Chapter Twenty-Four
In which, who knew that surgery could be such a turn on?
Dmitri…
I'm on a Zoom call with our Australian arms supplier when my personal phone buzzes in my jacket. Three short bursts, then repeated.
"Excuse men, gentlemen."
Charles Petterman, weapons developer for his mafia, is in the middle of a verbal orgasm, describing the new sniper rifles and he blinks. "Oh. No worries."
Putting the call on mute, I answer the call.
"Miss Blue and her friend were attacked during lunch." Matvey's voice is gravelly with pain. "Six men. All dead. Rurik is shot in the shoulder."
Ava interrupts him. "And Matvey has two bullet wounds, one in his upper thigh, lodged in his femur, I believe. The other bullet hit him just under the ribs, a clean through and through. Would you please instruct him to go to the clinic? He's making noise about putting us in a "secure location."
"Are you and Priya all right?" My chest is tight. If I wasn't in excellent health I'd think I was having a heart attack.
"Yes! No injuries. Please tell him to go directly to the clinic so I can treat him! Someone needs to check on Gordi at the shop, too. I think he saved our lives."
"Agreed," I say. "Matvey, go to the clinic. I'll send over ten men for backup and I'll be there as soon as I can."
"Thank you Dmitri," Ava's relief is palpable. "Also, please tell Rurik I am allowed to treat him."
"You heard the lady. Unless it risks her safely, let her treat you. Use the back emergency entrance at the clinic, it's faster. Ava…" I want to tell her how proud I am of her for being so calm. For taking care of her bodyguards.
"Yes, Dmitri?"
"I'll see you soon."
Kir handles the rest of the meeting with the Australians and Demid drives like a man possessed to get me to the clinic.
***
Rurik and Matvey aren't the only patients. Three of our delivery drivers distributing party drugs - concealed in cases of alcohol - were attacked leaving the warehouse.
Mother is stitching up the head wound on the only conscious driver.
"Where are the other two?" I ask her.
"In surgery," she says, still focused on the wound. "Matvey and Rurik refused to be treated until the drivers were taken care of first. I'm going to take those bullets out without anesthesia to teach them a lesson about being noble and self-sacrificing."
The driver she's working on looks alarmed. "I guess I should thank you for numbing my wound first?"
"Oh you've been fine," Ella says approvingly. "You can have all the good drugs."
I move past them, heading for the operating rooms.
"It's going to be another fifteen or so minutes!" She calls after me, but I don't turn my head. I need to see Ava.
The two operating rooms in the clinic face each other across the hall, each with state-of-the-art medical equipment.
My Ava is in the room on the left, her head down, eyes intent on the man whose chest is a bloody mess.
Her gloved hands are quick and sure, and she speaks calmly to the nurse at her side, who hands her a pair of forceps.
My hand is on the glass, heart pounding.
Seeing her in action is arousing. Maybe not for someone who isn't used to the aftereffects of violence, but for me…
My dick is already half hard and any blood still struggling to reach my brain is rapidly heading south.
I'd underestimated how hot this would be, seeing Ava in her element.
Her energy crackles through the room and the rest of the crew is attuned to it.
This isn't the broken, fragile girl who ran into my arms that night.
The anesthesiologist murmurs something to Ava and she looks up, eyes crinkling as she smiles behind her mask before returning her attention to her patient.
I force myself away from the window, returning to my mother and the driver.
"Were the dash cams working at the time of the attack?" I ask.
"Mine was, Mr. Morozov," the driver says, "and the rear camera, too. I'm not sure about the other trucks. They hit us behind."
"Dashcam footage goes to a remote server," I say. "I'll have it checked."
"Thank you, sir. I'd sure like a chance to say thank you for the gash on the back of my head," he says with a hopeful grin.
The next hour stretches out into an interminable blur as I wait for Ava.
As her patient is wheeled out, she scrubs up and she's back in the operating room again, this time working on Matvey.
He's conscious and they're talking, her light, amused tone, and his rumbling answers.
He chuckles once, a rusty sound like it's the first time he's attempted a laugh.
The thought of how easily Ava could have been hurt, that she could be the one on the operating table right now, makes my demon press against the walls of my self-control, growling, whispering, demanding to be set free.
He's been quiet these last few years, tucked away deep in my consciousness.
His sudden re-emergence as Ava was thrown into my life - and my arms - is unexpected, and unwelcome.
Striding down the hall, away from the distraction of Ava, I pull out my phone and start making calls. We will find out who attacked her and they will pay. Knowing Gordi, he managed to get the only survivor downstairs before the police came.
Finally, with everyone's wounds cared for, Rurick and Matvey go over the details of the attack with me. My mother, Ava and her friend Priya are scrubbing up after surgery.
"Six of them," Matvey says, his face pale from blood loss, still sitting straight, like a soldier. "Seamless, too, from the front door and the back. They must've entered through the kitchen. No one else was injured. They weren't wasting time and they didn't give anyone a chance to sound an alarm."
"Were they trying to kill her or take her?" I ask.
"We were lucky," Rurik rumbles. "I believe they wanted to abduct her. If they wanted a quick shot to kill her, they could've gotten off at least one or two."
"The two of you fought off six men," I say. "Well done."
"Don't forget Gordi," Matvey says. A reluctant smile tugs at his thin lips. "He came charging across that shop waving that cleaver, and everyone scattered. The poor bastard he sliced into never knew what hit him. I think he might've decapitated him, in fact." Rurik grunted, nodding approvingly.
"What would be an appropriate thank you?" I muse. "Maybe a chain of sandwich shops. Would Gordi like a beach house? We'll have to talk."
"So you must be the hot Russian boyfriend?" drawls Priya.
I turn to shake her hand. "Dmitri Morozov. Thank you for your assistance today. And yes, Ava is my girlfriend." In the corner of my eye, I see my mother's smug smile. I knew it, she mouths at me.
"My pleasure," Priya says, examining me. "It's been a long time since I've performed emergency surgery. I'd forgotten what it's like, working with that burst of adrenaline. Plus, I got to meet Dr. Morozova, and Ava paid for lunch. The day was a win for me."
She is a strong woman, direct, and looks me right in the eye with no hesitation.
"That said, Ava's safety is important to me and to be honest, I'm not sure how I feel about her being with you, given that today was the second attempt on her life.
However, I'm very clear that without you, Ava would most likely be dead by now.
" Her lips tremble until she firms them angrily. "So, thank you."
"We are in your debt for helping my men," I say. "If you need anything from us, you have only to ask. Demid will drive you back to the hospital or to home. I'm sure Ava will be calling you later."
"Oh yes, that's going to happen." Priya looks at my neck. "You two have matching hickeys. What are you, seventeen? It seems Ava and I have a lot to catch up on."
She marches down the hall, as I watch her, amused. It seems Dr. Singh enjoys having the last word. Stepping closer to a mirror, I angle my jaw.
"Well damn it," I murmur. "She was right."
Ava's in the dressing room and I walk in as she's pulling on her jeans. She looks up, startled, "Are you okay? You look…"
"Crazed?" I lock the door with a deliberate click. "Worried half out of my fucking mind?"
"Well," she says, clutching her shirt to her chest, "I wouldn't have put it like that, but…"
Surging across the room, I cup her sweet face in my hands as she gasps, eyes wide.
"You could've been hurt, you…" My tongue feels clumsy, I can't make the rest of the words come out, so I kiss her instead.
Hard, relieved, the scent of her invading my senses, the sharp sting of antiseptic, the peppermint soap she loves, and underneath it all, a light lavender scent that was always her.
"Wow," she gasps. I press her down on the gurney that's been pushed against the far wall. "Dmitri!" Her eyes are wide, darting toward the door. "Your mother is right outside –"
"She's busy. No one's getting through that door." I cut her off, kissing her again, fingers greedily yanking down her bra and tugging on her nipples. Her hand flies up to my hair, sliding her fingers through it and clutching a fistful, and I grin at the sting as she tugs it.
"Hey, hold on…"
I pull back just slightly, her breath warm against my skin.
"Do you really want me to stop?" Her mouth opens and closes and I know I've won.
Yanking down her jeans, I rip open my pants, her small hand joins mine, pulling my cock out, just as greedy as I am.
I don't bother to pull her panties down, just yank them aside as I sink into her with a relieved groan.
Safe, underneath me, covered by me. I put more of my weight on her, hearing her gasp, but her legs still wrap around my back, heels digging in as I thrust harder.
She wasn't quite ready for that first thrust, but now she's getting wet, slicker to help me.
The muscles in her strong thighs tighten, pushing my hips, and I slam against her harder, pounding into her.