Mafia Boss’s Arranged Bride by Bella King
Chapter 35
Nikolai
The storm has passed. Outside, the pavement shimmers with the dandelion rays of the setting sun. It’s blindingly bright compared to the dim red light inside the strip club, but the air is clear and breathable as I carry Annika’s limp body to the getaway car.
My chest is so tight that I feel as though it might collapse in on itself, but somehow, my heart is still beating. Blood is still pumping to my vital organs, indicating that I’m not quite ready to die. I need to get to a hospital, or that could very well change.
Annika falls into her seat, blissfully unaware of anything going on around us. At least I can trust her not to cause trouble on the way out of here. I wasn’t so lucky with Yana. That bitch sold me out and tipped Michail off that we were coming, gifting me a bullet to the chest once he was finished monologuing about how superior he was to me.
Well, now he’s dead, so karma is the bigger bitch here. I’m not even concerned with Yana. She’ll rot away in that godawful strip joint without any respect to her name.
It’s tragic when you think about all the women that will succumb to such a fate, but even if I can save one, my Annika, I’ll have redeemed myself for the horrible crimes I’ve committed, at least in my eyes. To me, Annika is the pinnacle of purity, the shining star in a sea of darkness, and she’s my number one priority.
I must protect her.
And I must marry her. There is no other way to secure her safety.
My heart begins to pick up momentum, and my grip on the steering wheel loosens. Fuck, if I could just get to the private doctor that my father used to frequent, they wouldn’t ask questions about how or why I got shot. The police will if they find me, and they’ll tie me to Corey’s death. I’m not ending up behind bars, not after the hell I’ve been through.
Annika stirs in her seat, finally coming back to reality after passing out beside Michail’s body. I owe her my life for what she did for me back there. She acted selflessly, putting herself at risk to save me from Michail, and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to pay her back for that.
“What’s going on?” she asks as her eyelids flutter open. She jerks in her seat, memories flooding back into her mind as she realizes where she is. “Nikolai, your chest,” she says, jolting upright, her eyes wide with fear.
“I’m driving us to a private hospital. The doctor there was a friend of my father’s, and he won’t ask questions. He’s stitched up a lot of us mafia folk in his day. He’s know how to deal with gunshot wounds.”
Her eyes grow even larger when she looks down at the sticky red fabric clinging to my chest. I haven’t looked down for fear of what I’d see, but judging by her reaction, it’s not a pretty picture.
“Oh my god, we need to get you to a hospital,” she says, holding a trembling hand over her mouth.
“Did you not listen to what I just said?” I ask, doubting if I even said it at all due to how much blood I’ve lost. My head is swimming in a hazy dream-like web of cloudiness, and the sun outside seems to glow brighter with every meter we travel.
“What did you say?”
“I said, did you not just listen… to what… I said?” I ask, more confused than ever.
“Not that,” she replies, her voice dampened by the pulse in my ears. “What did you say before that? Hello?... Nikolai?”
I know the way to the hospital. It feels like I’m sitting in the backseat while my body drives us. It’s just one exit down from where we are, but I’ve already mentally clocked out. Annika is yelling something at me, waving her hand in front of my face as though that might bring me back, but if anything, it’s going to make us crash.
“Nikolai, answer me. Please, God, please answer me.”
I don’t have anything to say. If I did, I wouldn’t know how to put my words together to say it. The English language is already troubling at times and frustrating when I’ve had too much to drink. In the state of panic my body is in, speaking in English is impossible.
I mutter something to Annika in Russian as we pull through the iron gates into the traffic circle outside of the clinic. Here, the grass is cropped so short that you can see the rich, dark soil underneath. The air is warm, and there’s a sprinkler overwatering the lawn outside of the building, occasionally turning far enough to reach the road and provide a sprinkle of water onto the fresh black pavement.
This place feels safe, but to be quite honest, I’ve forgotten what we’re doing here. I’m awake and alive, but I’ve otherwise blacked out.
I try to step out of the car, but I find my legs to be utterly useless. I’m a jellyfish out of water, collapsing on the ground without a single bone in my body to hold me steady. I hear Annika shouting, then the sound of footsteps, many pairs of them, and then I’m gone.
The darkness consumes me.
