Bloodlines: A Bad Boy Secret Baby Romance (The Snake Eyes Series Book 4) (16 page)

“Where is he going?”

He glances up at me but doesn’t answer as he moves onto my other hand with a fresh towel. While I am sheltered, I understand silence very well. This kind can only mean one thing but I’ve seen my fair share of death tonight.

“He helped you save us,” I say.

“There’s more to it than that.”

Of that, I have no doubt. I fall quiet and Luka finishes wiping the blood off of my fingers. He looks up and studies my face.

“Hold still,” he says, moving the towel to my cheeks.

I lean into his touch as he cleans me up. I haven’t glanced in a mirror all night. I can only imagine the horror I must look like but Luka’s eyes show nothing of it. Unlike Yuri, who seems ready to scream at the very sight of me.

Luka lays a red-covered towel into the sink and I cringe as he grabs a fresh one.

There was so much blood…

“You’re going to be okay, Sofia,” Luka whispers at me, his eyes fixed on mine. “You’re both safe now.”

He wipes the towel down my neck, taking his time with a gentle touch. Pink water stains the basin each time he wrings the towel out and I can’t pull my eyes away from it.

“He’ll come looking for me,” I say, my voice shaking.

Luka pauses. “Maybe,” he nods. “But where we’re going, he’ll need an army to get to you. I won’t let that happen.”

“How long until we land?”

“A few hours.” He looks down. “We’ll find you some clothes when we do.”

I follow his eyes and glance at my dress, stained through and ruined.

“Rosalie made this one…” I mutter without thinking. “She really liked sewing…”

“Sofia…” Luka cups my face with his hands as a rock grows in my throat. “Look at me.”

I close my eyes, squeezing them together to hold back the tears fighting to bleed through.

Everything shakes. Just one slip and I’ll fall to pieces but I can’t do that right now. Lucian needs me to be strong but I don’t know how I can be when I can’t even remember how to breathe.

Luka draws his thumb beneath my eye, banishing a tear as it slips out. “Look at me,
lyubov’ moya,
” he whispers.

I open my eyes and he stares back at me with the same eyes as our son; the same eyes I fell in love with the day he was born.

Luka fills his lungs, breathing in the stale, almost nonexistent air, and he waits for me to do the same. I inhale a shaking breath and he blows his out through his lips.

“Just like that,” he says. “That’s how we stay alive.”

I nod and take another deep breath, feeling his calloused hands warm my cheeks.

“It’s not over until we can’t do that anymore. I won’t stop fighting for you until my last breath, Sofia. And I promise you… that I will make Gio Zappia suffer until his.”

The lump shrinks in my throat. I don’t think I’ve ever trusted anybody or anything as much as I trust him in this moment.

Luka Lutrova. The Russian mobster. The father of my child. Our savior.

Luka moves to stand and I reach out to stop him. He pauses, gazing back at me and I can’t help myself. I kiss him softly and he instantly pulls me in, cupping my face to hold me there as our lips blend together.

I stand and he rises with me. His hands fall to my hips, drawing me closer to his wide frame and I melt against him as he leans me back against the wall.

A cry rings out, traveling over the rumbling engine and my motherly instincts kick in. “Lucian…” I whisper, pulling my lips from Luka’s.

Luka smiles, stealing one more quick kiss from me before taking a short step back and sliding the door open.

I step out, instantly feeling the cold air on my face as I dart down the aisle to my seat. Lucian stands up and raises his arms at me, begging to be held and I reach for him.

“Shh,” I soothe into his ear. “It’s okay.”

We pace back and forth in the aisle and Lucian’s voice calms more and more with each step I take. I look around, feeling their eyes on me. Yuri still can’t maintain eye contact with me for very long but he glances hard at Lucian, no doubt just realizing that he’s an uncle.

Fox keeps a somber expression, seemingly unfazed by everything around him. Something tells me he’s been through far more uncomfortable situations than this.

I step towards him, balancing Lucian in my left arm, and pause above his shoulder. “Thank you,” I tell him. “Whoever you are.”

I extend my hand towards him and Luka steps behind me.

“Sofia…” he says, his voice uneasy.

Fox’s eyes shift from mine to Luka’s, but he takes my hand. His grip is soft and restrained, just like his eyes. There’s so much hidden beneath the surface but he shows me enough to make me think twice about distrusting him.

“You’re welcome,” he says.

I return to my seat with Lucian and Luka follows us like a shadow, taking the chair beside me with hard, protective eyes.

***

“Bozhe moi!”

Nina Lutrova places her hand over her heart the second we walk through the front door. She glares down at us from the stairwell in a blue, silk robe, her eyes hopping from face-to-face, from Luka to Yuri and me to Fox. Then, finally, to Lucian yawning quietly in my arms.

“Yuri…?”

“Oh, no,”
he says, shaking his head at Luka. “Don’t look at me.”

Luka keeps his grip on my hand and she notices, her eyebrow popping upward. “Ma…”

“Wait—”
She holds up a hand to silence him. “I have a feeling your father should hear this.”

She takes off down the hall and Yuri walks away with her. Fox lingers behind with us, obviously as hesitant as I am to wander through the Lutrova family estate.

Luka looks at me and offers a reassuring smile. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Is it?” I ask.

He squeezes my hand a little tighter and steps forward, leading me down the hall and he gestures at Fox to follow along with us.

My eyes scan the dark entryway as we push forward. Several guards stand scattered in the halls as we pass by, as armed and alert as the ones back in Italy. The walls are practically bare with minimal decorations compared to the Zappia estate, but I say that with great appreciation. I always hated how flamboyant and colorful everything was there, almost like it was all a clever ruse to hide the darkness within. At least the Lutrovas seem to own their reputation as a notorious crime family.

Nina and Yuri disappear into a room down the hall and I instantly hear the quick chatter of voices but there’s not nearly enough time to prepare Nikolai Lutrova for what he’s about to see walking through his house in the middle of the night.

We arrive in the doorway and he looks up at us from his desk with great confusion.

“What is she doing here?” he barks, letting his hands flip back and forth in the air.

Luka pulls me into the room with him. “She needs help.”

“Where is Giovani? Does he know she’s here?”

“Pops…” Luka pauses, his voice falling but I don’t blame him. I have no idea where to start with any of this either.

“I left, sir,” I say. Nikolai and Nina draw sudden breaths at the sound of my voice. I suppose I’ve never spoken to either of them before now. “I ask for asylum.”

Nikolai shakes his head. “From what?”

Luka steps forward. “Gio tried to kill her,” he says.

Nina looks down at my blood-stained dress. “Why?”

Yuri glances at me from his spot against the wall behind his father’s desk, his eyes quickly falling on Lucian before descending right back down to the floor.

“It doesn’t matter
why,
” Nikolai says. “Send her back.”

“No,” Luka says.

He jolts out of his chair and takes wide strides around the desk towards us. “You brought a Zappia girl here?” he growls at Luka with wide eyes. “Are you
mad
?”

“They’re not going back.”

“Luka…” he pauses, talking at him as if I’m not even here. “Zappia family matters are none of our concern. Never have been, never will be.
We do not interfere with their way.
”

“Niko…”
Nina says, staring at the bruise on my cheek.

“You went there to talk to Gio;
to get his help
,” he continues, his voice growing louder. “Not to take his wife and kidnap his child—”

“The child is mine,” Luka says.

Nikolai falls silent and looks at me, the sheer force of his eyes nearly enough to knock me off my toes. He spins around and puts several angry paces between us.

Nina steps forward, her eyes full of shock. “This boy is my grandchild?” she asks.

“Yes,” Luka answers.

“Are you
sure
?”

“Just look at him, Ma.”

She moves slowly closer to me, her eyes fixed on Lucian the whole time. I shift my arm and he raises his head with curiosity as Nina studies his face.

“My god…”
she whispers, blinking once.

“Gio found out,” Luka explains. “Then he killed Rosalie and went after Sofia. I stopped him.”

“You
stopped
him?” Nikolai spits. “And I suppose he let you leave
peacefully
with them after that?”

“Not exactly.”

Nikolai grits his teeth, flexing his jaw in anger as he shifts back and forth on his feet. He looks behind us at Fox. “And who the hell are you?”

Fox hesitates and scratches once at the scar on his cheek. “I helped.”

Luka takes a deep breath. “Pops—”

Nikolai holds up his hand. “Luka, I don’t—”

“There’s more.”

He freezes and his jaw sags. “There’s
more
?”

Nina lays a hand on my shoulder. “Come with me, Sofia,” she says. “Let’s get you some clean clothes.”

“Nina—”

“Niko,”
she counters, firing a hard look at him. “She’s been through enough.”

He backs down, staring at me for a quick second before nodding.

She looks up at Luka, hinting at him to release my hand and we let go of each other.

“It’s okay,” she says to me, smiling softly at Lucian. “Come on.”

We make it halfway down the hall before the shouting begins.

Chapter 18

Luka

“I need to you to tell me, Luka…” my father says, his lips barely moving. “What the hell is wrong with you?”

I don’t answer. Doing so would only admit guilt in his eyes. I refuse to feel guilty about any of this.

He turns towards the windows and Yuri flinches. “Did you know about this?”

“No,” Yuri says. “He told me today.”

“For three years, you’ve kept this from them, Luka? For three years, Gio has raised a child that’s not his own?”

I shake my head. “I didn’t know he was mine until yesterday.”

His face turns a bright red. “You slept with another man’s
wife
!”

“She wasn’t…” I pause, struggling to keep calm. “Sofia was unhappy. She didn’t want to marry him but she didn’t have a choice. They
never
gave her a choice.”

“And you thought
this
would change that?”

“No. But she asked me… she wanted a baby. One that wasn’t Gio’s. It was the only way she could think of to—”

“Not only did you deceive our friend…” he spits, “you did it
on purpose
?”

“Giovani Zappia is
not
our friend,” I say. “He planned to take us down.”

“What are you talking about?”

“He ordered the hit on Hans Petrovin; made it look like
me
to spark a war in Russia.”

He scoffs. “That is
bullshit
, Luka.”

“Then he tried to have me killed when he found out about Lucian and I couldn’t leave Sofia behind to suffer the same.”

“I don’t blame him after what you kept from him.
From all of us!
”

“You’re really going to convict
me
for keeping secrets, Pops?”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

I glance at Fox and look back at my father. “Why didn’t you tell us about
Snake Eyes
?”

He closes his mouth, silently fuming as he stares back at me. Finally, his eyes shift and they land on Fox and his black tactical gear. “I suppose that’s who you are, then?”

“Yes, sir,” Fox says.

My father nods and turns around.

“You knew this whole time,” I say. “You knew who they were and what they did and you just let them do whatever they wanted in your city.”

“Of course, I did,” he sighs. “I protected my family. That’s what a father does.”

“Oh, I
know
,” I nod.

He shakes his head and points a stiff finger at me. “Don’t get
smart
with me, Luka. You’ve known your child for
one day
. Do not pretend that makes you a father. You have
no idea
what being a father really is!”

“I know what it’s
not
,” I say. “It’s not
bowing down
like a coward to the damn
Zappias
while they march through Moscow.”

He squints at me. “A
coward
?”