Chapter 41 - Daniil
While I waited impatiently in the hospital for some word on Paisley, I paced the hall until a nurse who could have given Aleks a run for his money in terms of intimidation told me to have a seat.
I was worried and pissed off that I’d been shoved out of the exam room when they finally got to Paisley, but no amount of throwing my weight around would get me any answers.
The place was bleak, with far off beeping sounds, the murmur of the other sick people who were still waiting their turn to be seen.
The nurses’ station had a limp, sorry garland draped across the wall behind it, with cheap stockings tacked to it, each with a scrawled name in glitter glue.
A few had miniature candy canes sticking out, and one looked to have a gift card of some sort.
Perhaps some kind of secret Santa exchange to help brighten their overly busy shifts.
It was trying to be jolly but had the opposite effect on me in my anxiety riddled state.
Paisley had to be okay. I went back and forth, cursing myself for not finding her sooner before that bastard cop could hurt her, and also for not insisting she go to the hospital last night instead of waiting around.
Someone in a white lab coat entered her room with an electronic chart held up to her nose and I let out a pent up breath of frustration now that she was finally getting some attention after being put in that room almost an hour ago.
I found a bench with a clear line of sight to her door, ready to pounce as soon as the doctor came out.
In the meantime, I had a lot of questions waiting for me on my phone.
I sent a couple quick messages to my brothers, who had been spamming me since the night before with demands to know what was going on.
For all they knew, I was dead, and that would have certainly put a damper on the festivities back at the lodge.
Then I called Aleks, who assured me that no one was in a festive mood.
More than anyone else, Katie was going out of her mind, wracked with guilt that she’d somehow screwed up by trusting Paisley’s friend’s nanny agency.
While no one had been badly injured, there were still cuts and bruises and a lot of ill will towards Paisley.
“She’s one hundred percent clean,” I said before he could start bellowing at me for disappearing.
“We know she works for Axon,” he said gruffly. I rolled my eyes.
Of course Anatoli couldn’t keep the secret for more than ten minutes. I wasn’t too mad at him though, because I would have done the same thing. It still ruffled my feathers a little because Masha was so dear to me, but Anatoli was one of us now, and looking out for the family.
“And we know Axon is linked to the Collective. Big time. One of their top shareholders is Gavril—”
“Yes, Gavril Bocharov. I’m aware. Paisley had a run in with him last night. One of his guys was trying to kill her when I caught up with them.”
He was silent for a moment. “It could have been an act to keep from blowing her cover.”
“Nope. This was real.” I paused to push down the fresh rage I felt at the memory of that asshole’s hands squeezing the life out of Paisley.
“Axon’s an actual legitimate accounting firm with hundreds of employees.
Probably more than ninety percent of them don’t have a clue it’s owned by an international crime organization.
I’d bet my life Paisley didn’t know a thing about it until she stumbled across something she shouldn’t have and they went after her. ”
“Would you bet our lives?” he asked. “Alina’s? Pavel’s? Artie’s?”
“I get it,” I said before he could go on to name every last person I cared about. “And yes. I’m right about this. You must have seen her background check by now. She’s flawless. Not so much as a traffic ticket.”
“We could say the same,” he told me, still not convinced.
I laughed bitterly. Yes, most of us would come up squeaky clean if someone delved into our criminal records.
We had the kind of money to make everything disappear.
“Paisley’s just a girl who was in the wrong place at the wrong time.
” I hurriedly explained how she came to be working as their nanny and told him to call Marlowe.
He begrudgingly admitted that Katie had already been on the phone with her first thing that morning and had heard the same story I did.
“I don’t know what to believe,” he said slowly. “I still don’t know if I can trust her. But I trust you. Your gut is rarely wrong.”
“It’s never wrong. And it’s not just my gut.
It’s evidence. It’s what I’ve seen with my own eyes.
Paisley would never put those kids in danger, but they’re not going to stop until she’s dead.
I’ll take her somewhere safe and out of the way, but I hope you’ll help me squash this so she can go back to a normal life. ”
With me. That was a given. But Aleks couldn’t know how much my heart was tangled up with Paisley until he was as certain as I was that she was innocent.
“You’ll bring her back here,” he said. “There’s nowhere she’ll be safer while we find Gavril.” He sighed deeply, as if exhausted. I knew how he felt as I waited and worried. “We need to snuff out this damn Collective once and for all.”
“That’s at the top of my New Year’s resolutions,” I said, drawing a reluctant chuckle from him.
“Just get both your asses back here as soon as you can,” he said. “And be safe.”
I ended the call, not needing to tell him I had that covered.
I’d already arranged for the jet to be prepared to take off as soon as Paisley was released, and now I sent messages to a few of my LA security guys to meet me at the airport in plain clothes.
She wasn’t leaving my sight again, not even when we were back at the lodge.
The doctor who went in to see her finally came out and I leapt from the bench.
She gave me a brief smile and said Paisley was just fine.
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad I was wrong and nothing serious was the matter.
She refused to answer any questions and briskly sidestepped me, hurrying to the next room down the hall.
The clothes I had ordered from the hotel boutique had arrived while I was waiting and I slipped inside to give Paisley the bag. She looked pale and wan and the anxiety in her eyes seemed to have doubled since we arrived. Was that damn doctor lying to me?
She gratefully accepted the cozy sweatpants and soft sweater and tried to shoo me out of the room, forcing a smile as if everything was great.
I wasn’t buying it for a second. Then she had the audacity to ask me to take her to the airport and just let her get on a random flight without me.
I shut that down right away, but left her alone to get dressed, all while guarding the door.
As soon as she came out, walking carefully as if a mere step would set her off and having her running for the nearest bathroom again, I took her arm and helped her back to the car. She was strangely quiet, with only an occasional sigh.
Of course she was still scared. Who wouldn’t be?
As soon as we were back in Aspen I would carefully break the news to her of who I was, and what my family did for a living.
She had to know she was safe, even if she balked at what the Bratva was.
No one was going to hurt her as long as she was with me.
At the airport, I dropped off the rental and checked with the pilot to find out we could leave within the next half hour.
Paisley looked around, dragging her feet as I tried to guide her outside toward the private airfield.
She honed in on a coffee shop with a long line, and pressed her hand into her stomach.
“The doctor gave me some medicine, but it’s not working,” she said. “The toast helped earlier.” She pointed at the big sign advertising bagels in front of the shop. “I could use one of those. Plain, please. Just with butter, no cream cheese.”
She sat down on a bench and leaned over, looking absolutely shattered.
The line was about twenty feet away. I could drag her with me, or get her onto Anatoli’s plane where there was sure to be something she could eat.
But my heart tugged at the sight of her, so pale and shaky, gripping her knees like she was using every last ounce of willpower not to throw up.
My brave, beautiful girl.
Glancing around, I couldn’t immediately spot the security team that had already checked in with me to say they were on site. It was now midafternoon and prime travel time for business people on last minute trips before the new year, and families eager to get to their holiday destinations.
I couldn’t resist the look of pleading she gave me, letting her head drop back down to her chin. “Stay put,” I said.
“Where am I going to go?” she said, so much sadness in her eyes that I wanted to pull her into my arms.
I smoothed her hair. Being sick sucked. For once it wasn’t my first instinct to tell whoever was suffering to suck it up. I only wanted to offer her as much comfort as I could. Who the hell had this woman turned me into?
“I’ll be back with your bagel in no time,” I said, ready to use whatever cash I had in my wallet to bribe my way to the front of the line.
It took me less than three seconds to get there, but when I turned around she was gone.
Just gone. Not a trace of her anywhere in the crowds milling toward the gates.
The nearest restroom was several hundred yards away and in her state she’d still be hobbling toward it in that miniscule amount of time.
I swore under my breath, pulling out my phone to contact the security team, wherever in the hell they were. Turning in a circle, I scanned everyone, looking for a trace of blonde hair, or a flash of her blue sweater.
Nothing. She had disappeared.