Chapter 11 Roman
ROMAN
Two men hid behind the furniture as I came out into the living room. Even though the power had gone out, a generator could provide more light if I turned on the switches.
I didn’t, though, locating them as the prey they would end up as.
Caught red-handed threatening my family. Hunted down through the darkness they thought they could take advantage of. And killed like the vermin they were.
Prey.
And I was their predator.
They’d come on the offensive, and now, with this dark sense of pure wrath coursing through my veins, they would be defenseless.
Dead.
I analyzed how far apart they were, measuring, calculating at the split second before I charged at them.
Without looking like I’d noticed them in the darkness, I strode further from the bedroom door and prepared to unleash hell on the stupid fuckers who’d dared to sneak up here into my home. To invade my privacy.
Tensing like I was bracing for a hard rep in a workout, I waited to steady my nerves. To get my balance.
Even though I had a gun in hand, I wanted to avoid making any noise to disturb Amber or to startle my son and daughter.
I dropped into a slightly lower crouch and ran.
I sprinted ahead with deliberate and careful steps so even that wouldn’t make too much noise for Amber to be afraid.
At the couch, I leaped up and cleared that hurdle.
Then I landed, grabbing the first intruder and swinging him around as I lowered, snapping his neck.
Lying on the floor with the dead body, I waited for the vibrations of the other intruder’s reaction. Staring at the first man, I assessed him for a clue of why he was here, who he worked for, and what family or enemy he belonged to.
Nothing. I had no idea who he was, and it wasn’t readily visible.
But I didn’t have time to wait. The other man was rushing to escape, clearing the living room and seeming to have second thoughts with how I’d burst out here.
Before he could fully pass the area behind the couch, I shot to my feet and spun out in a swiveling kick.
Catching him as he fell forward, I clamped my hand to his mouth and silenced anything he might have said.
He landed on his knees with my hand on this throat.
Choking him off took longer than snapping the other’s neck, but within a minute of his protesting and clawing at my hand, he sank lower and lower, weakening until he was dead.
I waited a minute more, crushing his neck with another tight squeeze. Then I let him fall on top of the other man.
Catching my breath and staring at the armed morons who thought it’d be a good idea to sneak in here, I waited for this red-tinted rage to fade, to ease up and disappear now that I’d killed them and there were no other threats.
The fucking nerve.
The audacity.
For anyone to even think about coming here where I wanted Amber to feel safe, where my son and daughter were free to be protected.
I gritted my teeth, willing the tide of anger to cease.
Lights flicked on near the foyer. I looked up right as the elevator finished opening.
Sergei ran out, gun up. Lorne and four more guards rushed in with them.
As soon as Lorne saw me, he nodded, his face grim.
Sergei scanned the room, then indicated for the guards to search it.
“Not the bedroom,” I told them. “It’s clear.” I stood straighter. “Amber is in there with the twins.”
The guards and soldiers fanned out to search the penthouse.
Sergei approached me with Lorne, who eyed me seriously. “You work fast, Kid.”
I wasn’t in the mood for humor.
“Roman?”
I whipped my head in the direction of the bedroom door, hearing Amber’s scared voice. Immediately, I turned to go to her while holding my hand out to my brother, pointing in what I thought might be the direction of where the two bodies lay. “Clear them out and—”
I didn’t need to say anything else. He knew. Lorne would too. I didn’t have time to say anything either because the bedroom door began to open. “Roman?” she said again from the other side as she slowly pushed the door. “I heard Sergei’s voice. Are you—”
Stepping forward, I tried to cut her off, to block her from seeing what I’d done.
I didn’t regret a second of how savagely I’d handled those two men.
I’d do the same thing again. Any time someone wanted to harm her or pose danger to my children, I would be that lethal, that determined, that merciless.
But I didn’t want her to see it now. I didn’t need her to be scared more than she already was.
“It’s okay.”
“Roman?” She rushed into my arms, letting out a punch of an exhale. She wrapped herself around me as I caught her, accepting her tight hug. Like this, she was facing behind me, and I spun to hide her line of sight, to impede her being able to see the bodies the guards would drag away.
“What—”
I braced my hand on the back of her head, catching Sergei’s eye and giving him a stern look. He acknowledged me, nodding once.
“Just a little incident of someone trying to break in,” he replied. “Nothing to worry about now.”
“But I saw a man on the floor and—”
“Shh.” I shushed her, walking her back toward the bedroom. “It’s over. It’s all right. No one is here to hurt you.”
Letting her cling to me, I closed my eyes and savored her now-familiar touch, the comfort of her hug, the softness of her slender body against mine, her sweet, clean scent and the floral and fruity notes of her shampoo.
If I could suck up and absorb all her goodness through osmosis, I would. Just holding her and knowing she was alive and fine, unharmed, helped to slow my heart.
“What is going on?” she asked again, her voice frantic.
I winced at the panic she couldn’t hide.
No answer would be coming to her from that angle. I wasn’t telling her that I’d killed the men who’d broken in. I couldn’t share my hypothesis of why it had happened, either.
The last thing I wanted to do was scare her, intimidate her.
Already, I was convinced this couldn’t have been random. This was some unlucky stroke of luck for a couple of ordinary criminals.
I was impatient to dig into this, to investigate and look into any possible connections.
Sergei would assist, too, as the family’s enforcer.
The second he oversaw the soldiers removing the bodies, he’d delegate someone to start it all.
Looking at the security tapes, checking who was where, and identifying the bodies.
It all had to be connected to the negotiations that the Popovs were pressuring us to have about turf boundaries. Stupid territorial shit. Ivan had seen that baby bottle and Amber’s phone and he assumed I had valuable people in my home to protect.
Gritting my teeth again, I stroked my hand down Amber’s back, clutching her close and making sure she didn’t turn around and see the evidence of my ruthless attack.
“We’ll handle this,” Lorne said. “You go on and make sure the babies are safe.”
Amber lifted her head slightly from where she’d burrowed it against my chest. “They are. They’re still sleeping. I… I don’t understand. There weren’t any sounds and I was so scared that something bad had happened out here. But Emily and Henry are fine.”
“Maybe it might be a good idea to stay at my place,” Sergei offered.
“Yeah,” Lorne said. “To avoid any stress about, um, this scare. You know?”
Amber shook her head. “And wake the babies? It'd stress them out. And no one would be able to relax or sleep after that.”
She peered up at me, though, her eyes open wide and shining with fear. “We can stay here, right? It’s… safe?”
I kissed her forehead. “It is safe. I promise you that you will always be safe.”
She blinked once, gazing at me with a mixture of doubt, skepticism, and fear that damn near broke my heart.
What else have you gone through to be this scared?