The Russian's Dangerous Game (17 page)

Moving out of the kitchen with her arsenal of guns and knives, she tucked two guns into the waistband of her slacks, dropped the knives in her pockets and held onto the other two guns in each hand. Peeking around the corner of the kitchen, she spotted the evil, fat man puffing on a disgusting smelling cigar in what she suspected was the parlor area of the old house.

There was one other man she knew was here in the house. But she hadn’t spotted him yet. She was afraid of moving out of the kitchen when she didn’t know where he was. He could come up behind her any moment.

But then she saw him pass in front of the window and she sighed with relief. Yes, others might be on their way, but she only had to worry about these two men right at the moment. If she could just find her purse and the keys to the SUV, she could get out of here.

Slipping around the corner, she cringed when she saw her purse. It was sitting right beside the man’s leg. That wasn’t good, she thought. She’d have to get in there. The keys were probably in that room as well. She had no choice. She’d just have to brave through this debacle and get those keys and her purse. As soon as she had her purse, she would call Rocco and tell her that she was okay. As soon as he heard that she’d been taken, she knew he would be on a rampage to find her and he would be in danger. That was not going to happen on her watch.

Gripping the pistols in both her hands, she turned the corner, exposing herself for only a moment. Her eyes darted from the left and to the right as she approached the room. When she was right outside the doorway, she took a deep breath, said a silent prayer asking for both courage and help, then stepped into the room.

The expressions on both men’s faces were almost comical. The cigar smoking gross man with the evil laugh almost dropped his cigar out of his mouth. He caught it, but only just in time before he was going to be burned. The other man was more fit, but just as evil looking. His eyes widened and he was about to take a step towards her, but she lifted the gun higher, pointing it at his chest. “Don’t move,” she ordered with an amazingly calm voice. “I don’t know what’s going on, but I’m guessing I’m some sort of bait and you’re part of the Russian mafia. How am I doing so far?” she asked.

The fat man shrugged but he wasn’t smiling any longer. “You won’t kill us,” he said, his eyes narrowing. “You’re too soft.”

Brianna gritted her teeth with his words. “Here’s the problem with your theory,” she said and took a step closer. “I’m tired of people thinking I’m soft. I hate it. It happens all the time and I have no idea why I give off that impression, but I’m guessing if I shoot both of you, no one will ever think I’m soft and useless ever again.”

They didn’t say a word, their eyes moving from the gun to her eyes and back again.

“So here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to push my purse over here with your foot. I might be tired of being perceived as soft but that doesn’t eliminate the fact that I’m terrified out of my mind right at the moment. If you move in any other way, I can’t guarantee that I won’t shoot you just because of nerves so be very, very careful.”

She was hugely proud of herself for being able to speak when her throat felt like it was going to choke her with the fear rising up throughout her whole body. But she tamped it down, telling herself she could panic once she was out of here and on her way to freedom. And the police! Yes, she’d definitely inform the police of this crazy household.

The man didn’t doubt her nerves and, with his toe, he pushed her purse closer towards her. When she could pull the strap of her purse closer, she reached down and pulled the strap over her head, making sure to keep one weapon moving back and forth between both of the men. When she was standing once again, she looked around. “Where are the keys to the car?” she demanded.

The man standing by the window pulled them out of his pocket. Brianna knew exactly what he was about to do
, having seen this trick in several movies, so she didn’t flinch or even try to catch the keys as they flew directly towards her. The jerk thought she would drop her weapon and try to catch them in midair but she let them just drop to the floor beside her. “Thank you,” she said sweetly.

“You’re welcome,” th
e man replied with a snide sneer on his ugly features.

“I guess I have to shoot you in the leg, don’t I?” she asked, trying to figure out how to get out of the room without them rushing her.

His eyes widened with that question. “Why would you have to do that?” he asked, stepping behind one of the other chairs in the room.

She smiled slightly at that move.
“First of all, I’m pretty sure that a bullet out of these weapons will go through the upholstery of that chair, so don’t think I’m stupid enough to not shoot you. But I also know that, as soon as I turn around and try to get out of here, you’re going to rush at me and try to get these guns. So if I shoot you in the leg, that will at least give me a running start.”

There was a noise over her head and she almost jumped, just about losing her grip on the weapon. “Who is that?” she demanded, her heart feeling like it was about to have a heart attack. “Is there someone else in the house?”

She watched them carefully and, with the confused look they passed between each other, she knew that they weren’t aware of anyone else being in the house either. “So this is a mystery to you as well?”

Brianna almost laughed when both men tried to appear confident. But it was a total lie becau
se she’d seen their look a moment ago. “I think I’ll get out of here before Rocco falls into your trap. You’re not going to hurt him, understand?” she told the two dangerous men. “If anything happens to him, I will hunt you down and shoot both of you. He’s a good man and I won’t allow scum like you to hurt him.”

“Thank you, my love,” Rocco said
behind her with his wonderfully deep voice.

Brianna gasped and looked in his direction, then in the direction of the other person who was chuckling at the other end of the room.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded.

Rocco rolled his eyes,
then looked at the guns in both of her hands. “I’m here to rescue you. It appears that I’m too late,” he replied with pride.

She shook her head and released her death grip on the guns. “Actually, you’re just in time.” She handed him the guns like they were spiders. “
Could you please take these for me? I don’t really know how to use them and I’ve probably got the safety still on.”

Rocco’s eyes widened but he took both the pistols, keeping his own trained on the other two men. “You don’t…!” he growled. “Brianna! I can’t believe you were holding the head of the Russian mafia at gunpoint and you don’t know how to use the damn thing!”

She shrugged and moved behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and kissing his shoulder. “Well, they didn’t know that!” she said in her defense.

He rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “We’re going to talk about this,” he told her. “Hand me the handcuffs I saw in your back pocket.”

She almost laughed as she shook her head. “They won’t do any good.”

“Why not?” he asked but relaxed ever so slightly. Hearing both her
amusement as well as the distant sirens told him that she really was okay. They hadn’t harmed her and she was still his soft, sweet, wonderful woman.

“Well, they used them on me and I got out, didn’t I?” she asked, trying to figure out a way to tell
him that they were toy handcuffs without announcing it to everyone in the room.

“Brianna, just hand them to me. I’ll make sure they work properly.”

She hesitated and bit her lip, unable to maintain eye contact with him. “Bri, what’s going on?” he asked carefully. The police were at the front door now, but something was very wrong here. She was turning red which meant she was trying to hide something from him.

“Let’s just allow the police officers to use their official handcuffs.”

She heard Stu’s laugh again and her face turned even brighter red. She started to walk out, but a group of men and women burst through the front door, guns drawn, wearing Kevlar vests announcing that they were either from the FBI or the police.

“There are two more in the kitchen,” she told them as they took over and Rocco’s arms wrapped around her, holding her close. She reached up and kissed his neck, ignoring the chuckles of the law enforcement people who had entered the kitchen.

A moment later, when the two men covered in white shuffled through the doors with a police officer securing their handcuffs, each of the officers nodded politely to her, all the while chuckling.

Rocco watched with interest as the two men walked out of the house, both obviously painfully embarrassed
and covered in some sort of white substance. “What did you do to them?” he asked, hugging her gently.

She shrugged one shoulder as she buried her face in his chest, breathing in deeply of his Rocco-scent. “I was locked in the pantry until they could trap you here. I couldn’t allow them to
kidnap you.” In a voice that only he could hear, she added, “I’m the only one who is going to be putting handcuffs on you.”

He was so startled by her brazen
comment, he pulled back and looked down at her. The puzzle slowly started to fall into place and his own eyes widened. He reached down and started to pull the handcuffs out of her pocket but found one of the revolvers still tucked into her waistband. He handed that one to one of the officers. “There’s another one,” she said and pulled the second pistol from the other side of her waistband. The officer grabbed another evidence bag for that weapon. “Wait,” she told the officer who was about to walk away. “There’s more,” and she pulled all of the knives out of her pocket, dumping them into the bag with revulsion.

The officer couldn’t conceal his surprise. And his eyes actually widened even more when she pulled the other knife out of her other pocket. “I think that’s it,” she said, nodding to emphasize that she didn’t have any other weapons.

“You’re amazing,” Rocco said as he pulled her close to him again. “When do I get to use those handcuffs on you?” he chuckled.

“Never,” she said, burying her face once again. “I think I’m going to frame them and look at
them every day of my life.”

He laughed and hugged her close. “Let’s get out of here,” he said while the law enforcement
officers moved around the house.

Several hours later, Rocco handed her a snifter of brandy, then sat down next to her on the sofa where a fire was crackling. “I can’t believe how close I came to losing you today,” he said as he kissed her gently. “Don’t ever leave the house
without at least one of Stu’s men beside you.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head.
“Only if you promise never to take down an international criminal ring on your own.”

“Done,” he said and kissed her again. “
One day, you’re going to have to tell me again how you got out of that closet. But give me a little while to get over the fear of learning that you were kidnapped. I think I lost several years off of my life with that scare,” he told her.

She giggled as he nuzzled her neck, wrapping her arms around him and burrowing closer to him.
“They didn’t want me. They wanted you. So don’t you go out without Stu and several of his men around you either!”

Rocco chuckled, his hand slipping underneath her soft, blue sweater.
“Have no fear. I doubt Stu will let us out of his sight for a long time now.”

A tear formed and threatened to spill off of her lashes.
“I thought I was going to lose you today,” she said, lifting her hand and touching his cheek. “I love you so much and the idea of never seeing you again was horrible.”

“I love you too. And you don’t have to worry about that ever again. I promise I’ll be by your side for
a long, long time,” he assured her.

Brianna held her breath, trying to keep her hands away from her swollen belly for fear that Rocco would see her and know what was happening. She glanced at her watch, trying to calculate how far apart the contractions were.

So far, she was still okay. They were more than fifteen minutes apart. That was good, she though
t as the pain slowly receded once again.

She smiled as she sipped her sparkling lemonade.

“What’s wrong?” Rocco asked, taking her hand in his, gently feeling for her pulse. “Is the baby bothering you tonight?”

The glittering lights overhead and all the sparkling guests blurred into the background as she smiled up at her husband. “I’m perfectly fine,” she said, squeezing his hand so he would stop feeling for her pulse. “Enjoy
yourself,” she said with pride. “This is your night!”

Nothing was going to get in the way of Rocco enjoying this night. He was receiving an award for his generous donations to the children’s center which had allowed them to care for over one hundred additional children.
It was the same center in which Brianna had been brought after her father’s suicide.

“Thank you for your donation. You can’t imagine how scary it is to think that you’re alone, only to realize that there are so many other kids in a similar situation.”

He squeezed her hand gently. “I just wish there was some way to eliminate the need for such a place.”

“I agree,” she said and wished she could lay her head on his broad, muscular chest and snuggle up against him. But her enormous stomach wouldn’t allow that. And she didn’t want to risk him feeling her contractions, even though they were pretty far apart at the moment.

“Nikki, Rachel and I spent hours in the center. It helped us get through the hard times in foster care and got Rachel away from the loneliness of her home.” She and her friends had come to the center after school each day so they could play games or get free tutoring help. The center also admitted after school kids who just needed a safe place to hang out while their parents worked so Rachel was able to sometimes join in. It was a great place that had helped several teens actually get to college, kept hundreds more out of trouble and encouraged all of them to study hard, play safely and grow up happy. It was his way of helping those who endured the same thing all of them had gone through as kids and she loved him even more for being so kind and generous.

He felt her hand tighten and looked down at her but she ripped her hand out of his, pasting a bright smile on her features.
“Brianna if something is going on…” he argued, turning to block out the other guests.

She
continued to smile up at him and shook her head. “Nothing is going on. If anything starts to happen with your daughter, I promise that you’ll be the second to know.”

He watched her carefully for a long moment,
then relented. “Okay. But you’ll tell me if you start getting labor pains? Your due date was three days ago so our son is going to come into this world pretty soon.”

She normally would chuckle at him asserting that they were going to have a boy because she was equally
convinced they were having a girl. But right now, she was getting too nervous about the impending arrival. She pasted a bright smile on her face anyway, trying to reassure Rocco. She didn’t want to cut this night short unless she absolutely had to.

An hour later, as the elaborate dinner was winding down, she had to grit her teeth and accidentally let out a low moan of pain as yet another contraction took over her body.

Rocco heard the sound, always so attuned to every nuance of his lovely wife and cursed under his breath. “Brianna!” he growled while pushing his chair back.

“Don’t make a scene!” she gasped, unable to ignore the pain now. It was too intense. “Okay, I think it’s time to get to the hospital.”

He helped her up out of the chair and put an arm around her waist. The hostess rose up as well, her worried eyes looking at the two of them. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

“Brianna has been having contractions all night,” he muttered. “I’m sorry to leave so early, but my son is about to enter the world.”

“Oh, how lovely,” the hostess said, even while she was waving an imperious hand towards the doorway where two of Rocco’s body guards were standing by.

“Get the car,” he ordered them gruffly.

Stu was already standing by the car, ready to speed them the few blocks to the hospital where they were pre-registered.

In the car, Brianna could no longer control her moans of pain as the contractions washed over her more quickly. It seemed that, since she’d accepted that the baby was about to be born, the contractions had actually increased in pace as well as intensity. She moaned and leaned forward, gripping Rocco’s hand in a death grip as yet another intense pain moved over her belly and across her back.

“Damn you!” she gasped, trying to breathe through the pain. “Rocco why couldn’t you just leave those handcuffs alone!” she grouched. She knew the exact time when she’d conceived this baby and she wasn’t going to let him ignore his part in it.

Rocco laughed gently. “I don’t think the handcuffs were the issue when this baby was conceived.”

“Next time, I get to use them on you!”

Rocco looked up into the mirror, noticed Stu’s stiff expression and knew that his head of security was finding all of this highly amusing. “Honey, it wouldn’t matter if the handcuffs were on me or you. The result would be the same.”

She closed her eyes tightly as yet another contraction washed over her. When it was finished, she breathed deeply, trying to fight the pain. “Yes, but next time, I’m going to handcuff you to the bed and walk away so this won’t ever happen again.”

Rocco chuckled and shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a realistic possibility.”

She glared back at him, bracing against the window and his shoulder as yet another contraction started to move up over her tummy. “Oh yea? Just try me!”

Rocco didn’t bother to laugh this time, but instead, reached down lower to massage her back. “Oh, that feels wonderful,” she said, moaning as the pain
became almost more than she could bear.

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?” he asked, his strong hands rubbing against the pain, doing what he could to help her through the contraction.

She moaned, unable to answer for a moment and Rocco’s eyes changed from amused to worried. “How much farther until we reach the hospital?” he demanded of Stu.

“Thirty seconds,” he said and turned the
corner, pulling up to the emergency room entrance where he’d already alerted the staff to expect them.

Rocco jumped out first,
then ran around to the other side to help Brianna out of the vehicle. “Take it slow, love,” he said and practically lifted her out of the seat and put her onto the wheel chair.

She
groaned as the pain rocked her body again. Rocco looked at the obstetrician. “Why is she like this?” Rocco demanded.

The obstetrician put a hand on Brianna’s belly and looked at his watch, all the while urging the orderly to wheel her into the delivery room. “This is normal, Mr. Antoniv. She’s just farther along in the delivery stage than we like
to intervene.”

“What do you mean? She just started her contractions!”

The man shook his head, helping when the orderlies lifted Brianna onto the delivery table. She was quickly changed out of the evening gown and put into a hospital gown. “Your wife is having contractions one on top of the other.” He watched carefully as the nurse strapped the monitor onto her protruding belly and moved in for his examination. Rocco watched in amazement and confusion as the doctor scrubbed his hands thoroughly while he called out instructions to the nurses, all of whom were putting things in place, readying the room for the delivery of his child.

“What do
you mean? She just started her contractions about five minutes ago.” The doctor shook his head. “She started these contractions probably five or six hours ago, sir.” He hesitated as he examined the patient who was obviously going through another contraction. “She’s ten centimeters dilated and she’s about to have this baby.”

Rocco spun around with that news and glared at his wife. “Brianna!” he growled, but took her hand, pushing her hair back. “We’re not finished with this discussion, my love,” he told her angrily.

“I know. But if you could just shut up for a few minutes...” but she couldn’t finish that statement as she screamed, the pain too intense to endure or even hide from Rocco.

Rocco held onto his gentle wife’s not-so-gentle grip as she endured yet another contraction. When it was over, he turned to the doctor who was now sitting at Brianna’s feet.
“Can’t she have an epidural or something to ease the pain?” he demanded of the doctor.

The doctor shook his head. “It’s too late for that. The baby is crowning now.” And he turned away to give more instructions to the nurses.

Rocco turned back to Brianna, smothering his anger at her for hiding something like this from him and talked her through the delivery. Later, he would laugh at how his sweet, gentle and always painfully kind wife was screaming at him all the things she was going to do to him when this was over. And he was impressed with her imagination. But while it was going on, he felt like his whole body was being torn apart right along with her. He hated seeing her in pain and would have traded places with her if it was possible. Instead, he held her hand, told her how beautiful she was and how strong. Two hours after entering the hospital, a small cry of fury erupted in the chaotic room and Rocco looked down at his first look at his son. The little guy was covered with blood and white, goopy stuff and he was writhing with anger, but in that moment, Rocco thought that there was nothing more perfect.

The nurses wrapped the baby up in a blanket and quickly wiped his face. They were about to take him away when he felt something on his arm. “Go with him,” Brianna was urging. She smiled at him, her sweet,
exhausted smile back and she looked about ready to pass out. But she was beautiful.

Rocco bent down and kissed her gently, holding her hand and not even aware that his own was shaking. “I love you,” he whispered in her ear.

“I love you too,” she said and leaned her head back. “Go take care of our son,” she said.

Rocco didn’t need any other urging. He walked over to the area where the nurses were checking his vital signs and giving him his first bath, the overhead lights warming his tiny body. “Do you want to hold him?” the nurse asked gently
when she was finished.

At first, he started to shake his head, afraid of holding anything so tiny and fragile. But the need to touch this miracle was too much and he finally nodded, unable to speak. The nurse wrapped the baby up in a clean blanket, put a hat over his
downy head and handed the tiny little man to Rocco, showing him how to hold the child’s head carefully.

Holding the baby close,
Rocco walked over to Brianna who was also being cleaned up. As he approached, he laid the baby down in her arms, holding his son’s head and looking down at him as if he were something amazing, which he was.

“He’s beautiful,” she whispered.

The nurses and doctor slowly moved out of the room while the mother and father watched their new son sleep. “Yes. He’s perfect,” Rocco said softly. “You’re perfect.”

Brianna laughed and shook her head, leaning against his shoulder as if she needed contact with him even in the midst of this chaos. “Thank you,” she sighed.

He smiled slightly, running a finger over his son’s perfect cheek. “Does that mean I can use the handcuffs again?” he asked her.

Brianna couldn’t stop the snort of laughter and she hugged her son closer, not bothering to answer her wonderful husband.