Chapter 45
Chapter Forty-Five
Radik stood abruptly. “Saskia?”
“She’s okay,” Havel said. “Halil says we need Shaun on standby. The baby is coming.”
“It’s too early.” Panic rose in Radik as he rushed to the door, Jozef and Havel on his heels. “Why was she attacked?” His thoughts were spinning. Was it his fault? Was he followed to Prague by one of his enemies?
“Do you have a weapon?” Havel asked grimly.
“No.”
Havel surprised him but pulling a gun from his underarm holster and handing it to Radik. Catching Radik’s expression, he said, “If there’s one thing we don’t doubt, it’s your drive to protect Saskia.”
Nodding, he checked the chamber.
“I’m here!” They turned as Shaun ran toward them, one hand on her growing belly, the other clutching a medical kit. “What happened?”
“Saskia was attacked in her apartment,” Havel said grimly. “She’s gone into labor.”
Shaun’s gaze moved to Radik. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she remained professional. “We’ll need an ambulance too. The baby is coming early.”
“We can’t bring an ambulance into a firefight,” Havel said, then added, “I’ll make the call, have them wait outside the gates until we’ve secured the area.”
They were going to bring emergency services into a potential mafia war, if that’s what this was.
There could be dead bodies they wouldn’t have time to get rid of.
This was going to be bad for the Kobas, but all of them cared about Saskia’s well-being, which told Radik he was correct in coming here, in appealing to her family.
As they opened the front doors to the mansion a shout echoed across the property, “They’re coming!”
Jozef was signing furiously at his wife. Stay inside until I say it’s safe. You do not step foot outside these doors. Understand? We’ll secure the car and bring Saskia inside.
Shaun nodded. I’ll get the staff to prepare a bed. She turned, speaking rapidly to a nearby servant.
Havel was still looking at Jozef’s phone as the three men stepped outside the front doors of the estate. “Use the pots for cover,” Havel said to Radik, pointing at the gigantic concrete flowerpots dotting the sweeping front steps of the estate. “That’s what they’re there for.”
Radik rushed down the steps, taking position at the bottom, behind the flowerpot closest to the driveway, intent on getting to Saskia as soon as the car stopped.
Radik cursed himself for going without security for this visit to the Koba estate. He’d wanted to come in humble, prepared for negotiation on Jozef’s terms, but now he was alone, forced to trust Jozef and his people to protect his future wife.
“Brother!”
He whipped his head around to see Ayaan take position behind a pot further up the steps. She had an AR15 in her hands. He’d never been so happy to see her face before. She would have his back while he concentrated on Saskia.
He caught sight of a grey sedan screaming up the driveway toward them, rocking onto two tires as it hit a curb, blowing out a tire.
Brakes squealed in protest as it came to a sliding halt directly in front of Radik. He barely registered two more vehicles stopping behind it, metal pinging off metal as bullets rained onto the car.
“I’ll cover you!” Ayaan shouted at him. “Go!”
He lunged at the car, yanking open the back passenger door. Shola’s back was to him and he gripped her by the shoulder, pulling her from the car and shoving her down before ducking inside.
“Muhammed!” Saskia’s cry of pain was mixed with relief. She held her hand out to him imploringly. “The baby is coming!”
He took her fingers, kissing them. “I’m here, my angel. I’ve got you. Both of you. Hold tight, we’ll get you out of here as soon as we can.”
“It’s coming now!” she screamed, folding in on herself, hugging her belly as it rippled under her hands.
He looked behind him, desperately hoping Shaun was on his heels, but of course she wasn’t. She was safe in the house where she would stay until the men pursuing Saskia were neutralized.
“I’ve got you,” he told Saskia, trying to control the quaver in his voice. He was going to have to deliver his own child while a battle raged around them. “I’m here, my love.” He looked down at his hands, massive, scarred, rough. Could he do this?
“It hurts so much,” she moaned. Her bent legs were shaking with effort. “I can’t hold on anymore. Please help me. I didn’t pick a birth plan; I should have picked a birth plan. It’s my fault!”
“This isn’t your fault.” He caressed her thigh, squeezing her, trying to reassure her. “You don’t need to hold on anymore, I have you. Look at me, love. We’ve got this. We will bring our daughter into this world together.”
Fuck. What if the baby wasn’t positioned correctly? What if the umbilical cord was around its throat? What if… there was so much that could go wrong.
But his words seemed to calm Saskia, her body relaxing slightly, her gaze clinging to his. “You know it’s a girl?” she whispered.
The sound of bullets either faded or stopped, he didn’t know. The world around them ceased to exist.
“I know everything about you,” he reminded her, gently guiding her into a more comfortable position and pushing her knees open.
“St… stalker.” She was breathing heavily, her face twisted in pain. “I think I have to push.”
“Then push,” he told her calmly. “I’m here.”
She nodded. “Okay.” She sucked her lips in, biting them, her entire body vibrating with effort.
“I see the top of her head,” Radik told her, reaching between Saskia’s legs, hoping he was doing it right.
“It’s so hard. I can’t… I can’t…,” Saskia moaned before another contraction hit and she had to push again, head flung back, sweat soaking her hairline, tears running down her cheeks.
“I’m here, I’m here,” he repeated. “I’ll keep you both safe for as long as there’s breath in my body.”
“Th-thank you,” she whispered before groaning as another contraction gripped her.
He wrapped his fingers around his daughter’s shoulders as they were pushed into his hands. “She’s beautiful,” he said. “Keep going, she’s ready to meet her parents.”
Saskia bore down again. “Uuuuugggghhhh….!” she grunted.
The baby slid into Radik’s cupped hands. She fit entirely, his fingers a protective shield around the tiny red-faced, blood-soaked infant.
Nothing in Radik’s extremely violent and bloody career could have prepared him for the birth of his daughter. It was the best and worst moment of his life.
She was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen, but as she took her first breath, screaming for all the world to hear, her mother slipped into unconsciousness.
“Saskia!” He shouted desperately, cradling their daughter in his hands.