Page 92 of Doc

My fast movements knock him off balance, though he’s still sitting on me. It’s a scramble as both of us try to gain the upper hand, but I’m just a little bit quicker. My blade cuts through flesh as it glances off his shoulder.

Sitting up, I bring my arm back and try again, this time hitting my mark, stabbing him in the juncture between his neck and shoulder.

Over and over I stab at him, even as he tries to fight me off. He scrambles for his gun, while I continue to stab him, mostly getting him in the shoulder, and just above his collarbone.

But all it takes is one distracted moment on his part, when he tries to block me and hold his gun steady. I slip past his defenses and sink the blade deep into the side of his neck, jerking it roughly toward me, ripping his flesh open.

He gasps and coughs, and my vision begins to gray. As I yank hard on the scalpel, ripping it out of him, the pounding in my head and ringing in my ears are the first indicators that something is wrong.

The way my arm and hand shake as I try to stab him again, is the second indication. My body feels…wrong, and I seem to quickly lose strength.

Nikolai slumps over me and I cry out as searing pain shoots through me…from where he managed to shoot me as I stabbed him in the neck…

As soon as I acknowledge what happened, the pain becomes the only thing I can focus on, and my bloody, slippery hand finally releases the scalpel that is sticking out from his flesh…

When I get Ash’s voicemail,again, I look at Soren as dread fills me.

“Still nothing?” he asks.

I shake my head and dial Anton once more. When he doesn’t pick up, I shove my phone into my pocket.

“I’ll go check it out. Doc, I can believe, is avoiding us, because he knows he’s not supposed to be working this late, but Anton knows better than to not answer the phone. Something is wrong. I know it.”

“Then let’s go.” Soren stands.

I shake my head. “No, you stay here. If something did happen, Doc will never forgive me for letting you run straight into danger. I’ll call Joel on the way, see if he can send someone over.”

“Dima,” Soren says, looking over at one of his friends. “Go with him.”

Dmitri stands with a nod. “I’ve got his back, Sory.”

“Absolutely not. I can’t take someone I don’t know into a?—”

“I’m the best fucking bodyguard the Bratva has,” Dmitri cuts in. “Or I would be if they got over their bigotry and actually gave me the job, instead of insisting I need more ‘training’. They’re lucky I don’t shoot them all.”

“He really is the best,” Soren says. “I don’t know if Doc told you, but Cristian offered him a job. Hell, he offered all three of them jobs, because they all have the types of skills the Family needs.

“Please, James. Take Dima with you. Doc won’t forgive you if I get hurt, but I won’t forgive myself if I don’t make sure you have backup.”

My nerves are a livewire as every instinct tells me to find Ash and keep him safe. I don’t want to spend one more second talking, so I bite out, “Fine, let’s go.”

Dmitri says something to Soren and his brothers, but I’m already turning and leaving the bedroom. Thankfully, Soren’s condo isn’t very big, so it doesn’t take long to get to the front door.

The guard that was posted out here is now gone, since David left an hour or so ago, so it’s just me striding to the elevator with Dmitri’s quick footsteps following behind.

“Look,” he says as we get into the elevator. “You don’t know me, so I know you don’t trust me, but I am very good at what I do. I’ve wanted to be a bodyguard since I was a kid, my dad is one, ya know? I wanted to make him proud. Looking like I do, they don’t take me seriously. But your Boss was willing to meet and give me and my brothers a chance. We don’t have many opportunities, and it’s not that easy for us to get out because, unlike Soren, our uncle isn’t the Pakhan.”

He stops and takes a deep breath. “All that being said, I know what I’m doing; you don’t have to worry. Sory wouldn’t have sent me if he doesn’t trust me. I know how much Doc means to him.”

Thankfully, the elevator hits the ground floor and I don’t have to respond. Instead, we jog across the lobby and out the doors. Dmitri doesn’t say anything as we climb into the car, and before he’s even clicked his seatbelt into place, I’m pulling out of the parking space.

As I hit the road, I use the bluetooth to connect with Joel.

“Two calls in one day, James?”he teases.

“Something’s wrong with Doc,” I bark. “I don’t know what…” my voice catches. “He hasn’t been answering me or Soren, and I can’t get ahold of Anton.”

“Where are you?”my brother asks, voice deadly quiet.

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