Page 168 of The Last Hope

“Don’t look back, Selina. Trust Roman,” he said as we half-ran, crouching low. A grimace twisted my face as pain flared in my lower abdomen. I pushed the fear aside and followed my husband.

We finally reached the warehouse. Roman followed, carrying Mikhail, and gently laid him on a couch against the wall before he and Sasha rushed back outside.

I knelt beside Mikhail, checking his pulse. “He’s losing too much blood, Nikolai, we have to—” I winced as another wave of pain seized my belly.

“Selina !” Nikolai exclaimed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders as our sons looked on, fear etched into their young faces.

“Nikolai, I think… I think I’m pregnant,” I said, uncertain. He froze, his gaze slowly dropping to my stomach. “And… does it hurt ?” he asked, concern darkening his eyes as he placed his hand over mine.

“The monster hit her in the stomach !” Rafael blurted, frowning, and Nikolai stiffened beside me.

“Selina,” he said, his voice low and dark, but I shook my head. “We need to get to a hospital, Nikolai—for Mikhail and for the baby,” I murmured, biting my lip to stop it from trembling.

He gently cupped my face, and I flinched despite myself, the pain from Antonio’s blows still burning on my skin.

“It’s going to be all right,moy lyubov’. Everyone will be fine, and we’ll go home, where we’ll spend the next few years raising our little wild ones… and our princess.”

“Our princess ?” I asked, blinking at him.

“It has to be a girl, Selina. With your green eyes and your soft hair,” he said, pressing a kiss to my forehead.

I couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “I was so scared. So, so scared,” I whispered, clinging to his jacket.

“I know,moy lyubov’, I know,” he murmured.

Sasha reentered and pulled out his phone, dialing, “Lorenzo, where the fuck are you ?!” he barked, pinning the phone between his ear and shoulder as he reloaded his gun. “Hurry up, damn it ! We brought the bare minimum of men because you said theCosaNostrawas going to take care of Antonio,” he added before hanging up.

“Lorenzo will be here in less than five minutes,” he informed us, then disappeared again into the night.

“TheCosaNostra?” I asked Nikolai, confused, as he applied pressure to Mikhail’s wound.

“Antonio acted without their approval. He attacked us on his own. They’ll judge him, and he’ll confess everything he did to you. They’ll make him pay,” he explained, lifting his gaze to mine. “But they’ll wait their turn,” he added, and I shivered at the cold finality in his tone.

Screams echoed outside again, followed by more gunfire. “Lorenzo’s here,” Nikolai said, glancing toward the entrance. “It will all be over in a few minutes.”

I nodded, wrapping my arms around the twins and Rafael, their warmth a balm to my pain. “We’ll be home soon,” I whispered, kissing their foreheads.

And as Nikolai predicted, the gunfire gradually ceased. Roman appeared at the entrance, wiping blood from his cheek. “It’s over. We have him alive. Lorenzo has two helicopters on the way—for Mikhail.”

Nikolai signaled him to watch over Mikhail and pressed a kiss to my forehead before turning for the exit. “Stay here.”

“Nikolai—”

“Stay here,moy lyubov’,” he insisted before stepping out, removing his bulletproof vest.

And despite the chaos around us, my throat tightened as I watched the muscles shift beneath his compression shirt.

Really, Selina ? Now ? Damn hormones.

“Are you all right, Selina ?” Roman asked gently, taking my hand in his—warm, familiar.

“Yes. I knew you’d come,” I said, squeezing his hand.

“Of course we came. Family above all,” he said, kissing the back of my hand as tears once more filled my eyes.

Damn fucking hormones.

“I’m thirsty,” Andrei mumbled against my neck. I glanced around and spotted a fridge in the corner.

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