Chapter 24 - Ninel
“Artyom…” I shrieked, dropping to my knees as blood pooled beneath him far too quickly.
After passing out after the accident, when I came to, my wrists and ankles were bound with rope. I was in a small, dimly lit room. I forced the restraints off, thankful my long sleeves and jeans had taken most of the burning sensation.
I wasn't sure how long I was in there when I heard a key slide into the lock. Quietly, I scrambled to my feet and pressed myself to the side of the door, praying he’d step in far enough for me to slip past. But he stopped in the doorway, turned, and met my eyes with an evil fucking smirk.
I swung at him, but he caught my wrist midair, squeezing until pain shot up my arm, then shoved me to the floor and drove his boot into my back.
Artyom’s going to lose his shit when he sees the print it left.
The bastard dragged me out by my hair, to where we are now, him and the other goons were trying to force me into the crate.
The only ways I was getting into that crate was as a corpse!
I knew if they got me into it, I’d never see my family again…
never see Artyom again. And what would they have done when they found out I was pregnant?
As I fought against them, three gunshots cracked through the air and they dropped me. Then I was in his arms. The arms of the man the world called a monster, but to me, he was…mine.
I shook his shoulders, desperately, and he groaned. “Artyom…come on, please, open your eyes,” I whimpered.
There was no way I'd be able to drag Artyom to safety. We were sitting ducks here, but there was no way in hell I was leaving him behind.
A noise behind me made my blood run cold. I tore the gun from Artyom’s limp fingers and spun on my knees, ready to put a bullet in whoever came near.
My eyes collided with Marten’s cold blue ones and the tears began again. Yegor and Zakhar rushed past him. I shoved the gun into Yegor’s hands.
“Is he going to be okay?” I whispered as Yegor crouched and turned Artyom over on his stomach to check his wounds.
Marten’s hand closed around my arm, gently pulling me to my feet, holding me protectively in his arms.
“We’ll need a fucking chopper to get him out of here,” Yegor bit out, his voice strained.
Yegor rose to his feet, barked into his phone, and stepped out of the room, while Zahkar tore off his t-shirt and pressed it down on Artyom’s wounds.
Jaroslav and the others jogged up, guns still in hand.
“Ninel, are you hurt?” Lev asked, sparing only a glance at Artyom.
“I’ll be fine,” I said in a voice I didn't recognize, my cheek against Marten's chest. “I’m worried about him.”
“You should come with us,” Jaroslav said, his tone hardened.
I shook my head, stepping out of Marten's grasp, backing closer to Artyom. “I’m not going anywhere. He’s my husband.”
“Ninel, you’re not thinking straight,” Avit insisted. “Let Yegor and Zahkar take care of him. You need to come with us. You were also in the accident. You need to get checked out.”
My hands subconsciously covered my stomach.
“No. I’m not leaving him.”
I swayed on my feet and Marten wrapped his arm around me.
“Ninel, do we have to carry you out of here? You're clearly not fine,” Pyotr snapped.
I glared at my brothers. “I’m not fucking shot and bleeding out! I'll be okay!” I yelled. “I'm not going to abandon my husband when he needs me the most. Is that what a Bratva wife does? Is that how you raised me?”
My eyes fixed on Lev and Jaroslav. “Does she leave her husband at her lowest? How would you feel if your wives left you when you needed them?”
Jaroslav's eyes turned steely grey and Lev's jaw twitched.
“Things may not have turned out how any of us planned but we're here now. I may be the youngest but I'm not a little girl any more,” my voice cracked as I sank to my knees next to Artyom's head.
I ran my fingers gently through his hair before I met the gazes of my five brothers.
“I need you to trust that I could make the right decision for me. And besides,” I smiled weakly. “I'm pregnant for him. My place is with my husband. And I hope that you can all accept my decision because it's not going to change.”
I watched as shock rippled through the faces of my brothers.
Zahkar muttered, “Well fuck me.”
Lev sighed and nodded. As did the others.
“I can't say that I liked the position Artyom put us in. We will accept your decision but I can't say if we'll ever forgive him.”
I nodded.
I could live with that. Artyom would have to earn their trust, and I’d help him do it. At least I knew they wouldn’t try to harm him. The women had already forgiven him. In time, my brothers would too.
I focused on the man in front of me. I leaned over and kissed him on his cheek that was now cold.
“Don't leave us. We need you.”
Safin and Rykov men moved in the space snapping pictures of the dead men to run them through their databases before carrying them out of the room. Five minutes later paramedics ran in. Yegor behind them with Ruslan.
“Ruslan, take Mrs. Rykov home,” Yegor ordered.
“Are they taking Artyom home?” I bit out.
“No.”
My eyes narrowed. “I'm not going home without my husband. Got it?”
Yegor sighed. He rattled off the name of the hospital to Ruslan that they were taking Artyom too.
“We'll follow,” Lev said as we made our way to the cars.
“Thank you.”
When we got to the cars, Zahkar opened the door and I hopped in and he came in after me. Ruslan taking the wheel.
As I thought about everything I broke down and Zahkar pulled me into his arms.
“Artyom will be okay. There's no way he'll give up when he has a pregnant wife waiting for him.”
I hoped with everything in me that Zahkar was right.
Eight of us sat in the waiting room while surgeons worked on Artyom. Zahkar had changed into fresh clothes, but I refused to swap out my jeans, the knees stiff with Artyom's dried blood. It made me feel closer to him, and I needed that connection right now.
Lev had managed to coax me into letting a doctor examine me while we waited.
He swore when he saw the black and blue mark on my back, and he held my hand during the ultrasound.
My eyes misted when the little grey blur appeared on the screen.
I was fine and so was the baby. But the doctor warned I’d be sore for the next few days after the accident.
He handed me the medication, clear instructions scrawled across the labels.
Three hours later, Kira had joined us and she was wrapped in Yegor's arms, her eyes red and puffy. I sat curled on Lev’s lap, the bag of medication dangling from his hand while I clutched the sonogram envelope to my chest, praying the hardest I've ever prayed in my life.
The door opened, and the doctor, a tall, slender man with grey hair stepped in, his expression unreadable. My heart beat quickened as everyone shot to their feet.
“Mr. Rykov made it through surgery,” he said, and I bit back a sob and Lev's arm tightened around my waist. “The bullets missed his spine but one of his lungs was clipped. We removed the bullets, and repaired the damage. He's stable now.”
I clutched the sonogram tighter against my chest.
“He’ll need to stay here for a few days while we monitor him,” the doctor continued. “If there are no complications…no infection, no issues with his breathing…he should be able to go home within a week. After that, it’s rest, no heavy lifting, and follow-ups.”
“Can we see him?” I asked, my voice strained.
“I can allow a five-minute visit. He needs to rest and recover. I hope you understand,” the doctor said.
I nodded.
“Follow me.”
Lev released me, and I walked over to Kira, taking her hand. Tears slid down her cheeks as she squeezed mine. Together, we followed the doctor to Artyom’s room.
Inside, Artyom lay on the bed, slightly elevated. His torso was bandaged, the sheet pulled up to his waist. An oximeter clamped his finger, electrotabs dotted his chest, and an IV dripped steadily into one hand.
Kira and I moved closer. Her fingers slipped from mine as she went to the other side of the bed.
She squeezed his hand gently, and brushed a soft kiss on his cheek.
“Artyom…I know you probably can’t hear me, but I hope you do. I love you. Because of who you are, and what you do, the rest of us survived our world. Thank you.” She kissed him once more on the cheek and slipped quietly from the room.
I traced a finger along his cheek, thankful that it was now warm to the touch. “Thank you…for fighting to stay alive for us.”
I pressed my lips to his gently and sighed. Knowing that he'd be okay did little to ease the knot in my chest. I wanted to see those intense grey eyes of his.
Sliding into the chair beside the bed, I held his hand, resting my head on his thigh, watching the slow, steady rise and fall of his chest. And that’s the last thing I remember before drifting off to sleep.
Over the next three days, Artyom stayed heavily sedated. The entire floor was evacuated, his men stationed with high-powered rifles, Ruslan standing guard at the door. Other guards stationed outside the perimeter of the hospital.
I refused to leave. Yegor had them bring in another bed and pushed the two together so I could sleep next to him.
Kira went home and brought my clothes. Food was dropped off morning, noon, and night, but I hardly touched it.
Besides my brothers checking in on me, so did his.
And Vera and Katya showed up, crying quietly.
Mariya reminded me that the baby needed nutrition to be healthy.
And I needed to be strong for them both.
No nurse was allowed to sponge bathe him. Even unconscious, his cock responded under my touch, making my pussy throb for him. His responses were for me…no one else.
I called Kolya and made sure the camera in Artyom’s room was disabled. I craved the feel of my husband's body next to mine. For the past three nights, I slept naked next to him, a blanket covering us.
Ruslan controlled access to the room, letting no one enter until he called me and got the all-clear.
Every night I cried, pressing myself to him, tracing the line of his jaw, the curve of his shoulders.
On the fourth day, I woke to his hand pressed against my ass. My breath hitched. When I looked up, his grey eyes were dark and intense. I couldn't resist him when he looked at me like that. I reached up, kissed him, and moaned as he gently kissed me back.
I got dressed quickly and called for the doctor.
Over the next five days, he grew stronger: lifting his head without help, speaking in quiet gruff tones when his siblings visited. Kolya and Konstantin even stopped by to check on him.
When he finally left the hospital, a doctor's were hired to be the around the clock just in case anything happened
Now, a month had passed and we were in our bed, naked, unshielded by blankets.
I needed to see every inch of him, and I wanted him to see all of me.
His fingers trailed down my spine as my head rested against his shoulder, and even though we couldn't have sex yet we were just content with being in each other's arms.
“Printsessa…” he whispered.
I looked up at him. His grey eyes were dark and intense. I shifted until we were eye to eye.
“Is something wrong? Do you need something?”
“I heard what you told your brothers at the warehouse after I had been shot…” His voice trailed off.
I tilted my head and waited for him to finish speaking.
“Did you mean what you said…that your place is with me?”
My knuckles caressed the side of his face. I knew I had to tell him the truth. It wasn’t enough to show him physically. Yes, our sex was mind-blowing. Yes, I was pregnant for him. But if I wanted him fully, he needed to know my heart, even if he hadn’t fully realized how he felt yet.
“Yes. My place is with you. You are my husband. I love you, Artyom.”
I held my breath as his fingers paused mid-stroke along my back.
“You love me?”
I nodded. “I do.”
I braced myself, expecting him to dismiss it, to say I was only his in the bedroom. That he'd never be able to love me because he was too scarred…too broken…too Bratva…
But it never came.
He cupped the back of my neck, pulled me close, and kissed me with a force that stole my breath. When we finally broke apart, both of us panting, he said, “I love you, too, Printsessa. I’ve loved you long before I married you.”
My eyes widened.
He chuckled. “You seem surprised that a manipulative Bratva bastard like me can love someone.”
“Not just someone,” I whispered, “that you could love someone like me when you probably had so many options.”
He growled, “No one else was an option until I set my eyes on you.”
His thumb wiped away the tears that I didn't realize were falling from my cheeks.
“I love you, Ninel Rykov. I want to do life with you. I want you to be mine…in and out of the bedroom. I may be cruel and manipulative to the world, but I’ll never lift a hand to hurt you or our children, neither will my words. I’d rather stand in front of a firing squad than bring you pain.”
“Oh, Artyom.” A sob tore through my throat.
He placed his hand on my cheek and I leaned into it.
“Ninel Rykov, will you take me, Artyom Rykov, to be your lawful husband? To have and to hold, in sickness and in health? Will you surrender your will to me in the bedroom but stand up to me when needed outside of it? Will you love all of me and stand by me when the world tells you to walk away?”
“I will.” I leaned forward and kissed him, tasting the salt of my tears.
A devilish smile curled his lips and his hand curled around my throat pulling me towards him.
“Now…” His hot breath whispered against my lips. “Sit on my face. Let me taste that sweet cunt of yours. I may not be ready to take you hard and fast, but I’ll take you how I can.”
My heart raced and my pussy instantly moistened.
I positioned myself over him, and his mouth closed down on my clit. A loud moan escaped me. “Yes…Artyom…”
As I gripped the headboard for dear life, melting into the rough pleasure only he could give me, I couldn’t wait to see what our future held.