41. Thea
41
Thea
S moke billowed out from the upstairs windows. No flames yet, but the rear of the house was on fire; I could see the orange glow lighting up the hedge maze in the distance.
I sat by the car and watched the open doorway, praying Cassian was safe, and that he’d found Kyril and Ophelia. As much as I wanted to run inside and look for them, I knew he was right. Breathing in toxic smoke would be dangerous for the nugget.
I’d started thinking of the baby as my nugget. Not a chicken nugget, as Eden had thought, but a gold nugget because my little nugget was the most precious thing in my life.
The sound of sirens in the distance gave me a new lease of hope. The firefighters would have breathing equipment. They could go in and find the guys and Ophelia. Blue lights flared through the trees and then two fire engines arrived. Men jumped out. I ran toward them, screaming at the top of my lungs.
“They’re in there! Please help!”
“How many people are in the house?”
“Three!” Lucian didn’t count. He was dead as far as I was concerned. I hoped there were no servants trapped in there, but we’d seen nobody, so I doubted it.
I watched as the firefighters pulled on masks and oxygen tanks, and then two of them headed inside. Every second felt like an eternity. Flames burst from the windows near the pool house.
Still no sign of my guys.
Then a firefighter appeared carrying a woman. I rushed over as an ambulance arrived. “Where are they?” Tears ran down my cheeks. Were they dead? Oh god. How could I go on if I lost them?
Kyril was nugget’s father. He couldn’t die. I refused to accept they were gone. A man pulled me back from the step. He yelled something at me, but I didn’t hear a word he said. Paramedics picked up Cassian’s mother and carried her to a waiting ambulance.
The firefighter dashed back inside.
Seconds passed. My pain turned to anger. How dare fucking Lucian take away the men I loved!
Then a yellow jacket appeared carrying a body, followed by another figure supporting a second person.
I stumbled forward, needing to see for myself they were still alive. Still breathing.
“Miss, you need to stay out of the way,” the paramedic urged when I tried to push past him. “Let us help them.”
A second paramedic tried to give Cassian oxygen, but he ignored her. I fell into his arms, not caring that his face was sooty and he stunk of smoke.
“I thought you were both dead,” I sobbed.
“I thought we were all dead!” he rasped. “Another five minutes and we probably would have been.”
He stepped aside to let me see Kyril. My Russian lay still, his eyes closed. Then I saw the blood.
“What happened to him?”
“Not sure, he was unconscious when I reached him and mom. They both were. The firefighters found us not long after. There was no way I could have carried both of them.”
We watched as the paramedics moved Kyril into an ambulance, an oxygen mask strapped to his face. “He’ll be OK,” Cassian reassured me, his arm around my waist.
I prayed he was right.
Hospital chairs were the worst. I’d tried out a few, and they were all instruments of torture. Not one of them was comfortable for more than five fucking minutes.
It had been 12 hours and then some since the doctors took Kyril and Ophelia away. Cassian’s hand rested in mine. He’d refused to leave me, even though I’d told him I was fine.
I wasn’t fine at all, but I was doing a good job of hiding it. Mostly. And besides, I knew he was just as worried about his mother as we all were about Kyril.
Milo, Dario, and Landon sat around the waiting room in various states of discomfort. My men looked just as uncomfortable as me.
“You need to get some rest, cara ,” Dario said for the millionth time. “Let me take you back to the hotel for a few hours.”
I glared at him. “No.” I was aware I needed to sleep, and a change of clothes would be most welcome, but I refused to leave the hospital until I knew Kyril was OK.
Dario threw his hands in the air in frustration. “At least let me order you some food. I bet you haven’t eaten a damn thing since yesterday lunchtime!”
He was right. I hadn’t. We’d left the hotel mid-afternoon, and it was now early the next morning. My stomach growled right on cue.
“I could eat,” I admitted, reluctantly, even if the thought of eating anything made me feel ill. Still, I conceded that something in my stomach might help ease the lingering nausea.
“I’ll go see what I can find.”
“And I’ll come with you,” Landon said, stretching out the kinks in his neck. He looked as rough as I felt, just less smoky.
Milo looked up from his tablet. “A flat white for me and Thea would like an egg, pesto, and mozzarella sandwich with a chai tea latte from the Starbucks in the lobby.”
“I would?”
“Yes. Eggs are good for the baby, and a chai tea will give you some energy.” My jaw dropped. I sometimes wondered if Milo had special mind-reading skills. It was as if he knew my needs before I did. He reached out and squeezed my other hand. “He’ll be alright. Kyril has a very hard head.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” Tears welled up again. I’d done more crying in the last 24 hours than in my entire life. Maybe these guys had broken me.
The television fixed on the far wall showed footage from the scene of the fire. Cameras panned around the charred remains of Blackwood Manor, zooming in on the still smoking, partially collapsed roof.
“…and in a fresh development on the Blackwood Manor fire, investigators have located human remains inside the house. The identity of the body has yet to be confirmed, but sources say it is likely to be that of Lucian Forsyth, the former special security adviser to the Prime Minister. We’ll have more on this story as it unfolds. Meanwhile, a suspected terror attack in…”
“The police will be along today to interview us,” Cassian murmured in my ear. “It’s just a formality. The official line being trotted out to the press is that the fire was caused by an electrical fault and Dad died from smoke inhalation after drinking too much.” I nodded, not at all interested in the investigation. They could charge me with murder if they wanted. As long as Kyril recovered, that was all I cared about.
I curled into Cassian’s side, taking comfort from his steady heartbeat. Everything would be fine. It had to be.
The guys returned with food and beverages. I took the sandwich and ate it without tasting a thing. People came and went. The news cycle moved onto other stories: some celeb drama on the latest reality TV show and a movie director accused of sexual assault.
I paid no attention.
“Which one of you is Kyril Orliov’s family?” A rumpled man wearing a creased white shirt and black pants, with a stethoscope around his neck, scanned our motley group and frowned.
“I’m his fiancée,” I said. The doctor looked at the way Cassian’s hand rested on my thigh and his frown deepened.
“We’re his brothers,” Cassian added.
“…of another mother,” Landon coughed in a low voice.
“OK, well… Your fiancée can have visitors now. A maximum of two people, please.”
I jumped up, dragging Cassian with me. “Where is he?” My heart pumped furiously in my chest, chasing my exhaustion away. If Kyril was ready for visitors, he must be alright. The doctor would have told us if he wasn’t, right?
“Relax, baby girl. Kyril is OK. We’d have heard by now if he wasn’t.” He squeezed my hand as we hurried down a corridor.
This hospital seemed a step up from the hospitals I’d visited as a child. More luxurious, with better artwork on the walls. The doctor pushed open a door to reveal Kyril lying asleep on a bed. Thick bandages covered his hands and arms. The faint tang of smoke lingered in the air as I rushed over to the bed.
I choked down a sob, not wanting to wake him, but his eyes snapped open the minute I brushed his stubbled jaw with my fingers, taking care not to disturb the oxygen tube.
“ Moy kotenok ,” he rasped.
Cassian spoke to the doctor behind us, but my focus remained on Kyril.
“I thought I’d lost you!” Tears flowed down my cheeks, soaking the sweater I wore.
“Would…take more than…fire to…kill me.” From how hard it was for him to speak, the smoke must have caused some damage. “Ophelia…is she…safe?”
“I don’t know.” When I turned around, Cassian said something to the doctor and then nodded. “I’m sure she must be. We’d have heard if not.” My voice trailed off.
Cassian touched my shoulder. “She’s going to be alright. Like this idiot, she just needs to stay under observation for a few days.”
“Fuck…that,” Kyril forced out. “I need…my…kitten.”
“Wait here while I go see Mom.” Cassian’s lips brushed my cheek and then he left me alone with Kyril. I waited for the door to click shut before I crawled onto the bed and rested my head on his broad chest.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I whispered. Then I closed my eyes, listening to Kyril’s heartbeat as I drifted off into sleep.