The Prince's Gamble (18 page)

With a quick, intense hug, Tatiana dropped a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you.” She hopped into the back of the ambulance and the EMTs shut the doors. The ambulance raced away, sirens howling in the dark of night.

Kathleen hurried over to her boss who was overseeing their prisoners as they were prepped for transport to the hospital and morgue. When she stood before him, he inclined his head in the direction of Stravinski’s wounded man. “We got an address from that one for Petrov’s warehouse. Our men are moving in right now.”

“Let’s hope they don’t meet much resistance.” She scrubbed her hands against her jacket again and peered nervously at the distant lights of the ambulance that had taken Alexander away.

“He did well. You did, too,” her boss said.

Despite his words, there would be no sense of satisfaction until she knew Alexander was fine. “If you have the situation under control—”

“I do,” her ADIC said with an understanding look.

“I’d like permission to go to the hospital.”

Her ADIC dug into his pocket and handed her the keys to their car.

“Get out of here.”

Chapter Twenty-two

Kathleen sat beside Tatiana, her arm wrapped around the young woman’s shoulders as she huddled in the hard plastic hospital chair. Tatiana was a bundle of nerves, but then again, so was she.

They had taken Alexander into surgery just over an hour ago after the emergency room doctor had come in to provide his initial report. Splintered rib. Partially collapsed lung. Bullet lodged against the back portion of his rib cage.

Although the physician had been guardedly optimistic about the prognosis, Kathleen understood all too well that once surgery was involved, anything could go wrong.

The one bright spot in the last hour had been her ADIC’s report that their FBI team had successfully located the slave traffickers’ warehouse. Vanessa, along with a number of other terrified, drugged women had been found in the building. Initial interviews had revealed that they were supposed to have been moved out of the country in just a few days.

At the warehouse, the FBI team had captured four of Petrov’s Russian mob associates, hopefully bringing an end to the slave trading in the area as well as Stravinski’s illegal activities. For now, anyway.

Despite that good news, Alexander’s surgery weighed heavily on her mind. With each too loud tick of the wall clock, her anxiety intensified, but Kathleen wrestled it down. She needed to be strong for both Alexander and Tatiana.

The two women were sitting there, offering silent comfort to each other, when a slight commotion occurred at the entrance to the surgical waiting room. A protective instinct roared alive in Kathleen. She jumped in front of Tatiana, but relaxed as Detective Roman and Jim barreled through the door, a young woman right behind them. A very familiar-looking young woman.

“Vanessa!” Tatiana cried, and rushed forward to hug her friend.

The two men hurried to Kathleen’s side, their worry evident.

“How is he?” Peter asked.

“No word yet.” That fact sat heavily in her heart. Not even the joy of the two women embracing just a few feet away could drive away her anxiety.

Jim grimaced, but wrapped an arm around her shoulders, the gesture a trifle stilted. “He’ll be okay.”

She nodded and waited as Tatiana brought over Vanessa and introduced her. The young hostess clutched Kathleen’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you. Thank you for looking for me. I don’t want to think of what might have happened…” Tears welled in her eyes.

“No thanks are necessary. It’s my job.” It sounded a little harsh to her own ears, so she added, “I’m glad you’re safe. We’re
all
glad.”

Suddenly, Vanessa glanced past her shoulder, her glistening eyes alive with emotion, and Kathleen tracked her gaze.

The surgeon hurried toward them, blue scrubs clean and a broad smile on her face. Kathleen’s knees weakened with relief this time and she pressed a fist into her midsection to quiet the racing of her heart.

“How is the prince?” Jim asked, and once again hugged her to his side, slightly more easily, as if he was getting used to the act.

“He came through the surgery with no problems. He’s in post-op now, but we’ll be moving him to a private room shortly. You’ll be able to see him in about half-an-hour.”

A relieved breath exploded from her. “Thank you.”

“Wait here for now. I’ll have a nurse get you when he’s settled in his room.”

As the surgeon walked away, Kathleen faced the other two women. “I guess we wait, but in the meantime, I have some questions, Vanessa. If that’s okay?”

Vanessa nodded and they walked back to the hard plastic chairs and sat. Peter took a spot beside Tatiana and to Kathleen’s surprise, she leaned into him and slipped her hand into his. The gesture was both familiar and loving, and she wondered at it. She suspected Tatiana had known Peter for as long as Alexander had, but wondered if there was more to their friendship…and if so, where Kevin, her boyfriend, fit into the picture. But judging from the almost instinctive nature of the action, maybe Tatiana wasn’t even aware of her feelings.

Her gaze skipped to Peter’s for only a moment, but long enough to see the love there before he shuttered away his emotions. It wasn’t just friend kind of love on his part. Again she wondered at the nature of their relationship. Not that it was impossible to see them together. Peter and Tatiana were fairly close in age, barely six years apart.

Kathleen pushed aside that revelation, and assumed her agent mode. She needed answers, although she suspected her team had already asked many of the questions earlier. Still, she had to have the answers for herself, and the exercise would keep her calm until she saw for herself that Alexander was safe and well.

“How did you recognize Stravinksi when he came to the restaurant?”

Vanessa glanced at Tatiana anxiously. “I told Tatiana a while back that I’d been in trouble as a teen.”

“She mentioned that to us. She was certain you had nothing to do with what was going on in the casino.”

Vanessa smiled. “I appreciate the support, Tatiana. I guess it’s time you knew what I did.”

“We’re friends. I won’t judge you. None of us will,” Tatiana replied. She looked at Kathleen, Peter, and Jim, steely command in her gaze. She’d learned well from Alexander.

Vanessa dipped her head. “I was arrested for possession with intent to sell. I only sold to some friends, and the police knew I was a very small fish. In exchange for providing information about my supplier, I got a plea bargain.”

“Stravinski was your supplier,” Kathleen said to confirm she was understanding correctly.

“Yes. In Camden. It’s why we moved here afterward. I was hoping I’d never see him again.”

But Stravinski had expanded his business to Atlantic City. That had started a whole chain of events which just happened to be connected to human trafficking, and the money laundering Alexander had uncovered.

Kathleen was about to ask more questions when a petite nurse approached them. She bowed slightly to Tatiana, as if unsure of how to deal with royalty. “The prince is in his room. He’s conscious if you’d like to see him.”

They all rushed to their feet, but the nurse raised her hand. “Only two visitors at a time.”

Jim, Peter, and Vanessa stepped back. “You two go ahead,” Peter said. “We’ll be there in a few minutes. I have some questions of my own for Vanessa.”

Tatiana slipped her hand into Kathleen’s and squeezed reassuringly. “Let’s go see our guy.”

…

Alexander was sitting up slightly, thanks to the angle of the hospital bed. Kathleen skimmed her gaze over him anxiously, half dreading what she’d see. She breathed a sigh of partial relief. He wasn’t dying. Healthy color was evident along his skin, though it only made the glaring white of the bandages along his midsection that much more evident. And troubling.

He gave a lopsided smile as they entered, causing her heart to skip a beat.

She held herself in check and allowed Tatiana to rush forward to her brother’s side.

He held out his hand and his sister clutched it tightly, dropping a kiss on it. Her voice was rough from the tears she had shed. “We were so worried.”

“I’m good. Not even sore. The meds are wonderful.” The slight slur and singsong in his words evidenced that the medications were at work.

Tatiana leaned forward, laid her head on his chest, and awkwardly hugged him. He grimaced, quickly hiding it to avoid worrying his sister. But Kathleen had not missed his discomfort. She met his gaze across the length of the room, and silently conveyed that he wouldn’t fool her so easily with the hint of a wink.

His sister sat back and grasped his hand again. “I love you, Sasha, but don’t you ever do anything so stupid ever again.”

“I love you, too, Tatochka. And I promise, I will never ever do this again.” This time his smile was even weaker, but with that familiar dimple she loved.

Tatiana stepped away from the bed, walked toward her, and playfully pushed her in Alexander’s direction. “I’ll close the door to give you some privacy.” She brushed a calming hand down Kathleen’s forearm, stepped out of the room and closed the door.

Kathleen approached Alexander. As she neared his bed, her knees grew rubbery, finally giving in to the stress of the past few hours. She plopped into the chair and slipped her hand into his. Inside her chest, her heart knocked against her ribs in an uncertain beat. She drew in a breath to calm herself, but the only things that filled her senses was the antiseptic smells of the hospital and the memory of his blood leaking between her fingers.

“My God, Sasha. I almost lost you.”

The tremor in her hand made Alexander look at her in concern. He squeezed her hand, chilled from her fear. “But you didn’t,
Ko’shechka maja
.”

She shook her head and her vision shimmered with the tears she was fighting back. “Don’t think that sweet talk will stop me from being mad at you. Your sister’s right. Don’t you
ever
do that again, Sasha.”

He chuckled, then groaned, his hand going his midsection. Contrary to what he had told his sister, she was pretty sure the medications were barely keeping his pain in check.

She laid her hand lightly on his chest. “Do you want me to have them increase the dosage?”

He shook his head and grimaced. “No. I want to be alert. I don’t like feeling muzzy in my head.”

She instilled a teasing note in her words. “I understand. Besides, I have my own reasons for wanting you to have your wits about you.”

He hiked an amused brow at her. “I’m not sure I’m ready for anything strenuous at the moment. Maybe later.”

She laughed, as he’d no doubt intended, and wagged her head. “What am I going to do with you?”

“I could think of lots of things once I’m able to move around some more.”

She grinned, but then her mood turned more serious. “I’ll have to head back to the field office soon. Finish my reports. Prepare a press release. See if Peter needs anything to finish the arrests.”

“I understand,” he said. “But I hate that your responsibilities take you away from me so soon.”

She leaned in and brushed a kiss across his lips. “I know you do, and I appreciate that.”

He gave a loopy, sexy smile. “What else do you appreciate?”

With another rueful shake of her head, she said, “You seem to have a one track mind all of a sudden. I’m wondering if it’s the drugs.”

“It’s you, Kat. Just you.” He brought her hand to his lips for a quick kiss.

She wanted to stay, but her obligations pulled at her much the same way they had throughout the investigation. Much as they would in their future life. But she had no choice but to press forward with her work. It was the biggest part of who she was. At least, it had been until now.

“Do you want to be mentioned in the press release? That you cooperated with us in the investigation?” she asked.

His response was swift and vehement. “No mention. I don’t want any retribution against my family. As it is, we’ll have to worry whether Stravinski has any associates who will come after us. Petrov, too, for that matter.”

“You know we’ll keep an eye on them and their known associates, to keep you safe.”

“As safe as we kept Tatiana?” Evidently he was not only worried about what had happened to his sister, but recalling his own kidnapping decades earlier.

She stroked her hand back and forth across his chest, offering reassurance. “We’ll keep her safe, but you need to tell her about what happened to you. Help her get over any lingering fear she has about her kidnapping, and about whether it might happen again.”

He took her hand and pressed it tighter to his chest. “
We
will keep her safe. I want to help you stop anything like this from happening again. Just tell me what you need from me.”

She hesitated, unsure of just how to say all that she wanted to say to him.

Drawing from deep in her reserve, she blurted out, “I’m not sure you’ll be able to help me in future investigations.”

Taken aback, he released her hand. “Why not? Did I not do a good job this time?”

She laid her hand along the sharp line of his jaw and rubbed her thumb across his lips. “You did a wonderful job, but I walked a fine line this time by letting my emotions get involved. It would be even harder for me if my fiancé or husband was participating in the assignment.”

“Fiancé? Husband? Is there something you’re not telling me?” He arched both brows in emphasis and his lips thinned into a slash. The warmth in his gaze faded, leaving his eyes a dull slate.

“The meds must have really messed with your brain,” she muttered. “Or maybe I just suck at proposals.”

He jerked back in surprise, grunted, but then he slowly grinned, displaying that boyishly sexy dimple. His eyes warmed to sapphire. “A proposal? Is this your way of asking me to marry you?”

“Um…unless you have a problem with marrying a commoner? Especially one who isn’t going to jump at your every command, and who is
so
not going to love all those parties and gowns and other fancy stuff.”

He reached for her and eased his hand around to the back of her neck. Drew her down to him. His breath kissed her lips as he whispered, “There’s only one thing I’d like you to do.”

“Really? And what’s that?” She slipped her lips along his and touched her tongue to the edge of his mouth.

He groaned at that tempting caress, but continued. “All I’ll ever ask is that you ride off into the sunset with me.”

She blinked. “Horses? Here?”

“The Bentley. Think you can do that?”

She laughed softly, filled with love. “Oh, yes. I think I can do that.” Bending, she kissed him to seal that promise, appreciating that life with Alexander would always be filled with surprises, humor, and love.