Dancing for the Badman (Russian Bratva Book 3) (31 page)

“Y’all were just goin’ too fast, darlin’ girl,” the man says.

I open my mouth to tell him that we were being chased, but nothing comes out.

Instead, I feel this heavy feeling and my eyes close.

I feel like I’m being dragged down into a sea of black nothingness.

“Did you like it?” I ask Kiska as we walk out of the movie theater.

It has been so long since I have been to the movies. When Kiska mentioned that one of her favorite books had been made into a movie, I suggested we go and see it. The next showing was at eleven in the evening. Usually, I wouldn’t take her out so late at night, but she was so excited to go, and I have a problem telling my girl the word
no
.

So, together we went on a father-daughter-date. We had a late dinner and then a movie, something I didn’t think I could enjoy. With Kiska, I did, immensely.

I reach for my phone and power it on as I slide into the driver’s side of my car. It starts buzzing and beeping with notifications and messages. I furrow my brow and hold it up, thumbing through all of the texts.

I have missed calls from Ziven, Maxim, Radimir, and then finally Tati. I pull up Tati’s number and call her back. It goes straight to voicemail. I find Alex’s and it too goes directly to voicemail. My heart starts to pound inside of my chest as I start the car and call Radimir.

“Where are you?” he barks as his greeting.

“I took Kiska to the movies. We just got out. What the hell is going on over there?” I ask as I start the car and pull out onto the street.

“We’re all at
Cedars-Sinai
, you need to get here,
now
,” he announces before he hangs up the phone.

My heart speeds up, as does my foot on the gas.
Cedars-Sinai
is a hospital.

Tatyana
.

“What’s happening, papa?” Kiska asks me.

I don’t answer her. I pick up my phone and call Sergei. He answers sleepily and I tell him to meet me at the hospital. I don’t know what to expect when I walk inside of there, but the way Radimir ordered me to come down there immediately, the only thing I can think of is that something has happened to my Tati.

I park and help Kiska out of the car before I take her in my arms, lifting her like a small child as I run. I don’t have a second to waste. I have to know what is happening. Ziven is standing outside of the emergency room doors when I appear, and I let Kiska down before I walk up to him.

“There was an accident,” he murmurs, his eyes full of compassion.

“Where is she?” I ask.

“Kirill,” he starts as he puts his hand on my shoulder.

“
Where. Is. She
?” I ask through a clenched jaw.

“Come.” He jerks his head and I follow him, grabbing Kiska by the hand when I do.

“Papa?” she asks, her voice so small sounding.

“Quiet. We’ll find out soon, Kiska,” I say, trying to stay strong.

Every scenario I can imagine is running on fast forward in my head. I try not to think of them, but all I can imagine is my Tati—dead.

Ziven walks us into a small waiting room, and there I find the men who are closest to me with their families.

Radimir and Emiliya with their baby. Haleigh and Maxim with their two little ones. Oliver. Semion and Anton are leaning against the back wall.
No Alex and no Tatyana
. My blood runs cold and I turn to Radimir. His eyes lock with mine and he takes a step toward me.

“Go with Haleigh,” I instruct Kiska.

She opens her mouth to object but Ziven takes her by the hand and practically drags her away. I can’t take my eyes off of Radimir, though. His head tips toward the door and I turn before walking outside of the room. Once he closes the door behind him, he exhales, then his eyes meet mine.

“We don’t know what happened. She called Maxim after she couldn’t get ahold of you. She said they were being chased. Maxim told her he would turn her tracker on and not to power her phone down. Then he tried calling you. When he couldn’t get ahold of you either, he called me. We hurried Kirill. We drove as fast as we could.

“When we got there, the ambulance was just leaving with both of them. I found their phones on the floorboard of the car before the police got them. I asked several people if they saw anything, but nobody has seen a fucking thing. It was dark, and they were all going fast. Nobody saw anything, Kirill.”

I take in Radimir’s words, but I don’t know what to think of them. He’s not giving me anything.

“Where is Tatyana?” I demand.

“She’s in surgery,” he states,

“Alex?”

“Surgery,” he nods.

“How bad is it?” I ask.

“They won’t tell any of us anything. Haleigh tried to lie and tell her she was Tati’s sister, but they didn’t buy it. Maybe you can get something out of
Nurse Ratched
up there,” he suggests, tipping his head toward the nurses station.

I turn away from Radimir and walk right up to her. She’s bent over her desk, writing something down. I wait until her pen pauses and then I clear my throat.

“Can I help you?” she asks, narrowing her eyes on me.

“Yes, I’m looking for any information on Tatyana Orlova,” I ask, trying to be as nice as possible when all I want to do is choke her until she gives me what I want.

“Friend or family?” she asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I’m her fiancé,” I say with a smile.

“Sorry, pretty boy, family only. When you’re the husband, then I can tell you everything,” she says, turning back to her papers.

“I’m her father,” Sergei announces from behind me.

“Identification?” she asks holding out her hand.

I watch as Sergei takes his passport out of his pocket and tosses it on the counter in front of her. She picks it up and studies it until she’s satisfied and then looks at him in the eyes, ignoring me.

“A doctor will be with you shortly to explain everything.”

I open my mouth to scream in her face, maybe even shoot her. My hand is twitching at my side. Sergei gives me a pointed look and I close my mouth.

“Thank you,” he murmurs before he wraps his fingers around my shoulder. He guides me away from her counter.

“Sergei, we know nothing, just that they were in an accident,” I say.

“I know. She won’t give any information; I can see it in her eyes. Nothing could make her talk. Would be nice to have a woman like that in the organization,” he chuckles under his breath.

I find the comment humorous, but nothing could make me laugh in this moment. I want to know how my Tatyana is.

“Also, I want to speak to a doctor about her condition. Not some nurse who is only guessing. I need the facts.”

I nod at his comment. Now
that
I can understand. We walk into the waiting room and both just shake our heads. We have no news to share. Everybody’s hopes visibly deflate and we all wait. Kiska runs straight to her grandfather when she sees him, and I smile, happy that she has him in her life. He’s been a good grandpa to her. Oliver, Alex’s lover, is sitting down with his head in his hands, so I walk over to him.

“I don’t know anything, I tried,” I admit sitting down next to him.

“I know. They wouldn’t tell me anything, either,” he says. His English accent is soothing. Maybe he can continue talking to calm me?

“Because you’re not family?” I ask.

“I’m his husband. As soon as Radimir gave us our citizenship papers, we went to the courthouse. Alex demanded it. Said here in America I would have rights as his husband if something happened to him. I guess he was correct,” he shrugs, trying to keep himself together.

“This is good, Oliver,” I mutter.

“Yes, at least I can talk to a doctor, if a doctor were around,” he chuckles dryly.

“I know. I want to know what’s happened. I want to know how it happened and I want to know
why
it happened,” I grunt. Oliver nods.

We don’t say another word.

The room is full of a somber feeling while we wait.

I make a decision after the first hour
. Tatyana is finished dancing
. In one week, she’ll be my wife and she won’t be dancing anymore. I’m putting my foot down. If she were with me, this never would have happened.

I shake my head and then rest it against the wall behind me. Tatyana will be practically tethered to me from now on. She’ll never be out of my sight again
. I vow it
. I will never go through this again. I’ve already lost her once, I shouldn’t have to lose her again.

“F
AMILY OF
T
ATYANA
O
RLOVA?”
A man in a white coat calls out. Both Sergei and I stand immediately.

The rest of the room is asleep, aside from Oliver and Radimir. Sergei and I walk over to the man I presume is the doctor. He looks at both of us and shrinks back a bit. We’re at least six inches taller than him, and both of us have fifty pounds of muscle on him,
minimum
.

“Uh, who are you?” he asks shakily.

“I am Tatyana’s father, this is her fiancé,” Sergei rumbles. The doctor gulps before he begins to speak.

“She was in a bad car accident. One of her arms is broken. It’s too swollen to cast at the moment, but I should be able to do that tomorrow, hopefully. She’s in a medically induced coma; she has several broken ribs, but the most concerning injury is her
Subdural Hematoma
. We’ve done an MRI scan and she’s lucky it’s a small bleed, but we had to drill several burr holes in her head to insert tubes to drain the blood. I have her on corticosteroids to reduce the inflammation, and anti-seizure medication until she’s stable.”

“Why don’t you tell me everything you just said in fucking English this time?” I growl, my head spinning with the words he used. One that stands out is
bleed
. They drilled holes in my Tati’s head?

“Her head hit the side of the window on impact. Her brain is bruised and bleeding. I had to drain the blood; if we don’t, her injuries would be life threatening. Right now, I have plastic tubes in her head draining the blood. Fortunately, her injuries are much smaller than they could be. I anticipate her recovery will be slow, but I’m very positive on her outcome.”

“When can we see her?” Sergei barks.

I look up at him and watch the vein in his forehead start to pulse. He’s upset and angry, his rage building quickly. I’ve seen him explode, it isn’t pretty.

“I’ll allow only one of you in at a time for ten minutes each. Then I suggest you go home and get some rest. Tomorrow I’ll reassess her, see where she is; then, as long as she’s stable, I can allow for longer visits,” he murmurs, looking frightened.

“Take me to her first,” Sergei growls.

The doctor nods and turns with Sergei on his heels. I turn around to find the rest of the room is awake and looking at me for answers.

I sigh and look for Kiska. Luckily, she’s asleep, so I tell the room full of friends, friends that feel like family, I tell them about my Tatyana. Haleigh and Emiliya gasp before they start to cry.

Sergei walks back into the room and straight to me.

“I take Kiska home. You stay here. I do not want her alone,” he announces.

“As soon as I visit her, I’ll call in a group of
Byki
to guard her and Alex’s rooms. I would prefer to stay. You’ll be at my home with Kiska? Make sure she’s taken care of?” I ask.