Page 71 of Captive Vows
“I’ll meet you in the garage,” he added. Still holding my hand, he used his other one to get his gun out. “We’ll be able to move and evade them if we’re not together.”
His argument ended there, giving him the last word. The panels slid shut, and as he pushed the button to go down, he glanced at me.
“It will be okay.”
I nodded, licking my lips and worrying whether this suspense and fear would be bad for the baby. I was doing my best to get used to the violence, but still, I felt like such an outsider, a foreigner to his world of danger and death, of fighting and guns. Anxiety was becoming too common, and as an expectant mother, I couldn’t convince myself that everythingwouldbe okay.
This wasn’t the kind of world I wanted my baby to be born into.
Always on the cusp of life-or-death concerns.
“I will protect you,” he added. Even though his words to me were ones of compassion and protectiveness, I didn’t miss the anger and tension that laced them. He was furious.
“Men are trespassing on our turf here, but we will get back home.”
I nodded again, too numb and mute to offer him anything else. I’d follow his lead. He’d proven to keep me safe before, and I wanted to rely on his doing so again.
But wouldn’t it be better to just be far away from all of this?
To raise this baby outside this cycle of never-ending violence?
Elevators weren’t supposed to bend time, but this ride was such an elongated blur that passed like an eternity of anxiousness and suspense. But then before I could be ready to acknowledge it, we were there. The car stopped at the lowest level, in the garage. Sliding slowly, the doors parted to let us out.
I held my breath.
I didn’t let go of Luka’s hand gripping mine securely. He blocked me with his body, shielding me as the panels opened.
And still, I remained tense, unsure if men would be waiting out there to ambush us, guns at the ready to fire at us both and kill us.
This was the risk of being with a killer like Luka.
I had all faith that he’d take every step to protect me. His men were trained that well. They were that strong and quick. But I was the only one who knew about the new life inside me. I was the only one who could know to protect this baby.
“Luka?” I tugged on his hand, suddenly too nervous to exit the elevator without him knowing, without anyone aware of what we’d created in this forbidden passion we’d found.
“Just stay with me, Gabriella.” He glanced at me once, then focused on the garage coming into view as the elevator opened.
That’s just it, though.
If I stuck with him and stayed in his orbit, I’d be that much closer to danger. Always. He’d never change who he was. But I was being changed, from a thing he could own to a protective mother.
We stepped out, with me following behind him. I wished more Dubinin men were waiting right here to give me the impression of safety in numbers, but they were over by the car. Those two guards were still at the other side of the building, per Luka’s orders.
“Let’s go,” he told me as he dropped into a jog.
I ran with him, scanning the seemingly calm and empty garage. No one was here to stop us. It was just rows and rows of parked vehicles.
Once we rounded the line of the nearest lane of stationary cars and limos, two men approached. At first glance, they appeared like those thugs at my audition. Guns up. Faces scowling. Clothes tacky but clearly newly purchased. Bling had never impressed me, but it seemed these guys didn’t follow that logic.
“Ah, and what do we have here?” one, a taller man with a severely receding hairline boasted. He sounded too jovial for someone aiming a gun at us. His smile was too fake, belying his true mood.
He cut us off with his buddy, raising his arms to let his gun twirl on his finger. It wasn’t a combative pose. But it wasn’t a move to suggest he was actually surrendering his intention to shoot or harm us.
I tucked back behind Luka as he stepped forward, blocking me again.
“Fuck off,” he snarled, not lowering his gun.
“Hey, hey, now, Mr. Dubinin,” the other, shorter man taunted with a smile that grew to match his buddy’s. “We just came here to collect.”
