Chapter 34 Sadie
SADIE
“Good luck.”
Emil leaned down to kiss me once more before taking off. “It looks like I should be telling you that.”
I glanced back in the direction of where he was looking. Gabriella winced just then, holding her stomach. Luka hovered next to her, watching her like a hawk. I had to laugh. He was just so obsessive about her.
“I’m no expert, but I don’t think she’s actually going into labor this early.”
He huffed a laugh, hugging me loosely and staying close before taking off with Ivan and Alexsei to secure closure on this last big mission of mine.
A teeny bit of me hated to be left behind, but I wasn’t na?ve or willing to risk this baby.
I was definitely not in any condition to be in the field right now.
“Don’t jinx it,” he teased. “She went into labor early when she had Andre.”
I looked back at her again. We were all gathered to see the men off.
“So I’ve heard. But she seems so normal.
” As I spoke, she was rolling her eyes at Luka fussing over her.
Typical, sassy Gabriella. At least that was what I’d learned about her so far.
She didn’t seem to be in distress, and with all I was told and read, childbirth was a distressing occasion.
I bet she was experiencing the same twinges and slight stabs of discomfort that I was since I woke up this morning.
Little aches to remind me that I was carrying a big weight in front of me.
“Trust me, if she goes into labor early and Luka is here to fuss over her, you’ll wish you were someplace else,” he teased.
“It’s sweet, though, how in love they are.”
Moving so quickly that he startled me, he swooped me into his arms in a slight dip to kiss me hard. “It’s not as sweet as how much I love you.”
My heart pattered faster. Committing his sexy, charming grin to memory, I sighed up at his handsome face. “I love you, Emil.” I tugged his head down for one last kiss.
“All right, all right.” Alexsei cleared his throat as he walked through the room, holding Misha. “You’re going to give me a complex.”
Looking around the room, I realized what he meant. Raisa was kissing Ivan goodbye. Luka and Gabreilla were attached at the hip, with her smiling slyly at him now. And Emil and I were close and kissing too.
I winced internally, hating that Alexsei, who so far seemed like the quiet one, would feel left out.
Emil straightened, making sure I was steady on my feet. Dipping down to whisper in my ear, he said, “Seriously, pray that this is over with quickly and she doesn’t go into labor. He’ll go insane worrying about us and her.”
I nodded, smirking. “I’ll see what I can do.”
He chuckled, releasing me, but before he let go of my hand, he sobered with a somber expression. “Be safe.”
I huffed a laugh. “That’s my line to you.”
Without any more fanfare, we told them goodbye. Allan and another high-ranking guard would be in the house and listening in on the comms units to better track the men as they flew to Haiti. They would check in with us every step of the way, but Luka was adamant that he and I not work.
Dr. Hannan was in the house, as a guest in waiting. That was how nervous he was about Gabriella going into labor early.
It was impossible to shrug off this innate tension. Without Emil here, I felt more like I was a guest of the family, not a consultant to work for the Dubinin Dynasty. It was different, but I was glad that I wouldn’t be idle. Not having anything to do would set me up to worry about Emil.
It’s not silly to worry.
I reminded myself of that, knowing he was a skilled, practiced, and strong man. He handled hits all over the world, but this was different. This was war, a coordinated raid and a bigger force of lethal measures against more than one target.
“Sadie?” Gabriella approached me as we all hung out around the huge entertainment system. Raisa had the idea to host a relaxed dinner tonight, making sure the boys were distracted with movies and games, pizza and snacks.
I glanced at the scene, amazed that I was in such good company on such a serious night. Luka sat on the edge of a chair, glancing at Gabriella. Raisa refereed Lev and Misha wrestling on the couch. Andre cruised along the coffee table, so eager to walk faster.
“Hmm?” I studied the former dancer. “How are you feeling?”
She rolled her eyes. “The same as you, I think.”
“Yeah? You got those weird little shoots of lightning too?”
She shushed me, urging me to step further from Luka. “It’s just cramps. But worrywart over there thinks everything is a huge sign.”
I smiled. “From what you told me about how you brought Andre into the world, I can’t blame him for being cautious now.”
“He’s obsessive. And paranoid,” she deadpanned. “And it’s driving me insane. Can you talk to him?”
“Me?” I pointed at myself.
“Yeah.” She shrugged. “Just preoccupy him. For like five minutes.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “I can try.” I approached Luka, but Misha shot to his feet and hugged me. “She’s safe! You can’t tag me because I’m by Sadie!”
Lev stopped short from lunging after Misha. “That’s not fair!”
“Enough, boys,” Luka said with little patience. It wasn’t a growl, but the man was stressed on dual fronts. “No erratic movements near Sadie or Gabriella.” Like clockwork, he sought her out and furrowed his brow at Gabriella moving toward the kitchen for more snacks.
Lev and Misha didn’t protest. They peeled off, running to get some other toy.
With a happy smile and a tired sigh, I sat in the chair next to Luka.
“You seem calm,” he observed.
“On the outside,” I admitted.
He nodded. “Being tense could induce labor, though—”
“Relax,” I chided.
“I swear to God, if you and Gabriella both go into labor when they’re all gone…”
I smiled, shaking my head. “Let’s just not talk about it and avoid jinxing it.”
“How are you holding up, then?” he asked. While this man made no secret about wanting my intel, his tone didn’t suggest that he was prying right now.
“With what, exactly?” I asked, glad to have someone like a fatherly figure in my life.
It was early yet. Emil and I had gone through a whirlwind of a rush to get to this point, but I had a good instinct about this.
Reading people was something I excelled at.
Luka wasn’t deceiving me. He’d welcomed me into his close circle, and that was an honor I wouldn’t forget.
“All of it.”
I shrugged. “I’m curious what life will be like as a mother.”
“That’s understandable. Gabriella had an adjustment period too.”
“No, not just because I’ll be a first-time mom,” I admitted, rubbing my belly and shifting to sit more comfortably. There really wasn’t any comfortable way to sit anymore. “It’s more of how it happened. Emil and I didn’t plan this.”
“You know what they say about best-laid plans…” he joked.
I frowned. “Don’t say that. I spent a lot of time making the plans to be perfect for their going out there tonight.”
He nodded. “Never mind. That’s a stupid saying, anyway.”
I laughed. “I’ve always wanted to have a family with how soon I lost my parents. Then, I bounced around in the system. I’ve dreamed of having a family forever.”
“It sounds like you were never fully ‘adopted’ at your agency, either.”
“Nope. I didn’t even have a work family.”
He exhaled a long breath. “I’m sorry you’ve suffered like that. Without knowing all the details, I suspect that their exclusion of you at the office wasn’t personal.”
“No?” I arched a brow, curious about where he thought he could guess that.
“No,” he replied. “I bet they saw how morally straight you were. When they realized that you wouldn’t compromise your ethics and let them mess up your moral compass, the corrupt ones knew you couldn’t fit in like that.”
That did make sense in hindsight.
“But now you can have both. A family with my son, with all of us. A work family too, in the organization.”
I smiled, thinking back to how Emil and I had been vaguely discussing our future. “I have a hunch Emil won’t enjoy my working too much.”
“Don’t underestimate him. He has a good eye for talent and intelligence and he wouldn’t try to hold you back.”
That meant a lot. “Yeah, but he has some crazy idea to have five more kids after this one, and that sounds quite time-consuming.”
He chuckled.
“Time-consuming in a good way,” I added, trying to imagine having a huge baby bump like this five more times.
“However it pans out, I think it’s fair to say that Emil understands why your career meant so much to you.
How that determination to make the world a safer place is a noble one to fuel, not extinguish.
” He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees.
“And that is a cause you can continue with us. Our policies are different from the organized branches of law. We take matters into our own hands. I won’t sit here and apologize for anything I’ve done in my life, but you can rest assured that the targets we go for and punish are the same kind of people you would’ve been wanting to put away yourself if you were still an agent. ”
I smirked. “Are you suggesting that we were in competition in the same industry, then?”
He smiled. “I guess I am.”
That was an oddly funny yet accurate way of comparing my duties as a law enforcement agent and his as a Mafia boss.
“We share the same commitment to making the world safer, Sadie. Even if it means the Dubinin organization deals with more violence and according to our own rules and codes of conduct.” He held his hands out like a slight shrug. “Whatever it takes.”
Whatever it takes.
That was the concept I believed when Emil rescued me from being held hostage. It was the running theme that I considered while I directed the project. And I felt that it was true deep in my heart right then as I envisioned the men ambushing the meeting site in Haiti.
So long as evil was dealt with, I wouldn’t judge how that peace was achieved.
“I know.” I nodded once at him. “I’ve thought that myself, that sometimes it doesn’t matter how justice is delivered, just that it is. And I’m okay with that. If you want to know how I’m adjusting and handling the shift from one side of the law to the other… I’m more than okay with it.”
His smile was soft but sincere. Like one I’d wish to see from my father again. Almost like I made this Mafia boss proud.
“You are just the kind of strong and wise woman I ever could’ve hoped to have as a daughter-in-law.”
I laughed. It burst out of me. “What?”
He smiled wider. “You heard me.”
I did. But Emil and I had only just told each other that we loved one another. I’d only just come back into his life. We had talked about our futures and our plans, but marriage seemed like a technicality, not a necessity.
“He hasn’t even proposed.”
“All in due time,” he replied.
Excitement filled my heart at that becoming true. To be his wife. To have that legal and sentimental stamp on our lives.
So far, it was implied that I would be a permanent part of their family. That I would live with Emil, somewhere, and raise our child together. But the idea of his proposing was a little extra thrill.
Even though I’d always dreamed of a family, I never bothered fantasizing about a wedding.
Maybe that was another factor of how much of a careerwoman I was, focused on work and the passion that pushed me to devote all I was to it.
Now, things were different. I could work to a limited degree while building my family.
Why not do it all?
Why not do it “right” and marry him too?
I certainly wouldn’t reject him. I hadn’t yet, and I doubted I ever would.
I inhaled a deeper breath, already this much more excited and impatient for Emil to come home and return to me safe and sound.
“I’m going to go check on Gabriella,” Luka said, standing.
“And I need to run to the bathroom.” I grabbed the armrests to get up. “Again.”
He laughed lightly, not moving away as I rocked back and forth to try to get up out of the chair. “Need a hand?”
I growled lightly, so frustrated at this awkward balance. “Yes, please,” I said with a little laugh.
Another cramp gripped me, but with him holding my hand to get me upright, I stood. Then hissed.
Warm liquid alerted me to the embarrassing reality that with how hard it was to get up out of the chair, I’d… peed my pants from the effort.
“Sadie.” Luka’s voice was deadly serious.
I glanced up at him, lifting my head from staring openmouthed at the wetness at my crotch and down my legs.
“I think we all jinxed it,” he stated, matter-of-fact.
Gabriella and Raisa entered the room right then. They both gasped, eyes wide. Gabriella dropped a bowl of popcorn, and Raisa reacted with faster reflexes to knock the bowl aside before it fell on Andre’s head.
“Sadie!” Gabriella exclaimed. “Your water broke!”
Raisa furrowed her brow, ready to act like the problem-solver she was. She backpedaled without a delay while Gabriella only stared in shock. “I’ll get the doctor. Lev,” she called out to her son, “pick up the popcorn before Andre tries to grab it all.”
Luka still held my hand as I stood there frozen.
Whoops.
I winced at him, aware the timing wasn’t ideal. Then as a sharp pain gripped me, like my spine was being squeezed from the inside out, I involuntarily tightened my fingers on his.
Fuck, that hurt.
He whipped his head around and stared at Gabriella. Pointing one finger, he said, “Don’t you dare. Not both of you.”
She held her hands up in a truce. “All r—” Sucking a sharp breath in, she leaned over with a cringe to hold her stomach.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Luka growled.
Pandemonium followed.