Page 66 of Unwilling Bratva Bride

Panic had swelled so high in my veins that it choked me, and I hoisted her into my arms and ran for the house. Kicking the door open, I called out into the echoey room.

“Parker! Parker, help!”

Only seconds later, she was rushing down the stairs with her medical bag. She met me in the front hall, directing me off to the side where the dining room had been changed into an impromptu med bay complete with a hospital bed.

As I laid Adley down on the pristine white fabric, streaking it with crimson as her blood smeared across it, my brain kicked up the thought that they must have stolen all this stuff.

“Your brother called. Move.” Parker shifted me away from Adley to her other side. “Lev! Pietor! Finishing scrubbing up and get down here!”

I couldn’t speak as Parker got to work, and the men I’d known for years suddenly appeared at her side, lending their aid and listening to her barked commands likeshewas the mafia, Don.

Adley’s skin was so pale, and I squeezed the hand of her opposite arm as the three of them worked to stop the bleeding and stitch up her wound. I’d seen my brothers suturing up theirown injuries dozens of times. It never turned my stomach, but right now, I was inches from throwing up.

“Clean exit. No debris.” Parker spoke out loud as she assessed each aspect of Adley’s gunshot wound, and the words just passed through my brain without meaning. “That line started?”

Lev nodded in my peripheral vision. “Yes.”

“Good. Pietor,” Parker held out her hand, “let’s get this closed.”

Time flew by in start and stop moments that didn’t quite connect. Adley was sutured, and the line Parker had mentioned flowed into her arm, delivering antibiotics and fluids.

Another one of Lev’s men rushed in from a different doorway. He carried a bag of blood marked O negative.

“She’s doing all right. Probably will still need a transfusion for the blood loss.”

Suddenly, I realized that Parker was talking to me. I didn’t know how long it had been. As I met the woman’s eyes, mine burned, and it all came rushing out.

“She’s pregnant. Just found out. I…It was Donovan.” My voice deepened into a growl. “He fucking shot her.”

“Pregnant?” Parker’s question was echoed by the same words coming out of Lev and Pietor. “Okay, definitely needs the transfusion then. Okay. Here!”

She raised her hand for the blood and set up what I had to assume was the transfusion. I didn’t know what the fuck she was doing, but it was what Adley needed, so I didn’t question it.

Several more minutes dragged on before Parker and the guys were finished with their work. I wasn’t sure what I’d seen orwhat had happened, and I could logically place the phenomenon to being in shock.

When the room was empty aside for Parker, she reached out with her freshly ungloved hand and laid it on mine.

“You did good, Ivan. You got her here fast. I’ve done everything I can to make sure she’s okay. She’ll need time, and I’ll watch her closely. I promise.”

I nodded, unable to do anything else, and then I was left alone in the room with Adley.

The silence was deafening, and I looked down at mybride, her wedding gown speckled with blood. My heart lurched behind my ribcage, and I swallowed hard, trying to hold back the desperate sob that clawed to be free. My efforts were pointless at this point, and with no one around to bear witness, I finally let myself break down.

“You can’t fucking leave me, Adley.” I gripped her hand, staring down into her unconscious face. “You can’t. I…”

I wasn’t sure why I was still hesitating. There was obviously no one around, and even Adley couldn’t hear me. They were just words. It should be no big thing to say them out loud.

But that was the rub.

I’d never said them since my mother and never believed I would.Mom…She’d been killed by some fucker just like Donovan, cruel and sloppy and unimpressive. How was it that the smallest of men could do the most damage?

The gentle beep of the monitor Lev’s men had brought in filled the quiet. Parker had said Adley would be moved to a recovery room they’d set up when she was stable. I hadn’t even asked about the equipment and the new setup.

Parker was the doctor, though. So, I had a feeling she ensured the house’s medical supplies were up to standard.

Adley’s color was better now that the transfusion had been running for a while, and I reached up to stroke my thumb across her cheek.

“Adley, I…dammit.” I sighed, my head falling to the bed next to her hip. “Don’t fucking leave me. Got it? I need you. I…love you.”

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