Chapter 14
Sienna
“Be careful,” I warned my sister as I helped her sit down on her bed, crouching to slip her socks onto her feet.
“Are the boys asleep?” she asked, her voice trembling and I lifted my face to hers, pressed my lips together at the sight of her reddened eyes.
She had not stopped crying since we came home, nearly two hours ago.
Two hours since we had been attacked. Two hours since Samy had died.
Two hours since Elif had been in surgery, with no news.
“Yes,” I answered as I stood and moved behind her to braid her hair, which I had dried after her shower.
Nikolai had locked himself in his office after our return, after entrusting Selina and the children to me.
Sometimes we heard him shouting; other times, things shattered.
“Velma and Sena are with them. They won’t leave them for a second,” I said, referring to Elif’s two housekeepers, who were in reality professional assassins.
My sister nodded when she suddenly placed a hand on her belly and groaned, “Selina!” I panicked, leaning toward her, but she shook her head.
“It’s okay, just a contraction,” she replied, and I pressed my lips together.
“Selina, let’s go to the hospital. All this stress, the way you fell to the ground…
” “I’m fine, Sienna. It’s already chaos enough,” she sniffed as I tied off her braid and sat beside her.
I placed my hands over hers as she twisted them on her thighs, “Selina,” I breathed as she lifted her tearful gaze to mine.
“This isn’t your fault, Selina,” I sighed, and her face twisted in pain as fresh tears spilled over.
I knew it. I knew her. She was my sister, I knew how she thought.
“If only we hadn’t gone to the bathroom,” she sobbed, and I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against me, her head resting on mine. I understood her. I knew exactly how that kind of guilt felt. I knew it far too well.
“No, Selina. This is not your fault,” I repeated, kissing her temple as her body shook with sobs, “Elif was the target, no matter where or when. If it hadn’t been today, it would have been another day,” I tried to reassure her, even though it was impossible, not until Elif pulled through.
And she would. I did not doubt it for a second.
Elif Ivanov was one of the strongest women I had ever met.
She would fight to the end, and she would come back for revenge.
For those who had forced her children to see her like that.
For those who had endangered her family.
For those who had plunged her family into this pain.
Because if there was one thing I had understood about her, it was this: you never went after her family, especially not her children.
A knock suddenly sounded at the door, which opened to reveal Sena, her face tired, her eyes red.
“Madame Selina, I’ve prepared a hot soup for you,” she informed us with a faint smile.
“Mr. Nikolai said you must drink it before going to bed” she looked at me, and I nodded, “I’ll take care of it, Sena.
Thank you,” I said, and she nodded before leaving.
“Nikolai is right. You have to eat, mia sorella,” I said as I stood, slipping my arm beneath hers. She shook her head, “I don’t feel like it,” she sighed, sniffing and I frowned, wrinkling my nose.
“Selina Floros Ivanov, you are going to get your ass off that bed and go nourish yourself, and my niece,” I ordered darkly, tugging on her arm again and she finally yielded, following me out.
We descended the stairs slowly as the house lay buried in a heavy silence, without the children’s laughter, without Roman’s shouts, without Elif’s giggles, without Grigori’s grumbling, without Sasha’s voice to irritate me.
I pressed my lips together as my throat tightened.
I had to stay strong. I had to, for my sister, for my nephews and niece, for…
Sasha. I moved toward the stove where a steaming pot rested while my sister headed for the dining room.
I grabbed two bowls from the cupboard. I had no strength to swallow anything, but I had to encourage her.
“Orange juice or water?” I asked, opening the fridge in search of drinks, but no answer came.
“Selina?” I called, my heart starting to pound in my temples again, I closed the fridge and walked quickly into the dining room.
My sister was still standing by the table, one hand resting on it, the other on her belly.
“Selina?” I approached gently as she let out a soft groan, I placed my hand on her arm and leaned closer, “Selina…”
Suddenly she screamed, a scream that froze my blood and her body swayed. I caught her just in time as we fell to the floor. I wrapped my arms around her and groaned when my temple struck the edge of the table. Damn it.
Selina writhed in pain against me as another cry tore from her lips, her hands clutching her stomach.
“Selina?! Selina, what’s happening?!” I tried to understand, but she didn’t even hear me,“Selina… Nikolai! Nikolai!” I began to scream as panic seized me.
Something was wrong. Even if she was in labor, it shouldn’t hurt this much.
Heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs as I started to cry at the sight of my sister suffering.
“Sienn…Selina!” my brother-in-law shouted as he dropped to the floor beside us.
“What’s happening?!” he demanded, lifting his wife against him, “I don’t know…
she suddenly started twisting in pain,” I explained, nausea rising.
Nothing could happen to my sister. Nothing.
She… she had to be okay. She and my niece.
“Velma, stay with the children. Call Sasha and tell him to warn our midwife and gynecologist. Tell him we’ll be there in twenty, no, fifteen minutes,” he ordered Elif’s right hand, who had joined us, surely drawn by the screams. Velma nodded, pulling out her phone as I followed Nikolai outside, my bare feet slapping against the stone.
“Sienna, get in,” he said, and I obeyed, climbing into the back seat of his car before he laid my sister down.
I placed her head on my thighs as her sobs grew louder.
“It’s going to be okay, Selina, it’s going to be okay,” I whispered, stroking her hair while Nikolai slid behind the wheel and started the engine without waiting.
We reached the hospital quickly, Selina screaming, Nikolai trying to soothe her, my own tears mixing with her cries.
Sasha was waiting for us with nurses, the midwife, and Selina’s gynecologist. His clothes were still stained with blood, Elif’s blood.
Nikolai braked sharply, and Sasha rushed to open the back door to lift my sister out.
His gaze met mine, my vision blurred by tears.
“Sasha,” I sobbed and his jaw tightened, dark circles visible beneath his eyes.
“It’s going to be okay. It’s going to be okay for everyone,” he said as he carefully took my sister, groaning in pain, and laid her onto the gurney they had prepared in advance.
The midwife and gynecologist immediately began examining her as they hurried inside, pushing the stretcher down the corridor.
“I’m here. I’m here, Selina,” Nikolai reassured her, holding her hand as Sasha and I followed them through the long hospital halls. They eventually took her into an examination room and asked us to wait, but Nikolai refused, following them inside. Sasha and I remained by the door.
My eyes stayed fixed on it as my hand pressed against my chest. It felt like my heart was about to burst. I couldn’t breathe.
If something happened to Selina…if she died, I…
I… “Sienna,” Sasha murmured suddenly, his hand settling on my shoulder, which was shaking with sobs.
I covered my face with my hands, shaking my head.
“It’s going to be okay, Sienna. Your sister, our niece, Elif, all three of them will be fine,” he continued, his voice trembling.
I didn’t think. I simply collapsed against his chest, his arms wrapping around me without hesitation.
He held me tightly as my body shook with sobs, my cries muffled against him, my hands clutching his shirt, “Sasha,” I sobbed.
I felt him shudder, his face burying into my neck, his breath trembling against my skin.
I closed my eyes, my heart aching, just as much as his.
—
I stared blankly at Sasha kneeling in front of me as I sat on one of the chairs in the waiting room near the examination room.
He finished drying my feet before slipping on the socks he had sent someone to buy, his long fingers wrapping gently around my ankles, just as I had done for my sister barely an hour earlier.
Fresh tears rose, and I pressed my lips together, lifting my eyes toward the ceiling.
I had to be strong. I had to survive. I had to protect, “Sienna,” Sasha breathed and I lowered my gaze to him as he straightened, his hands sliding to my cheeks.
“I’m here, Sienna. You’re not alone, Angel,” he murmured, his eyes locked on mine and my lips trembled.
“I shouldn’t cry. I have to be strong,” I blurted out without thinking as a tear escaped and he wiped it away, his gentle gaze roaming my face as if I were the most precious thing in the world, as if he were looking at what mattered to him most. “No,” he whispered, his thumbs caressing my cheekbones.
“You don’t have to be. Not this time. Not when it’s your sister,” a sob broke free as I closed my eyes.
His forehead rested softly against mine, his nose brushing mine, warming my numb body.
“I’ll be strong for both of us, Angel. I’ll be strong for us.
You’re not alone,” he repeated and I nodded, my hands sliding to his cheeks before my arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him against me.
He did the same, his arms circling my waist.