Page 70 of Kidnapped Bratva Toy

Fortunately, the backup team arrived quickly. The hard pound of steps rushing through the building sounded to my left. Time sped up again, a frenzy of motion and activity making it impossible for me to concentrate. I let one of the men from Pietor’s house take over on applying pressure until Parker got there. She had a bunch of other men direct us to another large SUV, and still more men dealt with Nicholas’s body.

“Pietor’s gun is right there. And his, umm, car is around back.”

“We’ve got it, sugar. Don’t worry about it.”

I recognized the man's voice from on the phone, assuming that this had to be the Ivan person. He grinned, an oddly charming but equally terrifying thing, and two men just as massive as he was worked to help him clean up the scene.

Before I knew it, I was in the SUV with Pietor, Parker, and who I assumed was Lev, sitting in the back with us.

“You must be Billie. Pietor talked about you.” His voice was so damn low, and I couldn’t tell if I was sensing the anger there that was directed at me or the situation.

“I am, yes. Is he…Is he going to be okay?” I looked over at the woman who wore scrubs with thick latex gloves protecting her hands.

“He’s a tough guy, Billie. I’m going to make sure this is all stitched up and clean for him.”

I noticed the distinct lack of a yes there, but I wasn’t about to argue. For some reason, I trusted the woman, the doctor, implicitly.

“Come on, baby. Hang in there.”

Silence swam through the car as Parker worked, and Lev stared between me and Pietor, his expression grim and intimidating.

I needed Pietor to be okay. I needed him to pull through this so that I could see those gorgeous, mismatched eyes again. Because I wasn’t letting the one man who I’d said I love you to die. Squeezing his hand, I chewed on my lip.

Don’t you dare leave me, Pietor. I am not doing this on my own.

Chapter 28 - Pietor

A slow, rumbling ache sat in my stomach. It was like I hadn’t eaten in days, and as more of my brain came online—me realizing this was happening—I realized there were plenty of aches to go around. My shoulder throbbed steadily, but the massive headache cooking behind my eyes was almost as bad.

Still, the shoulder pain wrapped from the front to the back and even managed to thread down my arm and side. Fucking hell, it was like I’d been shot.

My eyes flared open. I was shot!

Jerking up against something soft was the worst fucking move. Pain kicked through my shoulder, and I hissed as I went to grab it but then stopped myself. My hand wasn’t empty.

“Hey, be careful. You don’t want to tear your stitches.”

I shot my attention to the side of the bed that I was lying in. Billie sat beside me, her small hand squeezing against mine to keep me from messing with the bandages that wrapped around my shoulder.

“Billie! Oh, holy fuck.” The headache surged as I moved, the volume of my own voice too loud. “What the hell happened?”

She grinned at me, sagging into her shoulders as her smile melted into an expression of both relief and exhaustion.

“I used your phone. Called Lev. Well, first, I called someone named Ivan. He was…interesting. But Lev got to the scene with Parker. She did surgery on your shoulder.”

I looked to the other side of me, suddenly aware that there was someone else there, and sure enough, Lev’s wife, Parker, was standing beside the gurney, nodding down at me. I realized we were in the upgraded medical suite she’d insisted on creating when she joined the family.

I was home, and I wasn’t alone.

“Thanks, doc.” I nodded, feeling at a loss for words. I’d never been injured this badly before.

“Of course, Pietor. I’m glad to see that you’re awake. You lost a lot of blood, and that transfusion was tricky as hell. Did you know that you’re AB negative?”

The corners of my mouth turned down as I shook my head. “I’m assuming that’s a blood type or something?”

She rolled her eyes at me before nodding. “Only the most rare one. Thanks for that.”

“It looks like those eyes of yours aren’t your only unique trait,” Billie added, and I turned in her direction.

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