Chapter 30
Helpless
Tess to Nico: I’m so sorry. I wish I could have saved you. [undelivered]
Kai
It feels like I haven’t had a chance to breathe since the accident.
Thoughts rattle around my brain, as I try to make sense of them.
The most prominent one is this feeling of helplessness. It's something I haven’t experienced in a long time. Not since I started keeping to my routine.
I realise now that even with Tess’s chaos, I haven’t felt helpless. Not like I did as a child.
It’s only when things like this—Russian Mafia bullshit—happens that I start to spiral.
I check the clock. It’s two in the morning, which makes it late evening where Tess is. Enzo and his men should be dealing with the Russians now, maybe even already done.
My phone ringing pulls my thoughts from my worries of everything going down today.
Please let this be over so she can come home.
I don’t recognise the number but press the phone to my ear anyway. “Hello?”
Two words.
“Nico’s dead.”
Tess’s pain-filled voice cracks then there’s a worried shout.
My heart races. “Tess?”
Nothing.
“Tess!” I shout, gripping the phone in my hand.
Nate comes rushing into the room, Carina not far behind, both of them sleep rumpled but ready to fight at the panic lacing my voice.
My fingers are already flying over my keyboard, tracking the calls location.
“Tess?” I call desperately. “Hurricane, are you there?”
There’s a crackle on the other end of the line then, “Hello, this is Jamie.”
“Jamie,” I growl to the masculine voice on the phone, “where is Tess?”
“I’m guessing Tess is the passed-out woman in my shop?”
The location alert pings to a corner shop in Albany.
“Keep her there. And keep her safe. I have to go.”
I don’t want to hang up the call, but it’s necessary.
Enzo answers after four rings. “Kai?”
My voice is a little frantic as I recount the facts to him.
He keeps his tone soothing. “Okay, okay. Doc’s close by. He’ll get her to my apartment. I’ll be in touch.”
He hangs up before I can say anything else.
Nate’s eyes meet mine and he nods. “I’ll drive you to the airport.”
Touching down at LaGuardia International I’m the first one out of my seat, grabbing my small overhead case, and hobbling off the plane.
The broken leg helps; people move out my way and let me in front of them in queues.
The wheels of my case screech across the ground as I shuffle through the airport, desperately praying with any Gods listening to move the security line along.
My phone rings just as I make out outside.
“Enzo?”
His voice rumbles through the phone, “I have her.”
My lungs inflate, filling with air for the first time in hours.
“Is she okay?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“She’s out of it, waking up a little then passing back out. Doc says it’s the shock.”
“What’s your address?”
Silence.
“Why?”
“So I can send you a postcard,” I snark, rolling my eyes. “I just landed, tell me where to go.”
“You’re here? The city?”
“Enzo,” I growl impatiently.
He rattles off his address while I flag down a cab.
Enzo’s building is like a modern architect's wet dream, all windows, low lighting, neutral greys.
The reception manager is waiting for me when I arrive. The elevator doors ding open to reveal a huge penthouse apartment on the other side.
I’m expecting more grey, but instead there’s little pops of colour, soft greens and blues, that make the place feel more homely and less clinical.
Enzo stands in front of me with his arms folded, a frown on his face. “You shouldn’t be here.”
I give him a look that I’m hoping says, “Are you shitting me?”
He rolls his eyes but motions for me to follow him with his head, taking us further into the apartment.
“She still hasn’t fully woken up, just the occasional eye flutter.”
“But she’s okay, right?”
He shrugs. “Physically yeah.”
He pushes open a door to show me Tess lying motionless on a bed. A growl leaves me when I note the large bandage adorning her side.
“You said she was fine.”
“It was barely a graze. She is fine.”
I lower myself into the chair next to her, grateful to be off my leg, and just watch her. Watch the rise and fall of her chest, using it to convince myself that she really is fine.
“What happened?” I ask, my tone hard. I don’t need to look at him for Enzo to know I’m speaking to him.
“With her? Don’t know yet exactly. Our mission was successful (ish).”
I lift my eyes up.
He sighs, shaking his head.
“Mikhail got away. But we dealt with the rest of the Petrov family.”
My eyes widen.
“The whole family?”
His expression hardens. “They went after my sister. They won’t be making that mistake again.”
We don’t really say much after that. But while we wait for Tess to wake, we each take turns making sure someone is always with her while the other showers, or sleeps, or eats something.
I have to trust he’s right when he says she’s okay.