Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Saskia woke to the sound of thumping in the room next to hers. She wasn’t as alarmed as the last time it happened. Radik was probably having another nightmare. She knew better than to sneak up on him this time though. No more going in through his patio doors.
Dragging herself out of her warm bed, she padded barefoot to the door separating their rooms, pressing her ear to the wood panel. She heard another thump and some mumbling. Yeah, sounded like a bad dream.
She knocked on the door, tapping softly with her knuckles. When there was no response, she fisted her hand and banged harder. “Muhammed!” she called, trying to wake him.
The door was jerked away from her and she stumbled through, Radik catching her before she could hit the floor.
“Were you having a nightm–?” She was cut off when he dragged her into his arms, smashing her face into his chest.
“I’ve got you,” he said, holding her so tight she could barely breathe.
He abruptly let go of her and strode to the bed, dragging a blanket off it.
He flung it around her shoulders, smothering her in his warmth.
Her head swam for a second as she breathed him in, but she wasn’t given the chance to bask in the glory of his scent for long.
He took her hand and dragged her toward the door, jerking it open.
She gasped as he lifted his arm, training a gun on the hallway. She hadn’t seen the weapon before now. He must’ve been holding it when he hugged her. A shiver went down her spine.
“Where are we going?” she demanded as he dragged her down the second-floor hallway.
“Come,” he said, ignoring her question.
Frustration and fear rose within her. “What’s happening?”
“We’re under attack,” he answered, concentrating his gun on every shadow.
Her heart leapt into her throat. “Who’s attacking us?” What defenses did the compound have? She should have paid more attention when he was showing her around. “I need a gun.” Though she hated carrying, having grown up in a crime family, she recognized the necessity of having weapons nearby.
Radik shuffled her even further behind his body, covering her as they went down the stairs to the first floor.
Saskia listened for sounds of fighting beyond the walls of the house, but the only thing she could hear were their rapid footsteps striking the floor and the harsh sound of her own breathing as she tried not to panic.
“I don’t see or hear anything.” She squinted at the front door as they rushed past it and down another set of stairs. Though she’d been living with him for two weeks, she’d never gone to the basement. “Where are they?”
“They’re out there,” Radik said, his gun moving back and forth, covering them as he hurried her into the basement. “Saw them on the cameras.”
Saskia blinked rapidly, trying to see in the dark basement.
Radik seemed to know where he was going. They didn’t stumble once as he rushed them through what felt like a labyrinth of hallways.
Finally, he stopped.
Squinting, she could barely see the outline of a door visible in the dim glow coming from a security light.
Radik punched a code into the panel beside it and the door unlocked. He pulled it open.
Saskia tried to back away, terribly afraid he intended to lock her inside. “Where are we?”
“I’m sorry,” he said, dragging her into his arms and holding her tight. She felt his lips move against her hair.
Fuck, that sounded bad. “Why’re you sorry?”
He answered her with action rather than words, pushing her inside the room and slamming the door shut.
She heard the lock engage. She was closed in a pitch-black room.
Reaching for the door, she yanked on the door handle. It wouldn’t give. Where the fuck was she?
Dropping her blanket, she banged on the door with both fists. “Muhammed! You let me out of here right now!” She listened, but the only sounds she could hear were coming from her. “Okay, calm down, Saskia, and think.” She was shivering so hard, her entire body was vibrating.
Snatching up the blanket, she stood on it, protecting her bare feet from the cold concrete floor before wrapping it around herself. When the shivers had somewhat subsided, she reached out, feeling first the door, then the wall.
Radik must’ve put her in a safe room. It was the only thing that made sense. He wouldn’t have left her if he didn’t think she’d be safe, which meant she wouldn’t come to harm wherever she was.
Taking several slow breaths, she was able to convince herself that death was not imminent, which gave her the ability to search for a light. She doubted Radik would commission a safe room without adding a light switch.
She found it and turned it on.
As light flooded the room, she was able to take her first proper unpanicked breath.
“Holy shit,” she whispered, staring at a wall of monitors above a desk with a leather office chair.
She sat, reaching for the keyboard on the desk and pushed buttons until the screens lit up.
Half of the monitors were dominated by views of the house while the other half were of the rest of the compound, which seemed oddly quiet for them being under attack. Where were Radik’s soldiers? Shouldn’t they be protecting Marifiya?
Concentrating on the house cameras, she searched for Radik. She could make out enough objects that she knew which room was which, including her own bedroom. She would have to talk to Radik about violating her privacy later.
She spotted him approaching the front door, but then he whirled around, training his gun on something in the darkness.
Saskia’s heart leapt into her throat, but she calmed when she recognized Shola stepping out of the shadows. Thank goodness, Shola could help Radik neutralize the threat, then come let Saskia out of the safe room.
But as Radik turned his back on Shola, she lifted her gun, levelling it on his back.
“No!” Saskia shouted, but it was too late. Shola pulled the trigger, shooting Radik. “I’m going to fucking kill you!” Saskia snarled, running to the door and trying to yank it open. She pressed buttons randomly, trying to get the code, but it wouldn’t unlock.
She rushed back to the camera, tears filling her eyes, terrified she was going to have to watch helplessly as Shola finished Radik off. That wasn’t what happened though. Instead, Shola lowered her weapon as Radik stumbled around to face her, lifting his gun.
“Shoot her!” Saskia urged, but before he could pull the trigger, he was shot again, this time from another direction. His body jerked and then hit the floor, convulsing as he lay prone.
“Oh my god,” Saskia squeaked as she watched Nuani stand over Radik, his gun hand out. It was an ambush! They were going to kill Radik and there was nothing Saskia could do to stop them.
A sob burst from her at the thought of losing him.
On the screen, Nuani kneeled next to Radik, checking his pulse.
“I’m going to kill them.” Saskia searched the room for weapons. “Fucking traitors.”
She found a drawer in the desk and jerked it open, discovering a gun. A Beretta 92. She popped the magazine. Fully loaded.
She figured Radik’s attackers would be coming for her next.
Shola and Nuani’s defection explained the lack of alarm inside the compound.
They must’ve let the attackers in and ordered them to stay silent until they took down the boss.
Well, now they’d have to contend with her and she wasn’t nobody.
She was Saskia Koba and she was itching to light up Radik’s attackers, no matter that she wasn’t the best shot in the world.
Sure enough, less than two minutes after Radik was shot, she heard scraping sounds at the door. They were trying to get in!
She glanced at the monitors hoping to see a contingent of Radik’s people coming to their rescue. Instead, she saw nothing, not even Radik’s body. What the fuck was going on? Where was everyone?
She did her best to control her breathing, levelling her gun on the door as it opened. As soon as she saw Shola’s face, she squeezed the trigger. Shola was faster though, flinging herself to the side as the bullet hit the concrete wall behind her head.
Saskia ducked back behind the door, shouting, “I’ll kill anyone who comes in here! Don’t you fuck with me!”
“Saskia, stop.”
She froze. “Muhammed?”
“It’s me.” His deep voice was strained but unmistakable.
She wanted to rush out the door and into his arms, but she held back. “What’s going on? I saw Shola and Nuani shoot you.”
His shadow filled the door and her hand shook, her finger over the trigger of the gun. “I told them to,” he said, his voice stronger.
“Why would you tell them to shoot you?” What kind of Twilight Zone was this? It made no sense.
He didn’t answer at first, his tone ashamed when he finally spoke. “I was having a… flashback and it led me to believe we were under attack, but I promise you everything is fine.”
“But I saw Shola and Nuani attack you!” Saskia insisted, still itching to shoot one of them for hurting Radik.
“We used tasers,” Shola explained, her voice coming from around the corner where she could safely avoid Saskia’s aim.
“I asked them to take me down if my issues became uncontained. I promise you, I was never in danger. It was a mild electrical current. Just enough to bring me down.”
“It looked a fuck of a lot more painful than a mild zap, Muhammed.” But she was starting to believe them.
It explained why she couldn’t find any attackers in the video feed and why the compound wasn’t crawling with Radik’s soldiers.
She lowered her weapon and stepped out from behind the door.
She stared Radik up and down, searching for injury.
He looked nothing more than exhausted and worried.
She walked into his arms, wrapping hers around his waist and pressing her head to his heart. “I thought you were dead.” And it was the worst moment of her life.
He pressed his lips to the top of her head, crushing her to his body. “You were willing to kill for me.” He sounded awed by the thought.
“Would’ve done it too if Shola hadn’t been so fast.”
“Don’t sound so broken up about it,” Shola said sarcastically, stepping out from behind her protective wall. She gave Radik an accusing look. “When did you put a weapon in the safe room?”
“Saskia needs to be able to defend herself in case of attack,” he replied.
“Next time, I’ll leave you to get her out of the room.” She looked around. “Looks like Nuani took off after tasing you. Brave guy.”
“Smart guy,” Radik growled. “Now why don’t you follow his example and make yourself scarce.”
“Yes, General.” She took off, her footsteps echoing in the darkness.
Saskia snuggled against Radik, knowing he would soon push her away.
As predicted, he allowed her about thirty seconds of closeness before stepping away from her. Striding into the safe room, he quickly returned with the blanket, wrapping it around her shoulders.
When she continued to shiver, he looked down at her feet. “I’m a bastard for dragging you down here.” There was regret in his voice, but he didn’t give her a chance to deny his self-recrimination. He swept her feet out from under her, absorbing her weight as he settled her against him.
He made his way quickly upstairs, climbing them at a pace that made Saskia’s head spin.
To her disappointment, he took her back to her room, depositing her gently on her bed.
She wanted to reach out to him, beg him to stay, but she didn’t. She needed to sort out in her head what had just happened. She was deeply attracted to the warlord, probably in love with him, but she was terribly afraid there was something wrong with him and it made her heart ache.
They were going to have to sort him out before they could figure out any kind of romantic relationship and she knew from experience it wouldn’t be easy.
He turned away, striding to the door separating their two rooms. He paused before going through. “I’m sorry, Saskia.” His massive shoulders were bent. “You deserve more and better than this. I’m a weak man for forcing you to come here.”
Fear nearly froze her tongue, but she forced the words out. “Are you… are you going to send me away?”
His silence felt like an eternity, but eventually he shook his head. “No. I’m too far gone to do the right thing. You stay with me.”
Thank fucking god because she didn’t know if she could find her way back to him if he let her go.