45. James
W hen I get Ash’s voicemail, again , I look at Soren as dread fills me.
“Still nothing?” he asks.
I shake my head and dial Anton once more. When he doesn’t pick up, I shove my phone into my pocket.
“I’ll go check it out. Doc, I can believe, is avoiding us, because he knows he’s not supposed to be working this late, but Anton knows better than to not answer the phone. Something is wrong. I know it.”
“Then let’s go.” Soren stands.
I shake my head. “No, you stay here. If something did happen, Doc will never forgive me for letting you run straight into danger. I’ll call Joel on the way, see if he can send someone over.”
“Dima,” Soren says, looking over at one of his friends. “Go with him.”
Dmitri stands with a nod. “I’ve got his back, Sory.”
“Absolutely not. I can’t take someone I don’t know into a?—”
“I’m the best fucking bodyguard the Bratva has,” Dmitri cuts in. “Or I would be if they got over their bigotry and actually gave me the job, instead of insisting I need more ‘training’. They’re lucky I don’t shoot them all.”
“He really is the best,” Soren says. “I don’t know if Doc told you, but Cristian offered him a job. Hell, he offered all three of them jobs, because they all have the types of skills the Family needs.
“ Please , James. Take Dima with you. Doc won’t forgive you if I get hurt, but I won’t forgive myself if I don’t make sure you have backup.”
My nerves are a livewire as every instinct tells me to find Ash and keep him safe. I don’t want to spend one more second talking, so I bite out, “Fine, let’s go.”
Dmitri says something to Soren and his brothers, but I’m already turning and leaving the bedroom. Thankfully, Soren’s condo isn’t very big, so it doesn’t take long to get to the front door.
The guard that was posted out here is now gone, since David left an hour or so ago, so it’s just me striding to the elevator with Dmitri’s quick footsteps following behind.
“Look,” he says as we get into the elevator. “You don’t know me, so I know you don’t trust me, but I am very good at what I do. I’ve wanted to be a bodyguard since I was a kid, my dad is one, ya know? I wanted to make him proud. Looking like I do, they don’t take me seriously. But your Boss was willing to meet and give me and my brothers a chance. We don’t have many opportunities, and it’s not that easy for us to get out because, unlike Soren, our uncle isn’t the Pakhan.”
He stops and takes a deep breath. “All that being said, I know what I’m doing; you don’t have to worry. Sory wouldn’t have sent me if he doesn’t trust me. I know how much Doc means to him.”
Thankfully, the elevator hits the ground floor and I don’t have to respond. Instead, we jog across the lobby and out the doors. Dmitri doesn’t say anything as we climb into the car, and before he’s even clicked his seatbelt into place, I’m pulling out of the parking space.
As I hit the road, I use the bluetooth to connect with Joel.
“Two calls in one day, James?” he teases.
“Something’s wrong with Doc,” I bark. “I don’t know what…” my voice catches. “He hasn’t been answering me or Soren, and I can’t get ahold of Anton.”
“Where are you?” my brother asks, voice deadly quiet.
“On my way to the clinic.”
“You sure he’s there?”
“Yes, I called Kail already and they’re not at the house.”
He has to be there. The idea that someone took him as he was on his way home, or something like that… No, I refuse to give those thoughts attention.
“I’ll be there soon.” Joel doesn’t give me a chance to say anything before hanging up, and I breathe a sigh of relief.
I should have expected that he would want to check this out personally. Both of my brothers like Ash, but the implication that I need my brother’s help is trying to override my sense.
Gripping the steering wheel with both hands, I press down on the gas just a little more, risking getting clocked for speeding, but I don’t give a shit. This is one instance I wouldn’t mind the cops sniffing around, not if it means more help with Ash.
“You’re close,” Dmitri says softly. “Not just as his bodyguard.”
“He’s my best friend.”
He scoffs. “It’s more than that. Soren told us not long after he met you all.”
“Then why ask?”
“Because Soren doesn’t talk to us. He likes to keep his private life just that—private. Which we can respect, but we worry. We knew his father was a piece of shit, and have spent our whole lives keeping tabs on him, so we could help in case shit ever hit the fan. I know he did the same for us.
“My brothers and I, we’ve always been different. Too close, too dependent on each other. Too pretty for our own good, much like Soren.
“We worried about him, because even though he wanted to keep his relationships and lifestyle to himself, we’re nosy bastards. So we knew the type of person he went for, and when he told us he was interested in Doc…” Dmitri trails off and I take a risk to spare him a glance.
He’s looking out the windshield, bottom lip clamped between his teeth as he seems to contemplate his next words. “All we ever wanted was to be safe. We knew the Amatos would give Soren the fresh start he needed. And we were happy to see him thrive.” He sighs. “I regret not jumping on the chance to come with him. Maybe none of this would be happening, or maybe it would be worse, who knows? What I do know is that Doc’s important to Soren, and Soren is like an older brother, so he’s important to me.”
In any other situation, I would consider Dmitri’s words, but right now, it all goes in one ear and right out the other. My brain doesn’t have room to process anything except the fact that Ash better be fucking okay.
Forcing myself to slow down and turn the car off properly when we get to the clinic is difficult, especially when Dmitri takes off like a shot. Cursing, I turn the engine off, leave the keys in the ignition, and almost get tangled in the seatbelt as I try to follow Dmitri.
I catch up to him at the entrance to the clinic. He has his gun drawn and I don’t hesitate to pull mine as well. Trusting him to have my back, I place a hand on the door and slowly open it. Right away, I see a body on the ground and my breath catches in my throat.
The sound of a gunshot, though it’s slightly muffled, makes my ears ring. Dmitri and I burst into the clinic, neither of us giving an ounce of caution as we race towards the back of the building. The door leading to the rest of the building is open a crack, and I pull the heavy door the rest of the way, almost hitting Dmitri with it in my desperation.
There are two different ways we could go once we're on this side of the door, but Ash’s office is to the left, so that’s the most logical place to start. Rounding the corner to the hall, the sight in front of me has every atom freezing.
The angle is shit, so I can barely make anything out, but there’s a body slumped over, laying on top of someone else. My heart is in my throat as I run down the hall.
Without any finesse or care, I shove the large body off the other person, my breath catching as I find Ash laying on the ground. He doesn’t look too bad, his face is turning black and blue, no doubt from where he was struck, but I’m not surprised by that—he can’t exactly keep his mouth shut, even in the midst of danger.
Under that, I see his color is off. He’s far paler than he should be, and as I continue my visual observation, I find red spreading across his scrub top, coloring the light blue fabric dark.
Dropping to my knees, I rip off my jacket and frantically search for my knife, only to find I don’t have it, because unlike my brothers, I prefer guns. I’m not one to get up close and personal with my kills, but my brothers are both a special kind of crazy.
“Do you have a knife?” I bark over my shoulder.
“No—wait, here.” Dmitri kneels beside me and reaches for something. When he hands me Ash’s bloodied scalpel, I swallow back bile.
Making fun of him for his choice of weapon has always been our thing, but seeing the blood coating the blade, and the dead body lying just inches away, brings everything into perspective.
I knew Ash was trained by Tennant and Cristian, and we’ve sparred enough over the years that I was confident in his abilities, should something ever happen, but never in a million years did I think we’d be in this position.
Slicing away at the jacket, I wad up what I cut and press it against the wound in Ash’s lower abdomen.
“Call Soren,” I say, but Dmitri already has his phone out and is pressing it to his ear. “Don’t you fucking die on me, Ash,” I mutter.
He’s breathing, but it's shallow, and I’m worried about where the bullet ended up, since there’s no exit wound that I can see, and I’m not about to turn him over to check.
“Soren and Donovan are on their way,” Dmitri says. “Sory said he’ll call the Amatos so you don’t have to.”
I don’t bother acknowledging that, I just press the jacket harder into Ash’s ever-bleeding wound.
“Go see if you can find his phone,” I tell him in a strained voice. “It’s probably on his desk. His office is the last door at the end of the hall.”
Dmitri doesn’t argue, he just gets up and races for the office. “Please, Ash,” I beg. “You can’t leave me.”
It seems to take forever for Dmitri to return, but when he does, I glance up at him and see him brandishing Ash’s phone.
“Code is forty-six, seventy-eight,” I tell him. “Call Doctor Aidan Murry. Tell him we need him here, now. Don’t give him room to argue. Use his sister against him if you have to.”
I half listen as Dmitri follows orders and bullies Murry into coming to help. I should probably feel bad for wielding his sister against him, but there’s nothing I wouldn’t do to give Ash a fighting chance.
Murry must agree because I hear Dmitri say, “Good, now get your ass here?—”
I can feel his stare, even as I keep my attention on Ash. Rattling off the address, I swear when I notice my jacket is beginning to soak through. I hate having to move my hands away from keeping pressure on his wound, but I do so long enough to cut my jacket into more manageable pieces that I can wad up and press against the still-bleeding gunshot wound.
“Call Kail,” I tell Dmitri after he hangs up with Murry. “Explain what happened.”
“Anything else?” he asks.
“No, he’ll call Rose and they’ll both come.”
Something catches my attention, and before Dmitri can make the call, he moves in front of me, gun out and pointed at the mouth of the hallway.
Tension has my muscles coiling and I keep one hand on the jacket while the other picks up Ash’s scalpel. When Soren and Donovan come careening around the corner, Dmitri and I both let out sighs of relief.
On their heels are Cristian, Tennant, and Joel, and seeing the three of them makes me relax. It’s as if my body gives up the fight. While Dmitri gives the newcomers a sit-rep, my eyes burn as tears finally fall and I let out a sob when I’m pulled away from Ash, and Soren and Donovan take over.
They ask questions and begin barking orders, but all I can focus on is the way my brother’s arms hold me tight against him as I fall apart.