*Tallon*
“Natalia...”
The exhilarating high that I’d been chasing since Ivan bitterly surrendered to and my n ca to a crashing halt. In fact, I was fairly certain that my entire world was about to be ripped from beneath .
I was prepared to walk into a death trap before the sun even made its appearance in the sky. I was ready for Ivan to aim his gun at and possibly end my life. Hell, I’d anticipated walking away with minor injuries at the very least.
But not this....
Nothing, absolutely nothing, in the world could have prepared for the terrifying sight that awaited beyond the main room. Sohow in the midst of all the fighting and flying bullets, Natalia had gotten injured. One of the aimless shots must have gotten her when no one was looking.
Oh, Christ. And I hadn’t even noticed because I was too busy trying to keep the gun out of Ivan’s hands. What the fuck kind of a man was I? Here I was trying to keep her safe and ensure that she would get out of that apartnt complex alive, only to have her end up shot and losing ounces of blood.
Natalia just stood there, sagging helplessly against the wall. Her skin paled several shades lighter than normal. Her body was trembling terribly.
She looked freezing while also breaking out into a complete sweat like she had a fever of a hundred and four degrees. My mind couldn’t comprehend what my eyes were seeing. From where I was standing, she looked as though she was about to topple over at any given second.
But it wasn’t until my gaze had drifted down from her face that I noticed her hands.
Aside from their excessive shaking, they were completely covered in blood. That sa trail of blood I’d been following led to a small pool of it next to her.
Whether Natalia was aware of this or not, she turned to face and gave a gentle smile. My heart sank into my stomach.
Her voice ca out weak and raspy. “T-Tallon,” she said again.
All the air caught in my throat as I watched her eyes roll to the back of her head and her knees begin to buckle. Without a single thought, I dove to her side and carefully took her into my arms. My stomach rolled in a mixture of nausea and anxiety.
I needed to find the wound—needed to stop the bleeding.
“Sweetheart.” My voice ca out rough and winded as the fear crept up my spine. “You need to stay with . Keep your eyes open.”
I waited for her eyelids to crack open. Good! She was still conscious.
“Okay, I’m going to try and see if I can find the wound. We need to stop the bleeding,” I told her.
Whether she understood or not, I quickly went to work by gliding my hands down both her arms and her sides. Natalia winced and whimpered in discomfort but didn’t tell if I was getting closer to the area or not. I was growing frustrated from not making any progress. If I couldn’t find the wound, then there was no telling what would happen.
She was losing more of her normal color and fading by the second. My mind began thinking the worst.
“Vinny!!” I called out in desperation.
Monts later I was joined by my second as he ca barreling into the hallway. His expression also twisted into one of worried confusion.
“Is she—?”
I wouldn’t even allow him to finish his sentence because, among my overwhelming feelings of dread and worry, I was also in feral denial.
“She’s not dead,” I grounded out. “But she’s losing a lot of blood. We need to get her out of here. Go get the car,” I said shakily.
Vinny responded with half a nod and quickly turned on his heels.
“I’ll et you out front,” he said.
From there, I gently eased Natalia off the floor and held her close to my chest once more. I felt her muscles tense as she winced in pain.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “But I need to get you out of here so we can get you fixed up.”
Natalia tried opening her eyes again, but I could see her losing the battle to stay awake with every passing second.
I hastily took off down the hallway and rapidly made it toward the main entrance. I didn’t stop to see or talk to anyone as they were rounding up the remainder of Ivan’s n. I knew I’d told Alessandro to have them moved to one of the warehouses, but I couldn’t spare another second to deal with that issue.
As far as I was concerned, the matter involving Ivan was dealt with. I won, case closed.
But now it seed like the real test of wills had begun.
Was I going to be able to get Natalia the help she needed in ti? Or was I going to lose her because I failed to keep her safe in the first place?
The clock was ticking in the back of my mind while I rushed past my brother, who turned his head to spare a passing glance. His face fell in shock. He must have seen that both Natalia’s hands, as well as my own, were covered in blood and knew better than to try to stop .
“Keep posted,” he called after .
It wasn’t much, but I felt a warm spark of acceptance from my brother’s words. I knew he was never crazy about my relationship with Natalia. Having been the first one to question her loyalty and being the one to inform about who she truly was certainly didn’t make things easy between all of us. He didn’t even want making the deal with Ivan in the first place.
Yet now, it seed he was finally understanding that my love for her was real—that what I felt for Natalia was not just so fleeting emotion. I wanted a future with her.
But that future was now in jeopardy.
Thankfully, I spotted Vinny whip the car around a minute later. I felt my ears wince from the harsh sound of the tires screeching against the pavent as he ca to an abrupt stop in front of us.
He quickly jumped out of the front seat to help place Natalia in the back. As soon as she was in, I watched Vinny take out his phone and quickly dial a number.
“I’m calling Collins,” he told .
Jonathan Collins was one the best physicians we had on our staff. If anyone knew how to fix up Natalia, it would be him.
Hearing this piece of news set my mind a little bit at ease, for what it was worth. While Vinny was still waiting on the phone, I swiftly climbed into the back with Natalia.
“Step on it,” I said.
Vinny’s foot hit the gas and we were off. He skillfully dodged every other car that got in our way, all while maintaining his conversation with the physician on the phone.
“We don’t know where the wound is,” he said bitterly.
There was a short pause after every comnt he gave. No doubt that Collins was trying to drill him for as much information as humanly possible about Natalia’s situation. I knew it was important. He was the one who was going to have to perform the surgery, after all.
“No, we have no idea how long she’s been losing blood,” Vinny snapped. “Look, we’re on our way to the safe house. We should be there, hopefully, in twenty minutes. Prepare your team for an ergency procedure.”
Without so much as another word, he pressed the ‘end call’ button and tossed his phone to the seat next to him.
I gently lifted Natalia’s upper half to drape carefully over my lap. I rested my palm against her slightly chilled, yet clammy cheek. Her breathing beca much more labored since I’d moved her out of the hallway. It sounded shallow with far too long of a break in between each breath.
“Natalia.” I tried calling out to her to get her attention. “I need you to try to stay awake.”
A distorted moan broke from the back of her throat, yet her eyes stayed closed.
“Please.”
My own breathing grew strained as the cold hand of reality started to rest on my shoulder. I knew Vinny was doing everything in his power to make sure that we got back to the safe house, but ti was our biggest factor. I wasn’t sure how much longer Natalia was able to hold on.
I wished I actually knew the amount of blood she lost. At least then I would have been able to pinpoint roughly how long we had.
Unfortunately, all I could do was hope for the best.
“I need you to stay with ,” I told her quietly.
I knew Vinny was too distracted on the road ahead to hear anything I was saying, but I still wanted us to have as much privacy as our situation would allow.
“You can’t leave like this,” I told her weakly.
I didn’t care how selfish it sounded, especially when it was true. I couldn’t lose her, not when things were finally going to be back to normal. Neither Ivan nor any of the other Zaytsevs, for that matter, were ever going to get between us again. I would make sure of that.
My idea of peace was temporarily on hold. If things didn’t pan out with Natalia’s surgery and things took a turn for the worse, I was fully prepared to put a final end to the Zaytsev bloodline. It would all have to depend on fate.
While she looked so frail beneath my hands, I couldn’t keep myself from thinking back to our short trip to Positano and the Isle of Capri. She looked so beautiful back then in that blue dress that made her eyes shine with life and passion. I would have given anything to see her like that again.
A powerful sensation of guilt washed over . What if I never did? What if I never saw her smile again, or felt the way her hand fit perfectly into my own? What if we never took another trip like that again?
What if these were our last monts?
The heart ached in my chest with no foreseeable sign of stopping. I ran the pad of my thumb over her bottom lip, wishing she was still awake to hear .
“I love you,” I said.
I blinked back the tears in my eyes as Vinny pulled the car into the driveway of the safe house. He helped ease Natalia out of the car. I took her graciously back into my arms and rushed her into the house.
The physician along with his dical team were waiting for us as soon as we ca in. To my dismay, two of the staff mbers were already trying to take Natalia away. They placed her on a stretcher and wheeled her to the back of the house.
“We’ll keep you inford as soon as the surgery is over,” the physician said.
I hardly gave a response as I watched Natalia be taken away from ... again.
I knew I needed to stay positive and have faith in our dical staff.
But it was hard to stay optimistic when I could still feel the love of my life’s blood drying on my hands and clothes.
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