I feel Nikolai’s stern eyes on me.
My unspoken answer is interrupted by Aslanov’s cackling. “I see. You haven’t even had a conversation about it yet. Interesting.” He turns to Nikolai, taking a step. “But you came here to save her, didn’t you? That means something.” He sucks in a breath. “And it’s not just her anymore.” A step back closer to me. “There’s also a child growing in her, am I right?” I shudder as he runs the barrel of his gun over my stomach. “Your offspring Niko, daddy’s little girl.”
He knows that we’re having a daughter?
How?
How the hell does he know?
Nikolai’s face takes a turn for the worse. His jaw clenches even harder than before now, his fists curled so tightly into his palms that it wouldn’t surprise me to see blood trickling down. I know what he’s thinking—how dare he speak about our daughter.
“If you lay a hand on Lauren, I will rip out your throat with my bare hands,” he grits out, his voice coming out as a low growl.
Aslanov’s head tilts and his mouth pulls into a smile. He steps forward, the gun swaying about in his hand like it’s a toy. “That’s not very nice, Niko.” The amusement fades. “Besides, you’re not exactly in a position to make threats, now are you?” He raises his eyebrow knowingly, pointing the muzzle of the gun my way again.
Nikolai starts for him, raising his fist, but stops when he sees Aslanov point his weapon my way. “You kill me, one of my men will kill her. And you will watch both her and your unborn child bleed out. See, Niko? There is no way out of this.” The smile returns to his face.
“Enough with the games,mudak,” Nikolai snaps. “What is it you want?”
“It’s not about what I want anymore, Niko,” is the answer. “Not when I can have anything I want.It’s about what I’m going to do.”
Nikolai tenses his shoulders.
“I’m going to take everything from you,” says Aslanov, almost casually. “And I’m going to make your woman and your friend watch.”
A lump forms in my throat. I swallow but the size of it is like a golf ball. My breathing hitches, my eyes catching sight of the gun again in Aslanov’s calloused hands.
Silence stretches in the room. Even the thugs outside are silent, their bodies still as they anticipate whatever is about to unfold.
Aslanov gestures toward a table in the corner and the dark object on it. I recognize the piece of metal as a gun.
“A Magnum forty-five,” he tells Nikolai, confirming my earlier suspicion.
I don’t know much about guns, but I can gather from the look on Nikolai’s face that the weapon can do a lot of damage. His jaw is still clenched. He simply watches Aslanov, the sweat gone from his brow. He looks cold. It’s like the rage disappeared and he’s calculating what’s next.
“There are two ways we can do this.” Ronan tucks away his own gun and clasps his hands together, his footsteps echoing around the metal container walls. “Either you do it yourself, or I’ll do the honors. You do it yourself, your girl and your friendwalk away. If you don’t, none of you are leaving this building alive.”
Another silence extends. Longer than the one before. Wind whistles between the gaps in the metal. It’s completely dark now. The moon shines bright in the sky, casting a silvery light down into the room. It outlines the edges of the gun sitting on the table, and Aslanov’s sharp chin as he circles around all of us like a hungry vulture.
What does he mean by that?
Does he mean…?
Is he offering for Nikolai to take his own life to save ours?
“Not in front of her.” Nikolai says, understanding the request.
My blood freezes. Does he actually mean what I think he does? Is he willing to die?
No!
I press my feet into the ground as much as my zip ties allow me, restraining myself from lashing out. I want to scream at the top of my lungs, break free and punch Aslanov’s face until my fists bleed, but I can’t. And even if I could, doing that wouldn’t save Nikolai. It wouldn’t save our baby. So, I settle on staring at him, remembering all of his beautiful features, his tall muscular frame, broad shoulders, chiseled jaw, and ocean eyes. I have refused the truth for so long, but now it has been made crystal clear to me.
It’s him.
The one I want.
My lover, the father of my child.
