She was supposed to become a wildly successful artist who married a good man. She was supposed to have left behind the world of crime and danger when her father went to prison and she moved in with her grandparents.
She
had
become a wildly successful artist. She
had
a college degree. She had friends who loved her and was well-respected within their community.
But instead she had chosen him. She hadn’t chosen a good man to be her husband and life partner.
She picked me.
She had agreed to walk next to him through this life and to build a family with him, even if it meant that they would always have one foot in the shadowy underworld that had very nearly claimed her young life.
Tell her the truth. She deserves it.
With a sigh, he explained the situation. “Luka came in legally through New York. He brought his cousin with him. They look so similar they could be brothers. His cousin stayed in New York and is pretending to be him. Zec slipped Luka down here without anyone else realizing it.”
Her eyes widened “Do they do that often? Luka and his cousin switching places, I mean?”
“During their family’s war, it was a security measure. Now they do it only when it’s necessary.” He rubbed her earlobe between his fingers. “Hector knows how to handle himself. Your father is a master at this sort of thing. We’re meeting in a cabin by the lake, just outside of Mathis. It’s all been arranged by Kostya.”
She studied his face for an intense moment and then nodded. “All right.”
Putting his hand on her very pregnant belly, he nuzzled their noses together. “I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize my life, not now.” He leaned down and kissed her stomach. “Not when I have everything to live for…”
Lifting his head, he implored her to understand. “What I’m doing today? I’m doing it for us. I’m doing it to make this city safer and to get our family out of the last of our most dangerous and risky business. We’re moving on to bigger and better and
cleaner
earnings.”
“I trust you, Kolya.” She smiled at him and caressed his face. “I love you so much. Please be careful.”
“Always.” He kissed her one last time before finally untangling himself and sliding out of the bed. “Are you hungry?”
“Yes, please.” She tried to sit up, but he had mercy on her and lifted her into position. After he fixed the pillows, he brought the tray to the bed and handed her the television remote. She popped a section of grapefruit into her mouth and switched on the morning news. “I’m going to call Kiki later to see if she has any advice on all this back pain.”
He schooled his expression at the mention of the doula and Bradley coach they had hired a few months ago. When Vivian had decided she wanted to try for a natural childbirth, he had been supportive of her choice, but the fear that something would go wrong if she birthed at home or in a center kept him awake at night. She had compromised by choosing to use the city’s best hospital if he would agree to hire a doula and attend childbirth classes.
He’d gone—for her—but he hadn’t been very comfortable. Only one other partner had been brave enough to speak with him or even try to be friendly during the breaks. Kiki was a nice person, but she had a voice like a dentist’s drill. He could handle her in small doses, but he wasn’t looking forward to sharing a hospital room with her for hours and hours.
And there was something else. Something he was ashamed to admit, even to himself.
He was jealous of the way Vee listened to every word Kiki said and took her advice and opinion over his. It was a childish thing, really, but there it was. He was so used to having Vivian look to him for advice or support. To have her instantly seek out some other person? To shove him aside for someone she trusted more? It just drove him up the fucking wall.
But he kept his mouth shut. Firmly. Vivian needed Kiki’s help to get the childbirth experience she wanted.
“Will you be home late?”
“I’ll try to get back to you as soon as possible.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s a three hour drive to the meet-up. The talks will take an hour or two. Then it’s three hours back. I need to pop into Samovar and head over to a couple of construction sites before I come home.”
“Don’t rush.” She grasped his hand and interlaced their fingers. “I’m in good hands.”
Not wanting her to worry again, he said, “I have some extra men on the house today.” He cupped her jaw. “It’s just a precaution.”
What he didn’t say was that Besian had men watching the house and her own father had sent some of his most trusted guys as backup. She was the safest woman in this city.
After ducking into the bathroom to tidy up, Nikolai leaned down and captured her mouth in a slow, easy kiss. “I’ll see you later.”
“Bye.”
He left the door to the bedroom cracked an inch or two before heading downstairs. Danny and Arty were waiting in the kitchen. He grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the chair he had draped it on earlier and slid his arms through the sleeves. “Let’s go.”
Flanked by his men, Nikolai left the house and climbed into the front passenger seat of Artyom’s SUV. As the street captain he trusted most backed out of the private drive, Nikolai stared up at the master bedroom windows overlooking the garden. He could just make out the silhouette of a woman—
my woman
—behind the gauzy white drapes. Certain she was watching, he broke his usual cool, collected demeanor and lifted a hand to acknowledge that he saw her. The curtain moved just enough to show her beautiful face and a waving hand.
Behind the wheel, Artyom smirked. Nikolai caught his eye and shot him a
fuck you
glare. The captain just laughed it off. “You’re getting soft, boss.”
Thinking of his wife waiting for him to return, he murmured, “Vivian is the softest person I know.” He fastened his seatbelt. “She’s also the strongest.”
Artyom’s mouth twitched with amusement. “When did you become such a romantic?”
Nikolai snorted and shifted to get comfortable for the long drive that awaited them. “Just drive.”
“Yes, boss.”
2
T
wo
Stretching his aching neck, Nikolai stepped into the cold air of a January afternoon and strode across the deck. Secluded and private, the lakeside cabin had offered the four bosses exactly what they needed to get a deal struck on guns, narcotics and some side-businesses. It had been a long but productive two hours with very little friction. He usually found himself playing the role of diplomat in these conversations, but Hector, Luka and Romero had all come to the table ready to strengthen ties and expand their businesses while building better alliances.
Movement in the trees drew his attention. He spotted Danny along the perimeter and then one of Hector’s men about twenty yards away. They had the area locked down tight, but Nikolai didn’t expect any trouble.
“It’s beautiful out here.” Luka emerged from the house and joined him at the rail. The young boss pulled a pack of smokes from a pocket and offered him one.
Nikolai shook his head. “I don’t smoke.”
Luka smiled knowingly before lighting up and taking that first long drag. “How is your wife?”
“She’s very well.” Nikolai watched him enjoy the cigarette without envy. The old cravings had finally settled down and rarely bothered him anymore.
“You must be excited about your son coming soon.” He flicked ash over the edge of the railing before leaning his arms against it.
“Yes.”
“That’s good, you know? To have an heir so quickly? You’re a lucky man.” He expelled a lungful of smoke. “If your wife gives you another boy or two and then some girls, you can build a real dynasty. Family is everything.
Blood
is everything.”
Nikola wasn’t sure what to say to that. Luka had been raised in a big, cohesive family where honor and respect and blood ties were the only thing that mattered. On the contrary, he had grown up the hard way, alone and unloved for most of his childhood.
Sometimes he worried he wouldn’t know how to be a good father or how to be the family man that his wife and children would need—but then he calmed those fears by reminding himself that Vivian was his partner. She wouldn’t let him step out of line. She would show him the way.
Thinking of the strange marriage contract that existed between Luka and the Dushku girl, he said, “You’ll be starting your own family soon.”
Luka made a humming sound. “We’ll see.”
“Are you going to see the girl while you’re here?” As far as Nikolai knew, the girl, a college student in Houston, still hadn’t been informed of the marriage pact struck by her family and Luka’s. He could just imagine the fireworks that accompanied that discovery.
Luka shook his head. “No. I’ll wait until May, when she graduates, and then I can bring her straight home with me.”
Nikolai didn’t think it was his place to tell another man how to woo a future wife, but he was pretty fucking sure Luka’s arrogance and aloofness were going to get him in trouble. He was still trying to figure out a way to give the young boss a little guidance without offending him when Romero joined them.
His father-in-law dropped down onto an Adirondack chair and stretched out his legs. His leather motorcycle colors creaked with every movement. Rolling his ankle, he winced, and Nikolai wondered if age was finally catching up with the notorious enforcer. “How was my baby girl when you left her this morning?”
As if sensing that his presence would hinder the discussion between the two relatives, Luka quietly excused himself and wandered down to the lake with his cigarette to keep him company.
“She’s good. Tired,” Nikolai added, “but good.”
Romero stared out at the lake. “You’ll keep an eye on her after the baby comes?”
Nikolai knew exactly what Romero was asking even without saying the words. Vivian’s mother had suffered from terrible post-partum depression that had exacerbated her existing mental health issues. She had snapped one day and tried to drown Vivian in a bathtub. For all anyone knew, she had hurt or abused Vivian quite a few times prior to that horrific moment.
“I’ll keep a very close eye on her, but you don’t need to worry. Vivian has spoken to her doctor about the family history. We’ve educated ourselves on the signs.” He didn’t have to say that he would do anything to keep Vivian and the baby safe. Therapy, drugs, nannies, night nurses—he would move heaven and earth to make sure his wife had what she needed to be a good mother and to be happy and healthy. “We’re prepared.”
Silence stretched between the two men. Eventually Romero found something to say.
“She was the most beautiful baby.” His gravelly voice didn’t match the wistful expression on his hard face. “Her eyes are a paler blue now, but when she was a baby, they were bluer than the ocean. I’d never seen anything like it.” He cleared his throat and kept his gaze fixed on the lake. “I couldn’t believe I had made something so perfect.”
Nikolai wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t close to his father-in-law. After all, the man had tried to kill him a decade earlier! To hear the infamous machete-wielding hard-man talking about his feelings on fatherhood was unsettling, to say the least.
Kostya saved him from the awkward conversation. Mouth tight and eyes narrowed with worry, the cleaner thrust a cell phone at him. “You need to take this.”
Not liking Kostya’s tone, he snatched the phone. “Hello?”
“Kolya?”
Hearing the strain in Vivian’s voice, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Um…” She blew out a noisy breath. “Are you busy?”
“No. We’re done. I was just about to leave. Why?”
“Don’t panic.”
He fucking panicked. “What’s wrong?”
“I’m in labor.”
“What?” His exclamation brought Romero to his feet. “You’re sure?”
“Kiki is here. It’s labor.”
Fuck
. “How long have you been having contractions?”
“Um….”
“Vee!”
“So, they sort of started right after you left. They weren’t regular at first, but they were painful. Now they’re regular and painful.”
His stomach lurched.
Five hours. Five fucking hours!
He wanted to shout a hundred different questions at her but he tried to remain calm. “How close are they?”
“Oh, they’re about twenty minutes apart. Kiki says I have plenty of time to get to the hospital.”
Kiki says. Kiki says.
He had something he wanted to say to Kiki.
“I’m on my way home. Don’t wait for me if you need to go to the hospital. Ten, Ilya and Boychenko know what to do.”
“I know.” She sounded strangely calm now. “Take your time. Don’t rush. This could take hours and hours.”
Hours? He didn’t want to think about her being in pain for even one hour. “
Ya tebya lyublyu
.”
“I love you, too, Kolya.”
He ended the call and tossed the phone at Kostya. “We’re leaving.
Now
.”
“Is it time?” Romero seemed almost anxious.
“Yes.” He hesitated. “Are you coming to Houston?”
Romero shook his head. “Not tonight. They’ll be expecting me. I’ll find a way to see my daughter and my grandson. Soon.” His father-in-law gestured to the house. “Go. I’ll let the others know you had to leave.”
He ran through the cabin, hot on Kostya’s heels, and slipped into the passenger seat of the cleaner’s car. The drive back to Houston should have taken three hours and twenty minutes, but Kostya punched the gas and expertly manned the wheel. Nikolai kept in touch with Vivian with frequent calls and texts. The two hour drive was almost too much for him to handle. He kept running through the checklists and the lessons they’d learned in their childbirth classes. Eaten up with worry, he had to give the what-ifs and all the ways labor could go wrong a mental kick to clear his headspace.
“She’ll be fine.” Kostya had remained quiet until they hit the Houston city limits. “Women have been having babies since the beginning of time. Her body knows what to do.” He quickly changed lanes and hit the gas again. “And if her body has problems, some of the world’s best doctors are right here in this town.”
Kostya’s encouraging words didn’t have the calming effect he had probably imagined. Instead, Nikolai thought of shoulder dystocia and C-sections and prolapsed umbilical cords. By the time they finally pulled up in front of the house, he was a fucking wreck inside. He was out of the passenger seat before the car had even stopped.