Page 85 of Unloaded
“If you don’t mind, I’ll also send you what I know, and I’ll arrange for some of my men to assist you,” Nicolai adds, causing all of our eyebrows to elevate.
“Is that you, Nicolai?” Uncle Branch asks incredulously. “You aren’t holding my nephews hostage, are you? Is this your way of setting a trap for me?”
“Would I fucking let you know I’d offered to help if I were trying to set you up?” Nicolai growls. “We’ve had our differences, Robertson, but you know I’ve done my best to clean up the destruction my father caused, both here and in Russia.” There is a brief silence.
“Yes, I know,” Uncle Branch concedes. “Old habits are hard to kick and finding out my nephew is in love with your niece wasn’t on my bucket list.”
“No doubt,” Nicolai agrees, and both men chuckle. “It was a shock when they arrived here, demanding to see Amelia, who I’d only gotten back a couple of hours before. To quote Disney, ‘It’s a small world after all’.”
“That it is,” Uncle Branch agrees. The pinging of his cell can be heard over the line. “I’ll call you with an update as soon as I can.” The call ends before any of us can say a word.
“Now what?” Rachel asks the room, looking from me to Nicolai to Bo and back to me.
“We wait to hear from Uncle Branch,” Bo says with a shrug. “Kelvin will keep looking and help Uncle Branch find them.”
“You’re going to rest.” Nicolai and I say at the same time. We both look at one another in surprise, but then Nicolai gives me a knowing, accepting smile.
“Listen to your man, Amelia. He will take care of you.” He turns to Bo. “Come with me. I have a large bottle of Woodford Reserve I think you’d like. I also have plenty of Russian vodka. I don’t know about you, but I could use a drink.”
“Sounds good to me,” Bo agrees. “It’s been a hell of a couple of days.” The men leave the room, and suddenly Rachel and I are alone once more. Now that we have someone looking for Nicky and Ricky, I can focus solely on taking care of Rachel.
“You need to sleep,” I say, lifting her in my arms as I stand, since she’s still in my lap. I lay her down on the bed and try to step back, but she clings to me, her eyes pleading with me.
“Stay with me?” My entire body relaxes, and I nod. My boots are the first to go, followed by my belt. When I move toward the bed, she shakes her head, and I frown. “I need to feel your skin. Lose the shirt and pants, but keep on your undies.”
Fuck!She wants me to be near naked in Caprice’s domain. It goes against everything in me, but my angel needs me. I slip under the cover in just my boxer-briefs and pull her to me. Her head falls to my chest as her arm drapes over my middle.
“Thank you,” she whispers snuggling into me. My arms hold her tight, and her left leg hikes up over mine like she can’t get close enough. I know how she feels. I’d open myself down the middle and tuck her inside like Han Solo did with Luke Skywalker and the Tauntaun in theEmpire Strikes Backif it were humanly possible.
Her hair smells different when I press a kiss to the top of her head. I need to get her home where she can use her own bath products. Caprice’s shit probably costs thousands of dollars, but it can’t compare to whatever Rachel usually uses.
The tension leaves Rachel’s body almost immediately, and in less than a minute, her breathing evens out, slow and deep. The soft, rhythmic beeping of the monitoring equipment Caprice’s doctor has her hooked up to is comforting. I close my eyes and revel in the feel of how close we are. Just a few hours ago, I feared I’d never see her again, but for whatever reason, God decided to smile down on me.
“Thanks,” I whisper. “I’ll be better for her like I promised.” A sense of peace I haven’t felt in more than six years washes over me. All the guilt, regrets, and fear that have kept me on edge seeps out of me. Bo was right all along, but I’ll never tell him.
When you find the woman you’re meant to be with and you commit yourself to her and her happiness? It gives everything else meaning. All the shit I went through with the 1Lt. led me to this moment and this woman, who makes me feel whole again. I’d burn the world for her, but I don’t have to, because she loves me in spite of my shortcomings, which makes me love her even more.
37
NICKY
Ricky pulls on the old hatch that will lead into the hidden space between the roof and the top floor of the old building. The darkening sky leads me to believe it’s going to rain soon. If we can’t get inside, this escape plan is going to suck balls.
“How’s it going?” I ask, watching from the fire escape ladder a few rungs below him. He glares down at me before turning back to his task.
“You want to trade places?” Ricky asks. “Because if you think you can do better, I’ll gladly trade you.”
“You know I don’t want to trade,” I reply, trying to keep annoyance out of my tone. “I’m well aware you’re the stronger of the two of us.”
“It’s been over six years since we snuck in here last. The hinges are rusted and stuck from lack of use, kind of like when we first found it. Just give me a second.”
“Okay, I’m not in any hurry,” I say and glance around as the wind picks up. The heavy clouds are moving over head. “It’ll be fun to get rained on with 40 mile per hour gusts while hanging on to a slick, rusty, metal ladder about ten stories off the pavement. Yeah, good times.”
“Fuck you,” Ricky grumbles, doubling down on his effort to pry the hatch open with his bare hands. Moments later, my attention is drawn from watching the clouds to a sound from Ricky.
“Umph!” The wood finally gives, causing Ricky to swing back at an alarming angle. A jolt of fear shoots through me as I watch him struggle to keep himself from falling. He manages to hang on and pull himself back to the ladder.
“Got it!” he calls down, giving me a huge grin. “I knew I’d get it eventually.”
