. All I could think about was Jaime.Please please please let him be okay.
* * *
It tookhours before anyone would say anything about Jaime’s condition. I was brought to the ER to be checked over and treated. It was nothing major, a few bumps and bruises, but they gave me a warm IV and blankets to prevent hypothermia and bandaged my feet because they were a little raw after running through the freezing cold barefoot.
I was sitting in the waiting room with Jo when the doctor finally came out. She showed up as I was being treated and hadn’t left my side for even a second. She clutched my hand, a deep frown on her face, until the doctor approached us.
“Sean! How is he?”
He looked tired, running his fingers through his copper hair. “He’s in critical condition but as long as he makes it through the night, he’ll live.”
I couldn’t hold back the sobs anymore. Curling into myself, I choked on them, my shoulders shaking. Jo wrapped her arms around my shoulders, rubbing my arm.
“When can we see him?”
“Not right now. He’s in the ICU. Once we can move him to a room, I can take you to see him.”
“Okay, that’s what you say to normal people. When canwesee him?”
The doctor sighed heavily. “Jo…”
“Jaime is family, Sean. He shouldn’t be all alone. So either you get us back there to see him or I’ll figure out someone who can.”
I didn’t want her irritating the doctor, he might take it out on Jaime, but when I finally looked up at him, he looked more exasperated than angry.
“Give me two hours. Two hours to make sure he’s stable. Please?”
She scowled. “Fine. Two hours. If you take any longer, I’ll get Liam involved.”
He rolled his eyes and walked away but he never said anything about her threats. Either he believed her or he wasn’t really concerned. He did keep his promise though. After the longest two hours of my life, he came back and brought me and Jo upstairs. We had to wear something over our clothes and masks on our faces to prevent infection but he led us into a room at the end of the hall that had two security guards out front.
The doctor came to a halt just outside the door. “Liam?”
Peeking around him, Jo and I frowned. Liam was leaning against a wall across the room from Jaime, his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face. When he looked up at us, his face was etched with fury and tension.
“What happened to him?” he gritted out.
For a man who thus far has seemed mostly annoyed with Jaime, he was livid that someone hurt him. And his entire focus was on me. I shrank away from him, twisting my fingers nervously.
“It was my father. He wanted to punish me for going to the wedding with Jaime. And he wanted to hurt you.” I pulled out my phone. I’d had the presence of mind to grab it before Dmitriy dragged me to the car. Pulling up the recording, I handed the phone to Liam.
Jo wandered closer to listen but I heard it already. My attention strayed to Jaime and after a quick glance at the doctor for permission, I stepped closer, carefully taking his hand. He wasn’t cold anymore, which I had to think was a good thing. His face was still a little pale but there was an IV stand with blood and fluids and he looked okay. I rubbed my thumb across the back of his hand, it was as far as I was willing to go for fear that I’d hurt him. I’ve hurt him enough.
