13. Brooke
To escape the house, I spend more time at the hospital because it’s the only place I’m allowed to visit.
I’m still pissed at Lev about… well, everything. The list is too huge to repeat. But it starts with him not letting me see my friends and ends with me hating the world he’s dropped me in.
Chloe was crushed that I couldn’t make it back for Samantha’s birthday on the weekend, and I had to live vicariously through all the photos my friends sent me of their night out.
But it wasn’t the same as being there, and I can’t control the resentment I feel about it. I know Lev wants to protect me and the baby. But he’s taken away any sense of control I had over my life.
What kind of life will it be for your child?
I can’t tell you how many times Agent Michaels’ words have come back to haunt me.
Because he’s right. What kind of world am I bringing this baby into?
Only two weeks ago, Vlad abducted me, beat me, and left me unconscious in an abandoned warehouse. Now I’m cocooned in this house like a precious gemstone because my baby’s father has people who want to kill him.
My hand slides protectively over my belly.
“I don’t know what to do,” I whisper to my baby. The thought of him or her being hurt because of Lev and his bratva wars terrifies me.
I feel an overwhelming sense of responsibility. It’s my job to protect this baby. But what if I don’t make the right choices and something terrible happens?
I’m ripped out of my dire thoughts when Igor suddenly starts to shake on the hospital bed in front of me, his entire body stiff as if he’s being electrocuted. Alarms go off.
He’s having a seizure.
A doctor and two nurses rush in. One of them ushers me to the door. “You can’t be here.”
I see Igor jerking around on the bed, and I’m terrified for him.
“Is he going to be okay?” I beg the nurse.
“He’s very unwell. You need to leave. Now.”
I back out of the room, my heart pounding.
Is Igor going to die?
Tears form in my eyes, and suddenly, all the fear and uncertainty of the last few days catches up with me, and I start to cry.
From the doorway, I watch the scene unfolding. Nurses and doctors struggle to stop him from convulsing.
Terrified he’s going to die, I start walking backward to put some space between me and what is happening in that hospital room until I hit a solid form behind me. I spin around and come face to face with Agent Michaels.
Before I can stop him, he puts his arm around me and pulls me in for a hug. And I’m so busy sobbing it takes me a moment before I realize what is happening, but when I do, I push him away.
“I don’t need you to do that,” I say, taking a step back.
He nods. “Understood.”
I swipe away my tears. “What are you doing here?”
“The same as you. I’ve come to see how Igor is.”
“Since when do you care about him?”
“Since he might become a witness when he wakes up.”
I glare at him. “Igor would never betray Lev.”
He looks over my shoulder, and I turn to see what he’s looking at. Igor is still shaking on the bed, but the medical staff are able to bring his convulsions under control, and he settles.
“This can’t be fun for him,” Agent Michaels says. “I wonder how he’ll feel about things when he wakes up.”
I snap back to look at him. “You’re a piece of work. Preying on people when they’re feeling emotionally low.”
“I’m just doing my job, Brooke.”
“I told you, it’s Miss Masters to you.”
He smiles, but despite his movie star good looks, I can see what really lies behind his white smile and Californian tan. He’s a dog with a bone, and he’s going to do whatever it takes to keep it.
“Goodbye, Agent Michaels.”
I brush past him, but he takes me by the arm.
“Todd Bastik is up for parole,” he says.
A sudden wave of emotion surges through me, and all I can do is stare at him.
Ten years ago, Todd Bastik spent the day drinking and getting high on meth before climbing into his truck and driving to the local liquor store for another bottle of rum. Already out on bail for vehicular manslaughter, he was so drunk and high he could barely walk. He only got a mile down the road before he collided head-on into the car my father was driving. My mom was in the passenger seat, and I was in the backseat listening to Nine Inch Nails on Spotify.
Within seconds, my family was wiped out because Todd Bastik was a selfish asshole who didn’t care about anyone or anything other than himself and a damn bottle of rum.
Agent Michaels’ eyes gleam. “He’s been a model prisoner. He’ll probably get it.”
More tears well in my eyes. “But his sentence was for eighteen years.”
Agent Michaels holds his hands out like it’s out of his control. “He’s been a good boy.”
I can’t stop my chin from quivering because damn Todd Bastik and damn any parole board that lets him free.
Ten years.
Is that all my parents’ lives were worth?
“But I can stop it from happening,” Agent Michaels says. “I know three of the parole board members very well. My word will go a long way. You want to keep your parents’ killer in prison, I can make that happen. All I need from you in return is the right information about Lev.”
I think of my mom in her last moments. How frightened she was because she didn’t want to die. How her fingers went loose in my hand, and her body settled heavily against mine as she died in my arms.
How I couldn’t save her.
“Tell me what I need to make sure Lev pays for his crimes, and I will assure you Todd Bastik will continue to pay for his.”
Is this my chance to make it up to my mom for not being able to save her that night?
To ensure her killer remains behind bars like he deserves?
I look at Agent Michaels. He’s offering me a way out of this big pile of crazy I’ve been dropped into, and he’ll keep that monster Todd Bastik from getting parole.
My hand slides to my stomach.
But I won’t betray Lev.
He’s the father of my baby.
Yet it’s getting harder and harder to stay in a world where I would even have to consider it.