Long nights waiting for him. Panic every time unknown numbers called. The metallic smell of blood hidden beneath expensive cologne.
This life.
This terrible life.
“You’re hurt,” I whispered.
Luca glanced down briefly. “It’s nothing.”
“It’s a gunshot wound.”
“I’ve had worse.”
That wasn’t comforting.
Vanessa climbed into the front passenger seat from another vehicle after a quick stoplight exchange.
She turned around immediately.
“Safe house?” she asked.
Luca shook his head. “No.”
“Luca—”
“He knows the safe houses.”
Nikolai.
Of course he did.
Vanessa looked toward me. “And her?”
Luca’s eyes moved slowly back to my stomach.
“She stays with me.”
“No.”
The word came out instantly.
Luca looked exhausted suddenly.
Not physically. Emotionally.
“You are carrying my child while a Bratva boss actively hunts my family,” he said quietly. “You don’t get to disappear again.”
Anger flared through me.
