CHAPTER 69
Frankie
The punch—the one I know will kill me—never comes.
Instead, a tremendous explosion cracks the night, and the aftershock is so violent that it shakes the floor beneath my feet.
From the wine cellar down the hall, I hear the sound of thousands of wine bottles exploding on impact with the stone floor.
The percussion rocks Niko off balance and slams him against the wall.
“What the hell?” he screams.
I find myself smiling. Because I think I know the answer. And then I laugh out loud, my heart suddenly leaping with hope. “It’s who the hell, Niko!” I scream over the noise.
And as soon as the first blast rolls to a stop, another hits. It’s bigger.
Now’s my chance. I can make a run for it, though the door is closed. The only light is from the phone, which just fell face-down on the stone floor. I don’t know how much damage has been done to the basement hallway and stairs, but I have to try.
Niko beats me to the exit and presses his back to the wood and iron door, blocking my way. “You know what’s happening, don’t you?” He sneers when he makes the statement. His eyes go completely black.
I’m silent. Whatever I say will only throw gasoline on his blazing fury. But I’ve got a damn good hunch about what might be going down.
I watch his bloated face tremble. Rage explodes from his every pore as he shoots his murderous stare into me. My body urges me to shrink from him, avert my gaze.
But I’m a stubborn woman and my brains are scrambled. And I know—somehow, I know—that the man I love has come for me, and Niko and his crew are about to pay the price.
I will hang on for Special K. If he can do this for me, I can stay strong for him.
I can stay alive.
I gasp in shock when Niko rushes me, grabs me by my shoulders, and shakes me violently. “What do you know?” he screams. “What is happening?”
“You should run,” I say, my voice quiet. “The devil himself has come calling, and he won’t stop until he drags you to the depths of hell.”
“Kakogo khuya! You fucking worthless bitch!” Niko claws at my arm, yanks open the door and hauls me into the dark hallway.
My whole body hurts. It’s hard to keep up as he tugs me up the stairs in my bare feet. We have to step over a fallen beam and loose stone that blocks the basement doorway.
Whatever bomb Special K’s dropped on this place, it’s enough to cause major damage.
Good. I hate this fugly house of horrors.
I hear the sounds of fighting, and so does Niko. “Open your mouth and you die,” he hisses. He drags me into his office, my silk camisole now wrapped around his hand and pulled tight at my neck. He’s strangling me.
Niko grabs a gun from a drawer and presses it between my eyes. He unlatches the safety.
“I’ll shoot you in your hideous face if you say a fucking word. Nod if you understand me, whore.”
I nod, closing my eyes. The metal gun barrel is cold against my skin.
He wrenches me around so that my back’s to him. With one hand he yanks my wrists behind my back. With the other, he presses the gun barrel into the back of my head.
“Move, whore.”
I’m his human shield. I wish I’d warned Special K about Niko. At least he’d have an idea of the man he was messing with, that Niko has no honor and doesn’t fight fair.
There’s not a decent bone in his body. He’ll kill Special K at the first opportunity.
But I need to keep calm. I have to figure out a way to protect Special K.
Niko wrenches my arms behind me hard and we’re once again stumbling through the dark house. Getting rid of those fuck-me heels may allow me to move easier, but the bottoms of my feet are now cut from walking on broken stone, wood, drywall, and glass.
Honestly, I can’t tell if my feet hurt. Because everything hurts. That’s all I am at this point—a living, breathing collection of pain.
As we lurch closer to the heart of the main floor, Niko keeps me directly in front of him. That’s when I detect the sounds of fighting—human grunts and breaking bones. It reminds me of the noises I heard the night Special K rescued Pussy from a wild boar.
I hear a voice.
Niko must too because he suddenly stops and yanks me violently against him, the gun digging into the back of my skull.
I recognize that voice. It’s similar to Special K’s, but not an exact match.
It’s Declan, and his words are coming from some kind of walkie-talkie.
“C’mon boys,” Declan says. “Give me more shit to blow up!”
“Stay ready. Target is elusive.” That’s Cal’s voice. I’d recognize it anywhere.
I take a breath, ready to scream a warning, but Niko stops me with a hard jab of the gun barrel.
“Got him,” a whisper says.
Now that’s Special K’s voice. His sweet, smooth, barely used baritone. The voice I love with all my heart.
He steps out from the shadows. “Let her go, Koslov, or I’ll kill you where you stand.”
Niko pulls me tight, his human shield. “Who the fuck are you?” Niko growls.
“Your worst nightmare.” Special K stands as still as a statue. “Drop your weapon and let her go.”
“You fucking cheap whore,” Niko breathes into my ear. “I knew you were fucking around with the MacLaines! Time to say goodbye to your boyfriend.”
Niko moves the gun so that it presses into my temple. “Drop your weapon, or I’ll shoot her!”
“Don’t be stupid,” Special K says.
“Stupid? I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. Drop your weapon!”
I can’t see his expression. Special K’s face is covered by a helmet and some kind of binoculars. I watch him place his rifle on the floor by his feet.
“Everything,” Niko barks.
Moving slowly, Special K sets down a pile of guns and knives and stuff I don’t even know the names of. Then he stands.
“No!” I cry out. “I’m not worth it. I’m nothing. He’ll kill you, Special K!”
“You’re everything, Frankie.”
I know Special K’s brothers must be close by. They’ll be here any second. But not fast enough.
It happens in an instant.
Niko pushes me away and prepares to pull the trigger.
I leap up, twisting to face Niko. A shot rings out and I’m falling. A knife flies over my head and slices directly into Niko’s chest. His eyes widen in shock, and he reaches up to grab the knife handle protruding from his body.
I hit the floor just as Niko does. He’s dead.
I’m pretty sure I am, too.
I’m numb. A hot rush of calm settles over me. I didn’t think dying would feel like this.
“Medivac,” a voice says. I think it’s Special K. “Get a Level 1 trauma surgeon to Sweetbriar Regional. Gunshot wound to the abdomen. Call the ER. Now.”
“Roger.” That sounds like Declan, but I can barely hear.
“Lights on,” the voice that might be Special K says. No. It’s definitely Special K.
“Roger.” Who said that? Finn? Evander? Cal?
“Bring the IFAK,” Special K barks.
The lights flash on, and I have to squeeze my eyes against the glare. But I find they’re already closed.
“Oh, fuck.”
That doesn’t sound good.
I hear a loud clatter and then feel Special K’s hands on me, rolling me onto my back. I feel a heavy pressure on my belly.
“What’s happening?” I croak.
“You shouldn’t have done that, Boots. Why did you do that?”
“For you. Save you.”
“Do not leave me again, Frankie. Do not fucking leave me, do you hear what I’m saying?”
I’m shocked at how sad he sounds. Have I made him sad again? Is he crying—why? I didn’t mean to make him cry! I have to tell him that I’ll never leave him. Not if he wants me to stay.
If he wants me—if it’s possible for a man like him to want a woman like me—then I’ll be his forever.
But I don’t say that. Because I can’t say anything.
I’ve run out of energy.
I manage to open one eye just a crack. I see him. His blond curls are wild, his face is twisted up and tears are rolling down his cheeks as he presses both his hands onto my belly.
Something’s wrong with my belly.
I love you, cowboy, I say, but not with words. Just a thought.
My last.