Page 66 of Surprise Quadruplets for the Mob

So I shift Olga in my arms, who has thankfully stopped crying, and ask him, “Your needs?”

“Well, you’re really rather annoying, to be honest.” My brows lower at that, and I’m oddly offended even though I really shouldn’t care what he thinks, as he continues. “But if we just got rid of you,ugh, think of all the police that would be buzzing around the whole thing, looking into your life and finding all that info you had on Booker. Then that’s two connected murders, with everything they need right there in your files for them to start looking in our direction.”

“Wait, wait,” I interrupt, “but youdidtry to kill me! Those guys that rear-ended me…”

He scoffs and slips both his hands casually into his pockets. “Nah. Just trying to scare you and all, thought maybe your scrawny ass would back off. But no, you had to go to the bloody Bratva, didn’t you? Now youwere in too deep. So we had your friend Alyosha cook up some bank statements that looked a little more damning. Oh, and that fake paternity test was a nice touch, don’t you think? No fair if you’re the only one ruining plans, am I right?”

I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “Maks thought I did it,” I whisper, shaking my head. “The paternity test, the scamming. He thinks I did all of that.”

Brennan rolls his eyes and speaks mockingly. “Uh, yeah, that’s the general idea. How else were we going to get him to kick you out from under his protection?” He shakes his head, looks around as if to find a chair, shrugs when he realizes the room is empty, and then crouches down before me. “It was a real pain in the ass for us, too, trying to set that shit up. But Alyosha’s good at what he does.”

I can only glare at him, angry and shocked and still processing his words, and he grins at me, slow and mean.

“Ah, I do love a good gloat,” he says, before reaching over and taping me on the nose with a finger. I flinch angrily away from him, which only makes him smile harder.

“Well, you’ve succeeded. Now what do you want from me?”

“Oh, a little revenge, I guess. And the money. You’ll pay us back the money you cost us when we had to shut down our little operation, and that will go nicely with all the new territory Maksim is going to hand over to keep you alive.”

“He won’t do it,” I say. “He doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore.”

“Well, then we’ll kill you, no big deal. Now that you’re all nice and guilty looking, the police will think you and Booker were in a little war with each other, and that you and your people offed one another. They won’t investigate further. Case closed, nice and easy. But it’s worth the time to wait and see if your little boyfriend will cooperate, just to make sure.”

I open my mouth to tell him exactly what I think of him, his men, and his awful plan. Before I can say anything, though, the sound of gunshots and men yelling takes us both by surprise.

Brennan turns to look out the door and I can’t help the gasp that slips out of me, even as all four of my babies begin to wail.

“Maksim?” I whisper, hoping against hope that this is the rescue I need.

But Brennan just sighs and turns back towards me.

“Really, really fucking annoying,” he mutters, “the both of you.”

And then he swings his fist at my jaw, and I black out.

***

Maksim’s face is the first thing I see when I open my eyes. My mouth is dry and my whole head hurts, but I still try to sit up on my own before he stops me and eases me back down onto a pillow.

“Where am I?” I try to get up, but I just can’t. “Where are my kids?”

“You’re safe,” he says, holding me tight for a moment. “The kids are safe. We’re here at my house and Nadia has them in the other room.”

I exhale a relieved breath. “What happened? How did you find me? How did you even know where I was?”

“Alyosha.” The name alone turns my stomach. “I was wrong. It was Alyosha. I should have trusted you. I’m sorry, Abby.”

“I know.”

“I would have been too late. I would have lost you.”

“But you weren’t.” I can feel my eyes starting to water. “You saved us.”

“Not without a lot of help.”

“What happened to the Irish?”

“Taken care of.”

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