Page 65 of Ripping the Odds

“Oh.” Lennon frowned.

“Bummer.”

“Listen, Pru, just because you’ve found your happily ever after, doesn’t mean the rest of us will.”

The electronic voice announcing our arrival on the fourth floor interrupted my rebuttal. Our bodyguards exited one by one. Alexsei held up his hand, keeping us in the metal box while they scanned the perimeter. Once it was deemed safe, he waved us out.

Kent’s room was the last one at the end of the hallway. There was a group of men congregating outside his door. To my surprise, Zak stood in the center with Dimitri right beside him.

“Have faith, little sister. Your future could be right in front of you.”

Zakhar

The doctor just finished giving me an update when I heard her voice. Pru. The love of my life, the light to my darkness. She was also the woman who would be devastated when she found out one of my men died at the fundraiser. That’s where I’d been when she thought I was at the office. I was at the funeral home planning a burial.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were going to work?”

“Hey, baby.” I smiled, wrapping her up in a hug. “You ready to see Kent?”

“Okay. I’ll see your avoidance and raise you a favor to be named at a later date.”

“Ha. She’s got your number, Gangster.”

“That she does.”

“You all need to prepare yourselves,” Dimi explained. “The surgeon wanted absolute rest for the next twenty-four hours, so he’s sedated and on a ventilator.”

Pru and I went first. Her hand spasmed in mine as soon as we walked into Kent’s room. Whether it was from her own painful memories resurfacing or from the sheer number of machines and wires he was connected to, I didn’t know which. It was quiet except for the steady beep of the heart monitor and the whoosh-click of the breathing machine pushing oxygen into his lungs.

“He looks pale.” She stood at the side of the bed, her knuckles white from how hard her fingers gripped the railing.

“He lost a lot of blood, baby.”

“What did the doctor say?”

“They repaired the damage to his kidney, but they’ll continue to monitor its function. He may still lose it down the line.”

“Does he have any family?” She looked at me with red-rimmed eyes.

“His parents are on the way. They boarded a flight from Oregon an hour ago.”

“Good. He won’t be alone.”

What she didn’t know was that one of my men would be outside of his room around the clock. It was a sign of respect, not because he was in any danger. The hospital bills would also be taken care of. Whatever his insurance didn’t pay, I’d personally cover from my own account. Kent risked his life while protecting the woman I loved. That was a debt I’d never be able to repay.

A few minutes later, we reunited with the rest of our group out in the hallway. Daria and Lennon immediately folded my girl into their embrace. Nodding to my men, they each lifted their chins in acknowledgement of my unspoken command to watch the trio. Dimi leaned against the far wall, his legs extended, feet crossed at the ankles. I joined him there. To everyone else, he may have appeared relaxed. He wasn’t. He was riding the edge. We both were. But the cause of our stress would be eliminated soon.

“When are you going to tell her?” He asked.

“About Frank or our trip?”

“Take your pick.”

“When we get home. I’ll explain everything there.”

The trip he spoke of wasn’t a trip at all. We knew Victor’s location. My brothers and I were going hunting. Pru wouldn’t be upset that I was leaving for the night, she’d be upset because I wouldn’t be able to tell her where I was going or why. It was safer that way. Plausible deniability, like she’d said before.

We may have excised ourselves from most illegal activity, but at our roots, we were Bratva. The old rules still applied. Blood for blood. We’d spill it to protect what was ours. My uncle didn’t understand the concept. He was selfish. Always had been. He could never garner loyalty among his men because he refused to give it in return. Victor only thought about Victor, no one else. And that was his greatest weakness.