Chapter 59 Aleksandr
ALEKSANDR
Eva’s pulse fluttered beneath my fingers—weak, erratic, each beat a desperate struggle against the failing valve. Fuck. I pressed two fingers against her carotid, counting the irregular beats. Too slow. Too weak. “Get the car. Now!”
Dmitri’s men secured Carter’s office while two of them dealt with the body. Cole’s face was pale, and his entire body shook. Fuck, this wasn’t what I wanted for him, for Tristan, for any of them.
He stared at his father’s body with unseeing eyes before they fell to me, to where I held our girl. I shifted Eva carefully, supporting her head, keeping her as still as possible. Every movement could strain her failing heart further.
“Get Dr. Kouassi from Yorkfield Memorial.” I eased Eva’s limp form against my chest. “He handled her last cardiac episode.”
Dmitri was already on the phone. “Dr. Kouassi will be waiting,” he confirmed. “His team is prepping the OR.”
The elevator ride felt endless. Eva’s skin grew colder with each floor we descended, her breathing shallow and labored. Her heartbeat grew more irregular—a broken metronome counting down the moments we had left.
“Stay with me, malyshka.” I pressed my lips to her temple. “You don’t get to die for us. Not like this.”
The private garage level was empty except for the six black SUVs lined up and looking like the criminal enterprise we were.
When Cole and Tristan moved to climb into the car with us, Dmitri held up his hand. “My men will take you to shower and change then take you to the hospital. We’ll clean up the evidence upstairs, but you two need to look like you spent the evening making out and not committing murder.”
“And call her father,” I added as I settled into the back seat with Eva, keeping her head elevated against my chest. “He needs to be there when—” I couldn’t finish the sentence. When she wakes up.
“You better not fucking die on me,” I growled into Eva’s temple as I held her close.
Dmitri’s eyes met mine in the rearview mirror, but he didn’t say anything.
I whispered incoherent praise into her hair, promising her the world, anything, if only she would stay with me.
The city blurred past our windows, traffic laws mere suggestions with Dmitri at the wheel. Eva’s pulse grew weaker beneath my fingers, each beat a desperate fight against the failing mechanism in her chest.
Dmitri took a corner at dangerous speed, the SUV’s tires screaming against wet asphalt. Red and blue lights flashed in our wake—a police escort, courtesy of the bratva.
“Dermo.” Shit. Dmitri glanced in the rearview mirror. “Her lips...”
Eva’s skin was taking on a bluish tinge, a visible sign of how I’d failed her. How we’d all failed her.
“Two minutes,” Dmitri promised, running another red light.
I pressed my fingers harder against her pulse point, counting the spaces between beats—too long, far too long.
The hospital’s emergency entrance blazed with light. Dr. Kouassi waited with a trauma team, their faces grim and focused. The moment our SUV stopped, they swarmed the vehicle.
Dr. Kouassi’s expression darkened at the bruises visible on Eva’s throat, but his voice remained professional. “OR Two is prepped. We have her medical history from the last episode. Coach Novikov, I need—”
“Her father’s on his way,” I interrupted. Why hadn’t I made her give me medical power of attorney? Fuck.
“Then wait here.” Dr. Kouassi’s tone left no room for argument. “We’ll update you as soon as we can.”
I paced the waiting room, regretting fucking everything, wishing I could take back every moment between us, making promises to a god I didn’t believe in that I would do anything if she pulled through. He couldn’t take another person I loved from me. Please.
“Sasha.” Dmitri’s voice pulled me back. “Conrad Jackson is here.”
I turned. Conrad stood just inside the entrance, looking older than his years. Blood matted his red hair, his clothes still disheveled from Carter’s assault, but his eyes held the same desperate love I’d seen in Eva’s when she’d offered herself to save him.
“Is she—?” His voice cracked.
“In surgery.” I stepped closer, my old need for revenge briefly surging to the forefront of my brain. “Why did you call me?”
He looked up at me with surprise. “Because you love her enough to do whatever it took.” He took a deep breath.
“Sixteen years ago, I made a mistake—” He stopped then collected himself.
“I committed an act of evil. You’ve been paying for it every day since—you, Eva, and those boys she loves so much too. ”
I waited, my heart in my throat.
“Every time I look at her, I see what I’ve done. Every sacrifice, every burden, every moment of pain—it’s all because of me. I owe her an apology, but I owe you one too. I know it’s not enough, but I’m sorry.”
A nurse hurried past, pushing a cart of supplies toward the OR, and both our gazes followed it, the same worry on our faces.
“She never blamed you.” I ran a hand through my hair. “Not once. Even when Carter was using your debts to destroy her, she protected you—”
The OR doors burst open, interrupting me. Cole and Tristan sprinted down the hallway, faces white with panic. They stopped short when they saw me.
“Where is she?” Cole’s voice shook.
“Surgery.” I caught Cole’s arm as he moved toward the OR doors. “Dr. Kouassi’s with her. We have to wait.”
“Like hell we do!” Cole tried to pull away, but Tristan grabbed his other arm.
“Cole.” Tristan’s voice cracked. “Let them work. Please.”
Cole slumped against the waiting room wall, sliding down until he sat on the floor. Tristan joined him, their shoulders touching, neither speaking.
Conrad watched them, his expression haunted. “I did this,” he whispered. “All of it. The gambling, the debts, Carter’s obsession with revenge—it all started with me. And now,” he gestured at Cole and Tristan, at the OR doors hiding his daughter, “everyone’s lost everything.”
“Not everything.” The words surprised me, more truth in them than I’d expected. “Your daughter’s in there fighting. These boys—” I nodded toward Cole and Tristan, their heads bent together in silent support. “They’re still here. Still fighting.”
“Why?” Conrad’s voice cracked. “After what I did to you? After what Carter did to them?”
I thought of Eva’s determination, her fierce protection of those she loved, her refusal to break no matter what Carter did to her. “Because that’s what family does.” I met Conrad’s gaze. “Even broken ones.”