Page 25 of Immaculate Deception (Romanoff Bratva)

But not right now. Not just yet.

First, I need to get Arya and the baby out of here.

Through the crack in the open door, I can see the silhouettes of at least three men, chattering amongst themselves. Arya passes through the threshold after the nurse.

Behind them, the men seem to come to a decision. They start to charge out in Arya’s wake.

But before they can get far, the nurse whips the door closed and locks it with a key around her neck. The men, realizing what’s happened, start to bellow and pound on the door. It’s already rattling on its hinges.

No way that flimsy shit keeps them in there for long. But it’ll do for now.

The nurse turns the corner quickly, mumbling to me as she passes. “It works every time. Tell a new mom she can’t do something and it’s the first thing she tries.”

I bite back a laugh. She’s still shaken, but having a job to do seems to have soothed her.

Arya, following much more slowly, turns the corner next.

I shove the wheelchair in front of her. She drops into it gratefully. It takes her a second to look up and realize I’m not a nurse.

“You!”

“Me,” I say grimly. I don’t wait for her to put the pieces together. Just start pushing her down the hallway after the baby.

“What are you—”

“Shut up. I’ll explain everything when we get to the car.”

She shakes her head and points after the nurse. “No. No, I’m not going to a car. My baby. She said there’s something wrong—”

“I said shut up. Do you want me to leave you in there with those motherfuckers?”

Arya seems to realize all at once that she’s no longer in the room with those men. She looks around, panicked, and then flops back into the wheelchair with a sigh. “Who were they?”

“I’ll explain everything when we get to the car.”

“Stop saying that! Explain something now.”

“I’m fucking saving your life,” I hiss in her ear. “How about that? Does that explain enough for you?”

Suddenly, Arya’s shoulders stiffen. She turns around and looks up at me.

I can’t believe I didn’t recognize her before. To be fair, what was happening between her legs was much more distracting. But still—those dark brows and bright green eyes. Her full lips. The fire, the passion in her gaze…

I should have remembered her immediately.

She blinks at me, lashes batting against her cheeks. “You,” she murmurs again, like she’s still coming to grips with everything that means.

She may not have seen my face nine months ago, but she heard my voice.

Now, finally, she knows.

The nurse pushes the bassinet to the elevator. When we’re there, she grabs the baby and places him in Arya’s arms. “This is as far as I go. I could get fired even for this, so—”

“We’ll take it from here,” I snap, jamming my finger on the elevator button. I won’t feel comfortable until the city is just a smudge in the rearview mirror.

“Thank you!” Arya calls as the woman walks away.

I push the wheelchair into the elevator. Just as I reach for the first floor button, Fyodor and his gang of morons rumble into the hallway.

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