Chapter 17 - Nico
“Nico!”
Her name tore out of me before I even realized I was moving. Just a few seconds ago, she was standing there, and the next, a gunshot cracked through the room. Vera jerked violently, and then she hit the floor. Everything inside me stopped. For a fraction of a second, the entire world became silent.
I couldn’t hear anything. No alarms. No shouting.
No gunfire. Nothing existed for me in that moment.
It was just Vera collapsing. My heart slammed once against my ribs, and then the silence shattered.
I drew my weapon and fired. The first man through the breached doorway dropped instantly.
The second barely had time to raise his rifle before Viktor put a bullet through his skull.
The safe room erupted into violence as bodies surged through the opening. My men met them head-on, and gunfire exploded around us. Someone screamed. Someone else hit the floor.
I didn’t care. I couldn’t. Because Vera wasn’t moving.
I ran towards her immediately and dropped beside her, blood rushing to my ears.
I wanted nothing but for her to wake up and tell me she was okay.
I wanted her to wake up. I wanted her alive and awake and mine.
She should have been safe and away from all this chaos.
It was all my fault. One second of neglect had led to this.
I was going to kill Adrian Petrov.
“Vera.”
Blood stained her sleeve. My stomach twisted so hard it felt like someone had shoved a knife between my ribs.
“Vera.”
Her eyes fluttered and then closed. She was losing blood.
“No.”
The word came out rough. Desperate. Nothing like me. Her skin felt cold beneath my hand. Too cold. Far too fucking cold.
“Nico!”
Viktor’s voice came from somewhere behind me, but I ignored him.
“Nico!”
The second shout was sharper. More urgent.
And I finally looked up. Three attackers remained.
My men were handling two, but the third was running toward the hallway, which connected to the rest of the house.
Something dark and vicious unfurled inside me and I stood up.
The attacker saw me and immediately understood he’d made a mistake.
A fatal one.
He raised his weapon, but I shot him twice before he could pull the trigger or even comprehend what was happening. Once in the chest. Once in the face. The bullet sliced right through his heart and brain and his body collapsed before me.
I kept staring at him, breathing hard. I wanted to keep shooting. I wanted to destroy everything. I wanted to make sure no one remained standing. If they had hurt my Vera, I was going to find every single one of them and kill them. I was going to make sure they suffered.
Because Vera was bleeding. Because she was lying unconscious on my floor. Because someone had dared to touch what was mine.
“Nico.” Viktor stepped beside me. “They’re contained. The situation outside is under control, and the breach has been managed. Most of their men have been dealt with.”
I looked around, realizing the attack was over.
Bodies littered the safe room and the corridor, and probably the rest of the house, including the gardens.
Smoke drifted through the damaged doorway, and several of our guards and soldiers were also injured.
Two were dead. But the attackers were finished.
Every single one.
“Adrian?” I asked Viktor, hoping to God he was dead. I had never wanted another person dead more than I wanted Adrian.
“He escaped,” Viktor sighed. “He was shot in the leg and immediately turned around and ran away. I spotted him.”
The bastard was still alive. The information made me want to tear the entire city apart, but the good thing was that it also meant that I would be the one to kill him. I wanted to look him in the eyes before strangling him to death.
“It’s okay. We will find him,” I replied, my focus returning to Vera. I turned back toward her and immediately dropped beside her again. “Get the medical team here now.”
“They’re already on the way.”
Viktor nodded once and then disappeared.
I looked down at her, and the world narrowed again.
Not completely, but just enough. Enough to make everything else feel distant and unimportant.
She looked pale. Too pale. A lock of dark hair had fallen across her face.
Without thinking, I brushed it away. The movement felt strangely intimate amidst the blood and destruction.
Almost absurd.
My chest tightened. Just a few hours earlier, we’d been arguing.
She had been in my arms. A few hours earlier, she’d looked at me and told me she didn’t want to leave.
I still hadn’t figured out what to do with any of that information.
I still hadn’t figured out why hearing it had shaken me so badly.
Now none of it seemed complicated. Only terrifying.
Because for one horrible moment, I’d thought she was dead.
And that feeling, that single second, had nearly destroyed me.
“Wake up, Vera. Please.”
I scooped her unconscious body in my arms and carried her out of the safehouse and back towards the master bedroom.
Everyone around me was already securing the safehouse, and bodies were being picked up.
My men were trained enough to clean up the situation within minutes, so I wasn’t worried about anything.
I knew the situation was under control, except for Vera.
“Nico,” Viktor’s voice reached me just as I placed Vera on the bed. “The medical team is here.”
“Bring them in.”
They had arrived six minutes later, but it had felt like an eternity anyway.
Every second. Every fucking second felt like Vera was being dragged away from me.
I needed her to get better, and I needed her to get better soon.
The lead physician knelt beside Vera immediately while his team began taking out supplies from medical bags.
They were all mafia doctors and didn’t even bat an eyelash at the bloodbath around us.
“Move,” the old man commanded, his gaze on Vera.
I didn’t, and he finally looked up at me. Carefully. Very carefully.
“Mr. Romanov, I need room to work. I know you are worried, but you know you need me.”
I stared at him as he held my gaze. To his credit, he didn’t flinch.
He had probably spent a long time dealing with hot-headed idiots like me who were refusing to move from beside their girlfriends or wives.
He remained unfazed by my death stare, and I had to give in.
Eventually I stepped back. Only two steps. No more.
The examination began. I watched closely as he checked her blood pressure, her pulse, her neurological response, and finally the wound assessment.
I winced as they tore off her sleeve to expose the bullet graze, and I realized her entire arm was coated with blood.
The doctors worked efficiently and professionally, but I hated every second of waiting.
Finally, he looked up at me. “The bullet grazed her upper arm. It passed through, so the injury is minor, but she has lost a lot of blood. Despite that, she is going to be fine.”
The words hit like air returning to my lungs.
“Are you absolutely certain, doctor? Do we need to arrange blood?”
“No, no. She’s lost blood, but not enough to threaten her life. Her body will be able to make its own blood once she is all patched up and better again.”
I looked at Vera, who was still unconscious and frighteningly still. “When will she wake up?”
“It can be a few hours.”
That was good.
“Is her body in shock?” I asked.
“Partially.” He nodded. “Combined with blood loss and stress.”
Stress. That earned a bitter laugh from somewhere deep inside me.
Stress. What a fucking understatement. She had been caught in a crossfire of two mafia families with explosions ringing all around us.
Of course she was stressed. The doctor continued speaking about bandages, observation, and medication, but none of it registered fully.
Because all I cared about was one thing.
She was alive.
Alive.
The word repeated through my head.
Alive.
Alive.
Alive.
I didn’t realize how tightly I’d been holding myself together until that moment, because suddenly it felt like I could finally breathe again.
The next several hours disappeared into practical necessities while the doctors continued to work on Vera and monitor her.
The house had to be secure, and the damage assessed.
Dead attackers were identified and security protocols reviewed.
I moved through it all automatically, the way I always did with all my emotions locked away.
The Romanov empire couldn’t stop because I was worried, so I handled what needed handling.
All of Petrov’s dead soldiers were sent back because it was against the Romanov tradition to humiliate the dead.
“All is done, Nico,” Viktor said, walking towards me.
Jarek arrived before I could reply, and Kliment came shortly after. Both of them surveyed the damage in grim silence.
“They did not know the layout,” Kliment said. “The attack looks very sudden and random.”
I nodded. “They bombed anything and everything and simply kept coming forward.”
“They followed you back here?” Jarek asked, walking around the living room.
“Most likely.”
“We spotted Adrian Petrov, but Manny Stavros was completely absent from the scene,” Viktor added.
“That does not mean Manny wasn’t involved. He is rather cunning and could have very easily orchestrated it but only left Adrian to take the fall,” Kliment replied, sinking into a sofa.
“Vera?” Jarek asked, his gaze sympathetic.
“The doctors are with her.”
“We will leave you to it,” Kliment sighed, standing up. His hand slapped my back lightly. “I know you are worried, but she will be alright.”
I nodded. She had to be alright. There was no other choice.
My brothers left shortly after, and I helped my men put the house in order again.
We had enough arms, and the damage, despite looking like a lot, was easy to contain.
It was nearly dawn when I finally returned to Vera.
The house had grown quiet. Most of the damage was already being repaired.
The dead were gone. The wounded were treated. The chaos contained. Only the aftermath remained.
I entered the bedroom and noticed the medical equipment, which hummed softly. A nurse checked her vitals, then immediately stood up when she saw me.
“Mr. Romanov.”
“You can leave.”
She nodded and exited without argument. The door closed behind her, and silence settled around us.
I looked at Vera. She hadn’t moved. The bandage wrapped around her arm looked stark against her skin.
It was too white, and she looked too fragile.
I pulled a chair closer and then sat down.
For a long time, I simply watched her breathe, each breath feeling like a victory.
I thought about the moment she’d told me she didn’t want to leave. The honesty in her voice. The certainty. There had been no hesitation whatsoever. Just truth. The memory lingered, refusing to disappear, and beneath it sat another realization. One I’d been avoiding. One I didn’t want.
I loved her. Still.
Despite everything. Despite the lies. Despite the anger. Despite the months that had nearly destroyed me. I loved her. And tonight proved something even worse. I couldn’t survive losing her again.
A knock interrupted the silence, and the aged doctor stepped inside. He looked much more relaxed now, which put me at ease as well.
“Mr. Romanov. Oh, you’re here. I have been wanting to speak to you for a while now.”
I stood up and realized his expression looked strange. He didn’t look worried but cautious. I couldn’t blame him since most people acted that way in front of me.
“What is it? Is something wrong? She is going to be okay, right?”
He glanced toward Vera and then back at me.
“She will be perfect soon. There is something else I needed you to know.”
My stomach tightened instantly. “What?”
“The injury isn’t serious if that is what you are worried about.”
“I know.”
Every instinct I possessed sharpened, and the doctor cleared his throat. Then spoke.
“While running routine tests, we discovered something.”
I stared at him, and he hesitated. Then, finally said the words.
“Miss Stavros is pregnant.”
The room went silent. Completely. Utterly. I heard the words. I even understood the words. Yet somehow, they refused to settle.
She was pregnant.
The doctor continued speaking, but I couldn’t hear him anymore.
My gaze moved slowly toward Vera, but she remained asleep.
Unaware. Unaware that the entire axis of my world had just shifted.
Pregnant. I looked at her stomach and then immediately felt insane for doing so.
There was nothing to see. Nothing different or visible, and yet everything had changed. Every single thing.
The doctor was still talking about the early weeks and careful monitoring. About follow-up examinations and doctor recommendations. But all of it felt like noise because one thought drowned out everything else.
A child. Mine. Ours.
The realization hit harder the second time. And harder still the third. A child with Vera. My hand tightened around the back of the chair. The wood creaked, and the doctor wisely stopped speaking. I wasn’t sure how long the silence lasted. Eventually I managed a single question.
“Are you certain?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation in his voice.
I looked back at Vera, and for the first time in years, I found myself completely speechless.
Just stunned. Because somewhere between kidnapping her from a church, surviving her lies, surviving my own obsession, surviving gunfire and explosions and months of misery, we had somehow created something else.
Something neither of us had planned. Something neither of us even saw coming.
Something that changed everything. I sat down slowly beside her bed, and the doctor quietly left.
The door closed behind him, but I barely noticed anything. My eyes remained fixed on Vera. She was pregnant. The word echoed through my head again and again. For the first time since this entire disaster began, I had absolutely no idea what would happen next.
And that realization terrified me more than any enemy ever had. But one thing I knew for certain was I had never been more thrilled.