Russian Mobster's Forbidden Mistress (9 page)

“So it won’t be long?” Dani’s voice broke. “Is that what you’re saying?”

“I can’t know that,” the nurse said quickly. “The disease chooses its own course.”

“I
hate
that.” Dani felt a burst of anger, then her stomach growled insistently. “But I think I need to get some food before I go in to see him this morning. I feel like I’m dying of hunger.”

The nurse took a step back and looked Dani over with a critical eye. “Honey, I don’t mean to pry, but I’ve been working here for months now and I’ve noticed a few things over the past few weeks.”

Dani frowned. “Like what?”

“When’s the last time you had your cycle?”

Dani opened her mouth to respond and then snapped it shut. She had absolutely no idea what the answer to that question was. “I’m wearing a baggy sweatshirt and freaking yoga pants. What makes you…? Well what makes you ask me that?”

The nurse made a gesture toward the portion of Dani’s abdomen visible in the snug yoga pants. “Women tend to get a little thicker down below their bellies in the first trimester. It’s not a bad thing. It’s just your body preparing itself.”

“Not a bad thing,” Dani repeated breathlessly. “You really think…? Oh my God.”

“I’m just suggesting you take a test,” the nurse said soothingly. “Many, many years ago I used to work in obstetrics. It’s the only reason I notice things like that. Otherwise, I’m sure nobody would think twice about it.”

Dani couldn’t say anything else. She gave the woman a wan smile and headed down the stairs. She would have liked to have thought that the strange and disturbing conversation had dulled her voracious appetite, but it hadn’t affected her that way at all. Maybe she was stress eating? It wasn’t like she didn’t have stuff to be stressed about.

The kitchen was quiet. Mikhail never got out of bed before eleven, and their cook wouldn’t start making breakfast until at least nine thirty. Dani opened the fridge and pulled out some eggs and cheese. She had barely managed to get the saucepan warm before the scent of the gas stove upset her stomach once again.

Yanking the pan off the stove, she sprinted from the kitchen to the hallway bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before she was heaving for the second time that morning. By the time she was done, there were tears running down her face.

Feeling pathetic and a little frightened, she made her way back into the kitchen. She stopped short when she saw Josef standing by the stove looking confused. Her emotions were so jumbled at the moment. There was elation, because it was Josef and she wanted to be near him. But there was also fear, because she was beginning to think she had an awful big secret that she was going to have to share with him.

“You left the burner on.” Josef gestured to the gas flame flickering on the stovetop. “That’s really dangerous with an open flame, Dani. Are you all right?”

“I just feel a little under the weather this morning.” She tried to cover up her uneasiness with a smile, but it felt unnatural. “And maybe I’m a little distracted this morning. So my leaving the stove on would be your fault, you know?”

“Were you making breakfast?” He replaced the saucepan on the burner. “Mrs. Tobolovsky could do that. Would you like me to knock on her door?”

“Oh no, don’t bother the poor woman. She was probably up half the night making things for my father and Mikhail. She deserves some quiet time.” Their cook had been with the family since Dani was a little girl. “I can make eggs for myself. I promise I’m not
that
helpless.”

“I never said you were helpless.” The light in his eyes warmed her all over and her nerves began to settle. Everything was going to be all right. Even if something crazy were going on, Josef wasn’t the type to turn his back or run with his tail between his legs. He was strong.

“Ah, Josef!” Mikhail bowled his way into the kitchen, shocking Dani. Her brother ignored her completely. “You are here on time! Good. We have a situation to manage and it may require some muscle.”

“Lead on,” Josef told Mikhail.

It was hard for Dani to have Josef see through her simply because he was trying to be “normal” while Mikhail was around. Especially given the current circumstances. But when her brother led the way out of the kitchen, still jabbering in Russian about the job they needed to complete, Josef gave her a wink and a nod before disappearing down the hallway.

Oh Josef…

* * *

Josef could tell there was something wrong with Dani, but he couldn’t afford to focus on that right now. He needed to think about Mikhail and this ridiculous situation he was blowing about. They were driving at a breakneck pace down the city’s tangled mess of streets.

“So,” Josef said, forcing Mikhail to pause in his overinflated litany, “you’re saying that someone broke into the warehouse down in the city. But you’re not sure if anything has been taken?” Josef wondered why this was such a big deal. “Is it a vagrant, perhaps?” Josef continued speaking in Russian to keep Mikhail happy.

“No.” Mikhail waved away the possibility with one hand. “You will go inside and see for yourself. Some of the crates have been disturbed.”

“And who told you this?” Josef was starting to feel uneasy without knowing why.

Mikhail gunned the engine, the SUV leaping forward and practically going airborne as they travelled deeper into the city. The Mikalevich family owned six warehouses down here. All were ancient structures in areas that had almost no police presence. It was handy for doing business, less so when Josef was beginning to believe there was something sinister going on that had nothing to do with a rival family or run-of-the-mill thieves.

Mikhail squealed the tires around a corner and then slammed on the brakes to park on the curb outside one of their oldest buildings. Josef glanced over at his friend. Mikhail’s face was set in hard lines.

“Are you all right?” Josef asked in softly spoken Russian.

Mikhail didn’t answer. He got out of the vehicle instead. He headed directly for the door. Josef jumped out and pulled his sidearm from beneath his jacket. His longer strides quickly caught up with Mikhail.

“Wait.” Josef held out an arm. “Let me see if it’s safe before you go charging in there.”

“Good Josef,” Mikhail murmured, his tone strangely flat. “Always looking after me.”

Josef didn’t comment. Perhaps his guilt wouldn’t allow it. In any case, he sniffed around. There was an odd smell—pungent, like turpentine. “Are they painting in there?” He identified something stronger. “It smells like a fuel leak.”

“Perhaps someone is trying to sabotage us?” Mikhail suggested.

Josef nudged the door open. “It’s not even locked.”

Mikhail didn’t say anything. That struck Josef as strange, but he was too focused on any potential threats in the warehouse to worry about it now. It was dark inside. The concrete floor was cold. He could feel the chill through the soles of his shoes. It smelled dank, and there was an odd spatial distortion inside. It felt as though the warehouse were empty.

“Mikhail, hit the lights.” Josef waited, but there was no response from his friend. “Mikhail?”

There was no answer. Josef turned, but the doorway was empty. Mikhail seemed to have vanished. Josef shrank back into the darkness, trying to see if there was someone else in the entryway. Could there be a threat that had followed them here, just waiting for them to wander inside the darkness?

Something clattered to the floor about twenty yards to Josef’s left. He spun on his heel, peering into the inky black interior of the building. His eyes finally began to adjust. He could make out tall, thin shapes. They were shelves, but they were empty. He couldn’t see the outline of crates or any other cargo or goods in the echoing space.

His neck began to prickle. Someone was watching him. He could feel it. His breathing quickened and he struggled to stay silent in the room that seemed to be closing in on him. Backing toward the wall, he kept his weapon ready and hoped he would not have to shoot into the darkness.

There was another noise off to his right, then the sound of a man grunting in pain. “Mikhail?” Josef called out, not caring whether or not he gave away his position. He needed to know that his friend was all right. “Mikhail, where are you?”

The scent of fuel grew stronger. Josef heard the sound of liquid pouring onto a bare cement floor. The wet noise seemed to permeate the darkness. He blinked, trying to pinpoint the location of the noise, of the grunt, of
anything
.

“Who is here?” he demanded, putting authority in his voice. “Show yourself!”

“No, I don’t think I will.”

The voice was familiar, with just a hint of a Russian accent. Josef frowned. “What’s going on here? Show yourself! What have you done with Mikhail?”

“Oh he’s safe enough.” There was a snicker. “This wasn’t meant for him, Josef.”

“What?” Josef’s heart hammered against his ribs. Then he felt someone right behind him. He spun, but it was too late.

A blinding light accompanied the sharpness of pain against his skull. Then he fell and all was silent.

Chapter Twelve

“Where is Josef?” Dani asked her brother. She kept her tone casual, as though she just happened to be getting something in the kitchen and noticed that Mikhail was alone. “I thought the two of you were”—she used exaggerated air quotes—“handling something special.”

Mikhail frowned. “Why do you care where Josef is?”

“Just wondering. The two of you have been codependent since, like, kindergarten.” Dani was getting nervous. Josef hadn’t answered any of her texts since he’d left the house with Mikhail.

“He went to check out some properties.” Mikhail scribbled something else down in his datebook. It looked like he’d basically forgotten about her. Nice.

“Whatever.” Dani left the kitchen, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that she should be worried about Josef.

In the meantime, she was also trying to figure out what to do about her possible pregnancy. She’d run out and gotten a test earlier. Now she had to actually take the damn thing. It was nerve racking.

She forced herself to walk, not run, to her bedroom. Then she shut the door and locked it. Leaning back, she took deep breaths to calm her racing heart. It was a silly stick that she had to pee on. She wasn’t walking a tightrope across a narrow chasm or something. Except it felt that way.

“Okay. I can do this.”

Blowing out a puff of air, she headed for the bathroom. She opened the box and read the directions three times. Two lines meant she was pregnant. One line meant she wasn’t.

Someone started pounding on her bedroom door. “Daniella!” Mikhail shouted from the hallway.

“What?” she called back. She was irritated that he was bothering her and yet half afraid that they’d found Josef’s body somewhere.

“What are you doing in there? I want you to come with me to a meeting with the Rusnaks.” Mikhail’s tone was just beneath that of a demand and it rankled her.

Dani took a deep breath and forced herself to be nice. “I don’t care to. Thank you all the same.”

“Igor would like the chance to get to know you better.” Mikhail smacked the door—
hard
.

“I don’t want to know him, though.” There was no way Dani was buying that bullshit again. “I’m not going to pretend I’m going to marry that jackass just so you can get some business benefit from it, Mikhail. Forget it!”

She could practically hear his frustration through the door. “You’d best remember who you belong to!”

“Myself, last time I checked.” She couldn’t help but feel a little satisfied when Mikhail stomped away down the hall. This was the fifth time he’d come up with some request for her to go hang out with Igor. Why didn’t he get the message that she really had no intention of going through with the bullshit marriage?

Shutting her bathroom door, she snatched up the pee stick and prepared to find out if her life was going to change forever.

* * *

Josef rolled to his side, coughing so hard that he felt his lungs must be raw. He was disoriented and his head was pounding. Placing one hand flat on the floor beneath him, he realized that he was lying on a cold cement floor. Except it wasn’t really cold. At least not like he would have expected.

A persistent crackling noise diverted his attention from the strange warmth beneath his body. Flipping from his side to his back, Josef blinked experimentally. His tongue was thick and clumsy against the roof of his mouth. He couldn’t breathe.

That was when he realized that the building was on fire.

Adrenaline surged through his system. He lurched to his feet, but stumbled almost immediately and went down on his knees. There was an orange glow off to his right. Turning his head, he realized that the entire right side of the warehouse was engulfed in flames.

The fire devoured everything in its path as though it were a hungry beast. The wood slats between the metal railings of the shelving units were in flames. The connectors appeared to be melting. Smoke from the fire and the stronger odor of an accelerant coated his throat. He had to get out or he was going to burn to death.

He swept the room with his gaze, trying to remember where the exit was located. Fortunately, a dim, flickering green light showed that the sign was still somewhat operational. Josef focused on that point and began crawling as fast as his battered body could move.

Beams fell from the ceiling, crashing to the floor behind him. He heard the windows popping as glass shattered from the heat. The fire gained energy from the increased oxygen. It roared, the sound increasing to a deafening level that left him almost unable to breathe.

Josef thought of Dani. He could not leave her like this. Someone had purposefully left Josef here to die. The most likely reason was that someone had found out about him and Dani. If Josef died, Dani could be in danger and not even know it.

The thought gave him strength. He put his head down and forced his body up onto his feet. He moved low, bent in half and trying to stay near the clearer air by the floor. The fire was less intense over here. No doubt whoever had set the blaze had wanted ample time to escape in case the place had exploded.