Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 103852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 103852 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 519(@200wpm)___ 415(@250wpm)___ 346(@300wpm)
And she hates that. She doesn’t like the fact that her son looks like me.
“Jeremy it is.” I keep my frustration out of my voice. While it’s hard for most people to hide their emotions, I learned from my deranged parents how to perfect it.
“Thank you.” Lia smiles at me, then at him, and he fusses a little before his shrill crying fills the room. She coos at him, but he won’t stop throwing a fit.
A nurse with black skin and curly hair peeking from under her cap stands by my wife’s side. “Are you going to breastfeed or use formula?”
“She’s tired,” I say. “She should rest.”
“No. I want to breastfeed.” Lia lowers the sheet, revealing her full breasts and the engorged pink nipples that have been changing noticeably over the last trimester.
I probably shouldn’t think of them as erotic when they’re in that state for the baby, but still.
Handling Jeremy carefully, Lia places his mouth at a nipple and nature takes its course as he sucks on it. Lia strokes his head, then kisses it softly, carefully, as if she’s afraid to hurt him. “Mommy loves you so much, my angel.”
The nurse smiles with apparent awe while she covers Lia.
I feel like an intruder watching the mother and son bonding, and something in my chest aches. It’s probably the pathetic boy in me whom I thought I squashed a long time ago.
My own mother never looked at me the way Lia looks at Jeremy. I only had that affection from Aunt Annika, and even she was brutally ripped out of my life.
That’s what happens to people like me. We never get anything good. It’s payback for all the shit we’ve done in our lifetime.
We remain like that for a while as the nurse cleans Lia up before covering her in a thicker duvet. Jeremy soon falls asleep, and when the nurse attempts to take him away so she can rest, Lia shakes her head.
I sit on the bed beside Lia and she stiffens when I wrap my arm around the both of them.
“What are you doing?” she whispers.
“What does it look like I’m doing? I’m being a part of this family.”
She purses her lips, but instead of talking back to me, she focuses on Jeremy, who has just released her breast, his tiny lips moving in his sleep.
My phone vibrates in my pocket and I retrieve it, absentmindedly rejecting Kolya’s call to focus on my wife and son.
I like that. My wife and son.
Kolya calls again, and I know he wouldn’t do it twice in a row unless something’s up. I answer, “What is it?”
There’s a sound of gunshots echoing from his end. “The Rozettis are here, Boss, and they want vengeance for that kill in Lazlo’s club.”
Fuck.
I jerk up and wrap a thick blanket around Lia. She yelps, her pupils growing into saucers as she holds Jeremy closer to her.
“Which exit is safe?” I ask Kolya.
“A. Yan and Boris are on their way to you.”
“How many?”
“A fucking army, Boss. They knew this would be their perfect opportunity.”
“How many are with you?”
“Six, but I can manage until backup arrives.”
“Keep me updated.”
I shove the phone in my pocket and retrieve an earpiece that my guards use for internal communication and strap it to my ear.
After tapping it to connect to Yan, I grab my gun and tighten the blanket around a wide-eyed Lia and Jeremy, then carry them in my arms.
The nurses’ faces pale, but they know to remain quiet. It’s Lia who gasps. “What’s going on?”
“We’re under attack. I need you to hold Jeremy close, got it?”
She doesn’t need me to tell her twice as she folds around him, shielding him with her body.
“Boss!” Yan barges inside, droplets of red covering his face as he pants. “Now.”
I listen in for the safe exits on the intercom as Yan leads the way and Boris covers our back.
Lia trembles in my arms, her lips quivering and her eyes shifty. This is the last thing a woman who just gave birth should go through, and I will make the Rozettis pay for this with blood.
“Don’t worry, Lenochka.” I try to make my voice as calm as possible as we descend the stairs. “I’ll protect you.”
She doesn’t even show a reaction to hearing me as she holds Jeremy with shaking hands.
Soon after, we reach the parking lot. A few armed men intercept us and Yan shoots one. Lia shrieks, and I fire my gun while still holding her and hit another motherfucker in the chest.
Yan hurries to the car, and we hide behind another one until he brings it around. Boris covers me as I slide to the back with Lia and Jeremy cradled on my lap. Boris slams the door shut and Yan is already taking off before the other guard is properly inside.