IRIS
“We should move out, get Iris and the baby some medical attention,” Andrei states, and I sigh, knowing that he’s right but also not wanting to move now that all my guys are here.
Our son has stopped feeding and is fast asleep in my arms, and although I am a little reluctant to let him go, I don’t think I can get up and hold him.
“Nik?” I question, and my beautiful Russian looks up at me, his eyes red-rimmed but somehow at peace.
“Yes, Malyshka?”
“Can you take your top off and then hold our son for me, please?” I watch as various emotions play across his face, the main one being uncertainty, which has his brows wrinkling. “He needs skin to skin, and I can’t hold him and get up.”
He takes a deep breath, then with a nod, strips his tactical vest off, then his black long-sleeved shirt until his torso is bare, his tattoos on show. With arms that tremble slightly, he reaches out, and I part the blanket, transferring our son into his arms.
His entire body tenses for a second, and then melts as he pulls him closer, our baby not stirring as he settles into Nik’s body.
“I was thinking we could call him Novak,” I say, and Nik’s eyes dart up to mine. “I read it means new, and he’s our new beginning. Our fresh start.”
Nik swallows hard, his eyes going glassy as he gives a nod. “It’s a beautiful name. A strong name.”
Heat radiates through my chest, my limbs feeling light as the others help me up, Roman helping me back into my knickers and leggings, with a wad of gauze because yeah, things are hella messy down there.
“Fuck, Evangeline is not happy,” I hiss as my poor pussy throbs.
“Don’t worry, I’ll kiss her better later,” Rowan whispers in my ear, and my eyes widen, my mouth dropping open. He rolls his eyes with a laugh. “Don’t pretend that you’re not a little intrigued.”
I shut my mouth with a clack, and he just gives me a knowing look. I mean, I’m not horny at all, like no dicks shall pass for a while, but the idea of his tongue soothing the ache…maybe.
Nik places a soft kiss on Novak’s head, then passes him back to me. “Thank you, Solnishko.”
“Okay,” Hunt says, gaining all our attention. “Just in case there are any stragglers, we’re going to take this slow and with Iris, Novak, and Bubby in the centre. Myself and Roman will take point, then Andrei and Dima, with Nik and Rowan covering our backs. Understood?”
“Yes, sir, Daddy, sir!” Roman says, saluting, and I giggle, which makes something run between my legs. My nose wrinkles.
Hunt rolls his eyes. “Let’s move out.”
We make our way back the way we came, towards the service entrance, all the guys with guns in their hands and their eyes darting around us, looking for any signs of a threat. My heart pounds inside my chest, my arms tight around Novak, who fusses a little like he can feel the tension in the air.
A breath of relief rushes out of me as we reach the door, and I blink, rearing my head back a little as Hunt opens it and morning light filters in. The distinctive bang of a gunshot fills my ears, something wet landing across my face in a splatter as someone hits me from the front, taking Novak and me down to the ground with them on top.
Other shots ring out, Novak’s wails filling my ears as I lie there stunned, a weight of a body on top of us.
“Iris! Fuck, Iris?” Roman’s frantic voice rushes out, and the weight is shifted, his worried face coming into view, although my eyelids feel sticky.
My heart races as I look around us, my eyes landing on the body that was on top of me.
“B–Bubby?” I ask in a whisper as Andrei kneels over the teen, whose neck is a mess of blood. His chest isn’t moving, his eyes dull and unseeing, and Andrei looks up at me, pain in his eyes as he shakes his head. “N–no.”
I get to my knees, still holding a screaming Novak as I shuffle over to Bubby, the younger brother I never had.
“He stepped in front of you, Iris. He saved you and Novak,” Hunt states, his voice thick as he drops to his knees next to me. “Fucking heroic bastard.”
“Hunt, he can’t…” I can’t even bring myself to say the words even as Andrei closes Bubby’s unseeing eyes. “Please.”
I’m rocking Novak, who has finally quietened, and I know that the stickiness on my face, that’s also covering a part of Novak, is Bubby’s blood.
Hunt’s arm comes around me as Roman kneels next to me, Rowan behind me and wrapping his arms around me as tears slip down my face.
“We were so close,” I whisper. “So close to freedom. He can’t just be gone.” A sob has me turning to Roman, tears streaming down his cheeks. “Oh, Ro.”
He turns to me, then buries his face into my neck, uncaring of the blood, and cries into me as Hunt encircles us in his arms, his own chest heaving. Rowan’s body shakes too, and we sob into each other, the loss just so shocking after we thought we had won.
“We should move,” Nik says after several moments, his voice full of emotion. I look up to see his cheeks are damp, his jaw clenched. “I will carry him, then we torch this hellhole.”
A fresh wave of tears falls from my eyes, but I nod, knowing that we must keep moving, just for now. We wipe our eyes; the guys helping me to stand while I clutch Novak to me, unable to let him go.
Nik tenderly picks up Bubby, and I pause him with a hand on his arm. With a lump in my throat and a broken heart, I lean over the teenager, giving his still warm lips a kiss. “Thank you, Dayton.”
Fresh tears land on his cheek, sliding off, and a sob breaks free from my lips, the grief raw and so fucking painful I can hardly breathe.
“Come on, Princess, let’s get out of here,” Roman says, his voice gruff. His arm comes around me, helping to lead me out of the door now that Andrei and Dima have made sure the coast is clear.
The freezing December air feels like it hardly touches me, and like an errant thought, it hits me: it’s Boxing Day, a day when people usually see family. In a few scant hours, we’ve added to our family but also lost a member, and I just don’t know how to process any of that.
We all get into the van, Nik holding Bubby like he’s something precious, which he is, even if he’s not here anymore to know it. I can’t stop the tears from falling, Roman the same. Hunt swallows repeatedly, his arm around me from the other side as Rowan sits across from us, his own emotion spilling over his cheeks every so often.
Nik finds a blanket, wrapping Bubby in it, and then placing him carefully in the second row of seats, using the seat belts to secure him. Then he comes to the back and gets in next to Rowan.
“Drive down to the front, would you, Dima?” Rowan asks in a thick voice, and I look up to find him holding his phone, his gaze fixed on the screen.
It doesn’t take long before we’re at the front gates, which are open, and Rowan instructs Dima to drive through them, stopping just as the mansion comes into view. I don’t suppress the gasp that falls from my lips, the front a mess with bits blown off.
“Alexei and his men have left. They’ve put Sergi’s men inside,” Rowan tells us, handing Nik his phone. “When you press that button, the explosives that I’ve laid throughout the ground floor will go off, igniting the accelerant that Alexei’s men added, and no more Petrov hellhole.”
Nik takes a deep inhale, then looks up at me.
“Do it, Nik. Eradicate his memory for good,” I say, my voice a rasp but unwavering.
With another deep breath, Nik looks out of the window at the mansion, then back at the screen and presses his thumb on it. Seconds later, an explosion rocks the van, and the mansion implodes, falling in itself, and fire engulfs the remains.
We stay and watch for a little while, after Rowan assured us that Alexei made sure no authorities would come to investigate. It’s cathartic, and even though my heart still aches for the loss we’ve suffered, a part of it is healed seeing the place of my nightmares is no more.
“Can we go home, please?” I ask quietly, and they all turn to look at me, Hunt’s face softening.
“After we get you and Novak checked out,” he insists, placing a kiss on the top of my head, and I sigh.
“I’ve organised for a private hospital to take you in, Iris,” Andrei says from the front, and I give him a grateful look. “So they will just check you over, and provided everything is okay, you can go home.”
“Thank you,” I tell him, my body weary and my heart sore.
Novak makes a cute baby sound, and I look down at him, in my arms, a fresh blanket over both of us. It still amazes me he’s finally here, even if the cost was higher than any of us knew it would be.
“Oh, I almost forgot,” Rowan interjects into the silence as we drive off, and I glance up at him. His face has that crazed smile I just know means something wild is about to happen, and honestly, I could use the distraction. “I got you something.”
My brows furrow as he reaches into one of his pockets and pulls out a clear plastic sandwich bag with what looks like raw meat in it. My eyes bug out of my fucking head when I make sense of what I’m seeing.
“Is that…”
“Sergi’s cock and balls, yep,” he states proudly, turning the bag and gazing lovingly at it. “I took them while he was awake, so he felt every slice.”
“Jesus fucking Christ, Rowan,” Hunt hisses next to me, shifting in his seat like he wants to protect his own manhood.
I giggle, and Rowan’s eyes light up. “Did he scream?”
“Like a fucking piggy.” Rowan beams, sitting up taller.
“What are you gonna do with them, brother?” Roman asks, his head resting on my shoulder, his arm across me, holding Novak too.
Rowan cants his head to the side, studying the bag. “Might pickle them for a bit, keep them on a shelf in my trophy room.”
“Trophy room?” I question, and he gives me a smirk.
“Of course. I mean, does it even count if you don’t take something from the body?”
A very unladylike bark of laughter escapes me. “I love you, Rowan Kent.”
“Love you too, Lamb,” he replies, tucking the bag back into his vest. “And once we get back, and you’ve rested up, I’ll show you my room. Tell you and Novak about all the wicked men I’ve sent to their deaths and how I did it.”
Some people might be appalled at his words. Some might even call him a danger to society. But if he’s making the earth a safer place for his family and everyone in it, is what he’s done really so bad?
In my books, no, but then again, maybe I just like my men a little morally grey.
