Keep: Romanian Mob Chronicles (11 page)

F
awn

I
jolted
awake
at the sound of a slamming door and sat up abruptly, looking wildly around the room, noticed immediately Vasile wasn’t here. I glanced at the clock and noted the hour. Two thirty. Not so late that it gave me pause, because there was no rhyme or reason to his comings and goings, but when he’d left earlier, he said he’d be back soon and it had been several hours.

I’d wanted to stay awake and see him when he returned, knew that even though he’d never said so, he liked to see me at the end of a long day, maybe even looked forward to it. I was happy to oblige him. As I stood, I stretched, the baby’s little kick making me smile.

“You miss your daddy too?” I said, a hand on my stomach.

I headed down the stairs toward the kitchen, but as I approached, the hairs on the back of my neck rose, and an uneasy feeling rushed through me. It was quiet, too quiet, and even though the men Vasile had insisted be at the house at all times made an effort to not disturb me, this felt different. Eerie.

Cautiously, I went into the kitchen, noticed the French doors were open, and when I looked through them, I gasped.

Oleg, wearing his tank top even though there was a chill in the air, lay on the kitchen floor in front of the open doors, an ever-expanding pool of dark blood growing around him.

My mind wanted to reject what I saw, but the blood, Oleg’s still form, the furious pounding of my heart made that impossible, and the fear I thought I’d finally left behind came flooding back. I turned, my mind racing as I moved, planning to grab my car keys and leave.

I made it two steps and then stopped short.

“I told you it was time to come home,” David said.

My throat went dry, and my racing thoughts slowed, stuck on one. David was here, in our home, and there was no one to protect me.

Strangely, though I was afraid, terrified really, I managed to beat that back, stayed calm. David was always unpredictable, volatile, but my only hope was keeping him as calm as I could, and I couldn’t do that if I let my fear show through. “You need to leave, David. You don’t want—”

“You’re done telling me what to do, bitch.”

In an instant, his cool facade faded, and the monster from the nightmares that still sometimes haunted me stood before me. I wanted to be strong, but I couldn’t help the tremor of fear that racked over me.

“David, it’s over. Please leave,” I said, surprised that I managed to keep my voice moderately even, and that I didn’t look away from him.

He narrowed his eyes, the expression so familiar, yet one that felt like I had seen it in another lifetime. Still, I knew what that expression meant, what came after it. I couldn’t let that happen, wouldn’t risk myself or my baby. I took two steps back.

“What did I tell you?” he said, stalking toward me slowly. “What!”

I said nothing, which enraged him even further.

“It’s been too long. Playing house with that motherfucker made you forget. But I’m going to remind you. It’s over when I say it’s over. You belong to me. And only me.”

Never, though I wouldn’t tell him that. I continued to back up, moving deeper into the kitchen as he walked forward. The French doors were open and maybe if I got out there, I could call for help.

I continued to move back slowly, trying to put as much distance between us as I could. And then suddenly, I turned, running as hard and fast as my body would take me.

The door was getting closer, and though I moved awkwardly, my socked feet slipping on the marble floor, the awkward angle of my belly hampering me, I still ran.

“No you don’t,” David said.

He was muscular and while I knew those muscles came from chemicals and a rigid weightlifting routine, I also knew he had no stamina. Rage must have fueled him though, for before I could reach the door, he grabbed me, one arm snaked tight around my shoulders and one around my waist. He spread his palm over my belly, and of all the things he’d done to me, as revolting as I found his touch, nothing was worse than this, his hand on my stomach, touching my baby, our baby, as if she was just another of his possessions.

“This might be mine, you know,” he said, breath fanning over my ear, his voice cold, menacing.

My mind rejected the words, the very idea and in a display of carelessness, I freed my tongue. “She’s not,” I said. “Nothing here belongs to you, not anymore.”

He tightened his hand until I felt the first bite of pain, but I didn’t let it show, wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.

“You better hope it is,” he said. “’Cause if it’s not, you’ll never see it again. And neither will he.”

Rage and dread warred for dominance, and rage won.

“He’s going to kill you for this,” I said, not trying to contain my scorn. “But if you leave now, he might not make you suffer.”

At one point in my life it might’ve scared me, knowing Vasile, the man I loved so deeply was capable of cruelty, of murder. But not now. David had gone too far, would finally get what he deserved, and the only thing that saddened me was I hadn’t had the courage to do it myself.

“You forgot who the fuck you’re dealing with. I have friends, very powerful ones. I take care of people’s money, and nobody, not even that son of a bitch can fuck with people’s money without consequences.”

David sounded certain, which terrified me. He’d never dare cross Vasile, or anyone else for that matter, without support. And then it hit me. This was really happening. He was here, and he was going to take me and my baby. I couldn’t let that happen, would die before I did.

As I stood, I imagined what he’d do, what punishments he’d have in store for me. And even if Vasile managed to find me one day, it would be too late because David would surely break me or kill me trying to.

I moved before I had time to think, grabbed the fancy blender Sorin had bought, saying I needed more fruits and vegetables in my diet. It was glass, and it was heavy, so heavy, it didn’t even shatter when I slammed it against David’s head. After I hit him, his grip slacked enough for me to run again.

“You fuckin’ bitch!” David screamed.

I heard him behind me, and then I felt him, his heavy weight pressing me down. I reached out wildly, searching for anything to break my fall. But there was nothing. I put my arm under my belly, felt the impact as searing pain erupted in my abdomen.

And then the world went black.

V
asile

P
riest
and I left
Vargas’s house and headed toward my car, the peaceful night a sharp contrast to my swirling anger.

“What the fuck was that, Priest?” I said.

“I don’t know,” he replied.

He looked as annoyed as I did. Neither of us appreciated being called away for bullshit.

“I know we’re supposed to have open communication, but I won’t be jumping for every little thing. Vargas has his territory and if he can’t manage it, he’ll lose it. My clan won’t be bothered with his internal problems,” I said, frustrated I’d been called away from Fawn over nothing.

“I agree. But that was…” Priest said.

“Fucking bullshit. Calling me from my home for—”

Ice froze my heart in my chest.

“Go!” I yelled at the driver.

V
asile

“Fawn! Oleg!” I
yelled, but there was no response, and I pulled my gun as I proceeded, the house that Fawn had turned into a home suddenly forbidding, menacing.

Something was wrong; I knew that immediately, but I prayed to a god that I didn’t even believe in that she was okay.

“Fawn!”

I went to the den, saw the place where Fawn usually lay on the couch, but there was no sign of her.

“Come quickly!” Priest yelled.

I ran toward the sound of his voice, the urgency in it filling me with even more dread. Priest was never urgent; this could not be good. I rushed into the kitchen and my hands dropped to my sides, fingers loosening as the gun I held fell to the floor with a clatter.

My gaze was glued to Fawn’s prone form, and I barely heard Priest’s words. I saw a dead Oleg and the open door, but that was background noise because I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Fawn, or the blood that pooled around her, couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

She lay flat on her stomach, not moving. But I didn’t go to her, couldn’t. She was so still. I shuddered. She looked—

“She’s not dead,” Priest said, and that confirmation broke the cement that had held me in place.

I didn’t carry a cell phone, and an ambulance would probably take its sweet time getting to us anyway. I had no other choice, so I rolled her, feeling some small measure of relief when she moaned. But it was only the confirmation that she was alive, because everything else about her looked otherwise, like the vivid life that had animated her had been ripped away, and it left me breathless, on the verge of panic with worry.

Her skin was bluish, ashen, but that couldn’t hide the huge bruise on her cheek or her blackened eyes. And worse yet, her legs were covered with blood, blood that still dripped from her fast enough that it left a trail behind her as I ran to the car.

Priest hopped into the front seat, and I lay Fawn across the back and sat next to her. He slammed on the gas before I’d even closed the door. She looked so peaceful, and though I knew she breathed, I didn’t know for how long.

“Not yet, Fawn,” I said on a raw whisper, voice wavering with the desperate fear that threatened to overtake me, only held back by the fact that as I held her hand, some warmth returned to it. “Just hold on. Both of you.”

Six minutes passed between the time I first saw her and the time I ran into the emergency room, but it was long enough for me to determine what would happen if I lost her. Whoever had done this, anyone who’d helped was dead. But if she didn’t make it, I would seek my vengeance and then join her in death. There could be no life for me without her.

“She needs help,” I bellowed, ignoring the shocked faces of patients and staff.

The once bustling room went silent, and then sprung to life, doctors and nurses swarming around me.

“Lay her here!” someone yelled.

I did, and then she was whisked away. I rushed to follow, but a tight grip on my arm stopped me.

“You can’t do anything in there.”

It was Priest, and I turned to look at him, noting he seemed to have recovered from his earlier urgency.

“Find them,” I said.

He nodded and was gone in an instant, leaving me alone, the fate of the only woman I’d ever loved, the baby I had just begun to accept, hanging in the balance.

V
asile

“Hey,” I said
when she finally opened her eyes.

It’d been hours since they had let me back into the hospital room where they’d put her, and I hadn’t left her side.

She looked around the small room, cheery curtains on the windows and neutral paint on the walls only managing to make the place feel even more depressing. And then she laid a hand on her stomach and then pulled it away.

“The baby…”

“Is in the nursery. A girl just like you said,” I whispered as I smoothed her hair. I’d been convinced I was having a son, but that didn’t matter now. My heart gave a funny little thud. Fawn and I had a precious baby girl.

“Have you seen her?” Fawn asked, the skin around her eyes crinkling with a slight smile.

“I wanted to wait for you,” I replied, barely able to get out the words.

“I’m ready,” she said.

She wasn’t. I could see the pain on her face, the confusion. Also the determination.

“And so you shall,” I said.

I left the room and found a doctor.

“Take us to the nursery,” I ordered.

The man’s eyes widened, and then he nodded.

He looked down at the chart he held in his hand. “Pregnant woman with bleeding?” he asked, looking down at my bloody clothes.

“Yes. Take us to the nursery.”

“I will, but I was coming to see you. We should talk before you go. Is your wife awake?”

“Tell me,” I said, the dread I felt earlier almost minimal in the face of the anticipation of what the doctor planned to say.

His eyes clouded, and his face settled in a grim line.

“I’m sorry. Another week, ten days, then maybe she would be stronger… But her lungs just aren’t developed. We’re going to do everything we can to save her, but I’m going to be honest with you, this is a grave situation. You and your wife should prepare as best you can in case…”

I’d been waiting on those words, had expected the worst, but hearing them crushed me in a way I hadn’t thought possible. I hadn’t completely wrapped my head around the idea of a baby, and now she fought for her life. She had been mine to protect, and now there was nothing I could do for her but be there and wait. For the first time in as long as I could remember, probably since I was a very young boy, tears welled in my eyes. I bit them back, begging them not to fall, and when I finally had regained control of myself, I looked at the doctor.

“Take us to the nursery,” I said.

The doctor nodded.