Sold to the Hitman: A Bad Boy Mafia Romance Novel (16 page)

I
wake
up from a pleasant dream just past midnight to a horrifying, loud crack followed by the sounds of glass shattering. I sit up ramrod straight in bed, looking around in terror. For a moment, some part of my brain tries to dismiss the sounds as psychosomatic, just figments of my hazy, sleepy mind. But then the bedroom door bursts open and Andrei comes bolting in. Blinking my eyes in the low light, I can just make out his grim expression and panicked eyes. I have never seen him look like this. Andrei is never afraid. Never.

As he rushes to my side I grab for him and ask, “What was that? What happened? I heard a horrible noise — ”

“Nothing,
printsessa
, but I need you to get up and put on some warm clothes for me, okay? It’s time for us to go,” Andrei says, helping me out of bed and running to grab me a sweater and a coat. As I ease into the sleeves of the sweater, struggling to pull it closed over my bulging stomach in my nightdress and warm leggings, I look up at him in confusion. The clock reads 12:17. Where would we possibly have to go in the middle of the night? What is going on?

“Where are we going?”

Andrei yanks a duffel bag out of the closet and starts stuffing random sweaters and pants into it — all winter clothing, though it isn’t even that cool outside anymore. He doesn’t answer me as he hurriedly tosses a pair of boots my way and squishes several thick scarves into the bag.

“Andrei!” I cry, stomping my foot. “What are we doing?”

“Put on the boots,” he says simply, not even looking up.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I fight the urge to just give in and submit to his order, standing my ground. This is insane!

“Not until you tell me what’s going on.”

Finally he looks over at me, fixing me with one of those cold, hard glares. A chill runs down my spine. I know he is angry — even if the anger isn’t actually directed at me.

“Cassie. Please. We need to leave, now.”

His voice is low and deliberate, and I sigh, sitting down to pull on the boots. Andrei opens a box in the back of the closet, one I have never noticed before, and withdraws a little blue booklet, along with a manila folder filled with some official-looking documents. He stuffs these items into the front zipper pocket of the duffel bag, as well as a thick wad of hundred dollar bills.

“What is all that for?” I demand to know, running up to him and trying to unzip the bag.

Andrei catches me in his arms and holds me by the shoulders, peering into my eyes.

“You have to trust me,
lapochka
. It is my job to keep you safe, and I will do exactly that. But you have to listen to me and do as I say,” he explains softly. Suddenly I am truly afraid. Keep me safe? From what?

“Okay,” I reply weakly.

Andrei grabs the duffel bag, takes me by the hand, and leads me quickly out of the bedroom into the living room. There is a loud zinging noise as something impossibly small and fast whizzes by just in front of us, putting a hole in the wall. I scream and fall back into Andrei’s arms, my heart racing.

“Wh-what was that?” I ask, my eyes huge.

Andrei holds me close and covers me with his body as we rush out of the apartment, down the hall, and into the elevator. I’m still shaking when we reach the ground floor lobby, Andrei nearly carrying me as we run out to his Corvette in the parking garage.

“Andrei!” I shout, tears in my eyes. “I’m scared! Please tell me what is happening!”

“There’s no time,” he says flatly, easing me into the back seat and throwing the duffel bag in the trunk. I put my hands protectively over my pregnant belly, looking out the windows.

“Why can’t I sit up there with you?” I ask, leaning over the console as Andrei slides into the driver’s seat and starts the engine. We peel out of the parking garage just as another car zooms out of a spot just a few rows away and quickly falls in behind us.

“Get down!” Andrei shouts, spinning the wheel so that the car turns a sharp corner, slinging me back into the seat. “Lay down on the seat! Don’t sit up for anything, don’t look out the windows!”

I fall back on my side, curling my legs up to my belly and wrapping my arms around the unborn child inside me, whispering nonsensical words of comfort to him as though he could hear me. We fly around corners so fast that I feel the tires come up off the road slightly, the Corvette drifting around hairpin turns. It occurs to me that Andrei is trying to shake off someone who is tailing us.

Somebody is chasing us.

Probably the same people who fired into our living room.

“What are we gonna do?” I whimper, tears rolling down my cheeks.

“You’re going someplace safe,
moya lyubova
. Don’t you worry.”

“Who’s after us?”

“Bad people. You don’t need to think about that. Just focus on yourself and that little baby, okay? I promise everything will work out, just trust me.”

Finally, the wild, sudden turns give way to an engine-roaring, pedal-to-the-floor increase in speed as we shoot straight forward down what I assume is a highway. I know we’ve got to be driving at least thirty over the speed limit, but Andrei doesn’t slow the car at all.

“Did we lose them?” I ask, sounding very frail and terrified.

“For now, yes. But we have to hurry,” Andrei answers. Then, in a more serious tone, he continues. “Listen to me,
malyshka
. I am going to take care of everything. You’re going ahead of me, and I know you’ll be scared, but just know that I will be right behind you. Everything is already set up and you have nothing to worry about. They already know you’re coming —”

“They? Who? Where?” I ask, sitting up in the seat against Andrei’s orders.

I see that we are pulling down a dirt road, barreling along the narrow path through the thick trees, branches scraping the sides of the Corvette. Andrei doesn’t seem to care; he is completely focused on the road ahead. Finally the car screeches to a stop in front of a small building with a massive black concrete field behind it. Peeking through the trees is what looks to be… a small airplane.

“No,” I murmur under my breath. Andrei leaps out of the car, takes the duffel bag out of the trunk, and starts wheeling it away, beckoning for me to follow.

I reluctantly get out of the car and hurry after him, holding my belly.

“
Mi
prishli
, Pavel!” he calls out as we run to the little concrete structure. A short, squat, bespectacled man with receding brown hair and a bearded face full of laugh lines peeks out of the door, gesturing for us to hurry inside.

“
Toropis
!” the man barks at us. “Come on!”

He ushers us in, takes the duffel bag, and starts waddling away toward the plane outside. But then suddenly he turns around and does a double-take, blinking rapidly as he looks me up and down. He adjusts his tiny, round-frame glasses and then frowns at me, shaking his head. He folds his arms over his chest and gives Andrei a dubious look.

“What is it? We have to hurry!” Andrei hisses at him, his large frame towering over Pavel’s in an almost comical way.

But the older man clucks his tongue. “
Gospodin
Petrov
, you know I cannot fly her.”

Andrei rounds on him, aggressively reaching for the man’s collar, but Pavel moves out of the way and points accusingly at me — more specifically, at my pregnant belly.

“
Slishkom
opasno
! She is too
beremenna
! Bad for the baby!” Pavel exclaims.

Andrei’s face hardens and he looks at me with panic in his eyes.

“Are you sure? Is there really no way?” he asks.

The smaller man shakes his head. “Not safe,
moy drug
. I cannot take her in good conscience. The flight to
Sibir
is long and hard.”

“
Sibir
?” I repeat, the word falling from my mouth awkwardly. Then it dawns on me. “Siberia? You’re sending me to Yakutsk?” I shout, backing away and holding my arms over my stomach instinctively.

Andrei hurries forward to take me in his arms, even though I fight him in vain. He pulls me close and kisses the top of my head, soothing me with his stroking hands.

“You would have been safe there to wait for my return, Cassie,” he assures me. Then, looking over at Pavel, he asks, “Is there no other choice? Is there nowhere else?”

Pavel sighs and puts his hands on his hips, tapping his foot thoughtfully. “Well, I might have someplace you could go, for now.
Moya sestra
… she has a commercial property just north of here off the interstate. A warehouse.
Pustoy
. Funding fell through and now it’s just sitting there, unused.” He gives some directions in Russian I can’t even begin to follow.

Andrei is already nodding and leading me out of the building to the car. He calls over his shoulder, “And you will tell her we’re coming?”

“
Da
,
da
. Of course,” Pavel calls in response, waving his hand dismissively.

We get back into the car and speed away down the dirt road back to the highway, crossing quickly onto the interstate. It only takes us half an hour to reach our destination, and it is a pure miracle that we aren’t pulled over for speeding on the way.

Finally breaking my silence as he pulls me out of the car and guides me toward the big, looming gray warehouse, I spit, “You were going to just send me away like my parents did?”

Andrei looks at me with genuine hurt in his eyes, and I immediately regret my accusatory tone. Shifting the duffel bag on his shoulder as he opens a weather-beaten side door, he answers quietly, “No, Cassie. I would never do that to you. I would have followed you there once it was safe to do so.”

“Safe from what?” I press him.

He closes the door behind us and flicks a light on. After a second of flickering hesitation, a fluorescent light hums to light far overhead. It’s still quite dim, but at least now we can see where we’re going. The huge building is musty and eerie, completely abandoned yet clean enough to indicate that someone still intends to make something of it. There are big boxes stacked in ten-foot piles, and Andrei leads me toward what looks to be a tiny, nondescript office.

Once inside the office room, he sits me down on a dusty swivel chair and finally answers my question. “Cassie,
moya printsessa
, there are bad people who want to hurt me… and you.”

“Who are they?” I ask, my heart pounding.

“I’m sure you have guessed by now that I do not have a, ahh, traditional job.”

I cock my head to the side and look at him critically. “I know that sometimes you leave in the night and come back in the morning looking… different.”

Andrei stares down at the ugly brown carpet. “Yes.”

“I always worried that it might be something dangerous.”

“Yes.”

I pause, searching his face for answers. I am scared to ask anything else, scared to shatter the quickly-dilapidating illusion of our stability, our happy life together.

“Andrei, just tell me. What is going on?”

Finally, he looks up and meets my eyes. He looks impossibly sad.

“
Ubiytsa
. That is the word for what I am.” The word is heavy, but I don’t understand it.

“But what does that mean?” I press, my hands absently rubbing my belly.

“It means that for many years I have killed men for money,” Andrei answers simply.

My heart stops for a split second and I feel myself go cold, my head turning fuzzy, as though I might faint. Surely he doesn’t mean that. It’s ridiculous. My Andrei, my Prince Charming, my doting husband — he cannot be a cold-blooded murderer.

“No… that’s not true. It can’t be,” I say, my voice scarcely above a whisper.

Andrei nods slowly. “Yes, Cassie. It is true. I am sorry for keeping it from you, but I did not want to involve you, and I did not want you to fear me.”

“Fear you?” I repeat, starting to cry. “I… I am starting to wonder if I even
know
you.”

He looks paralyzed with remorse, with hurt. But I cannot take back what I’ve said.

“No, no,
malyshka
, you know me. The real me. I swear to you I have never shown anyone the side of me that you have seen. And you have changed me for the better,” he says quickly, moving forward to kneel in front of me, reaching for my hands.

I snatch them away and he looks heartbroken.

“How can I trust you, knowing that you have committed the most terrible sins?” I ask him honestly. “You are the father of my child, this little innocent inside me. But you… you hurt people for a living?
Kill
them?”

“Only the bad ones, I swear. And I have found my calling, Cassie. I have vowed to protect those who are good, who are victims, and those who are innocent. Like our son.”

I look at him hard, weighing his words against the screaming voice in my head telling me to condemn him, to turn away and never look back.

But I can’t do that. Because I love him. And because he is right: I do know him. I know the real Andrei Petrov, the man who rescued me from that awful basement and made me happier than I’ve ever been. I never told him but I’d heard the things the people in that crowd were saying to me, and now I have the understanding to know what they meant. They wanted to assault me, to hurt me. They laughed about it. But Andrei has never even raised his voice to me, even though I’ve been abandoned by everyone else I know and love. There’s no one to protect me from him, but I’ve never needed protection from him.

He is the man I have been waiting for, even though I never knew it. And I must accept him, no matter what, as he has accepted me.

“I swear to you, Cassie, I only do this now to rid the world of evil. I want to make the world a safer place for our child to grow up in. I want to shield you from pain and danger, and I will never stop protecting you, no matter what. Please let me prove myself to you.”

“You don’t have to,” I reply. “I know exactly what you are.”

There is a long pause before I take a deep breath and continue.

“You are my husband. And I will follow you anywhere. I took a vow, Andrei, and I will not turn my back on that promise. I love you more than you can ever know, and I will stay with you through thick and thin. But you must swear to me one thing.”