ROMAN
The following couple of weeks pass in peace, and one afternoon I find myself standing at the window of our beachfront hideaway villa, watching Iris sleep on the chaise lounge on the covered patio, Hunter by her side. Despite the tropical heat, she’s wrapped in a light blanket, her swollen ankles elevated on pillows, and I fucking hate that her condition is something none of us can fix. That it’s such a danger to her, and we’re forced to hide in this paradise that we should be able to enjoy, but instead we’re all poised, waiting for the next disaster. The blood pressure monitor beside her shows readings that I don’t like, Andrei having trained us all in what is okay and what isn’t.
Looking back at her beautiful face, I can see that it’s puffy, another warning sign of the preeclampsia that threatens both her and the baby. I swallow hard, my mind racing with all the things that could go wrong.
“She finally sleeping?” Rowan asks, approaching with two cups of coffee. I swear it’s the only thing keeping me awake as I use my hacking skills to try to discover anything about Sergi and what he might be planning, but I’m at a bit of a dead end, nothing new coming to light, or that I can access here anyway.
I accept a cup with a nod of thanks. “For now. The medication helps, but her blood pressure keeps spiking.” His brows dip down, his eyes looking out the window at our soulmate. I lower my voice, though I doubt she can hear me through what I know is bulletproof glass. The Knights don’t fuck around. “We need more Labetalol. Andrei says what we have won’t last another week.”
“Shit. Hunter’s still recovering from the last supply run.” Rowan’s eyes drift over Hunt, the arm on his good side wrapped around Iris as they rest together in the late afternoon breeze.
Taking a sip of my coffee, I steel myself to tell my brother of the decision I already made. “I have contacts in Singapore. People who don’t know about my connection to Nik or the organisation. People who have more intel than I can get trapped here. Plus, I can get more medication, enough for the next few months, if need be.”
“It’s too dangerous. If Sergi has people watching the ports—”
“It’s a calculated risk. I can be there and back in two days. Besides…” I pull out my phone, showing him a text thread. “My contact says there’s chatter. Sergi’s people are moving equipment. We need to know what he’s fucking planning because whatever it is, it won’t be good for Iris or our baby.”
“Nik won’t like it.” Rowan sucks in a breath, but I know he’s already agreeing with my plan, for Iris’s sake. “Plus, I don’t think any of us should go anywhere alone.”
“Nik’s busy coordinating with Alexei for New Year’s. We need this intel and we need more medication. Two birds, one stone,” I reply. “And I’ll take the kid with me. Sergi doesn’t know him, so he’s the best choice.”
“Nik won’t like what?” the man in question asks, and I turn to face him, my jaw set.
“I’m going to Singapore, taking Bubby, and will meet up with one of my contacts, plus get more of Iris’s medication.”
“Oh, are you now, Lev?” His tone is dark, full of danger as he prowls towards me.
“Yes.” I don’t elaborate. I know he heard my argument, and I can see in his brown eyes he knows it’s a necessary trip, even if there’s a risk.
He reaches me, moves into my personal space, his gaze locked on mine. Then his hand reaches out, grabbing the back of my neck as his shoulders slump. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
“I won’t, Love.”
“Don’t get fucking caught.”
“Pinkie promise I’ll be careful.”
He brings our foreheads close, both of us shutting our eyes. “And for the love of god, don’t get shot.”
The neon lights of Singapore’s Boat Quay reflect off wet pavement as I slide into a booth at a run-down hole in the wall across from my cousin, Azazeal, one-third of The Fallen and one of the best intel gathers in the world.
“You look like shit, Roman,” Azazeal says, his Irish accent rolling over me as he slides a thumb drive across the table. We’ve been chatting a lot on and off since we first met when Sergi had Iris locked up, and I’d like to think we’re almost friends now. “I hope she’s worth it.”
“Just wait until you find the love of your life, Az.” He snorts a rude sound, as if that is something he finds ridiculous. I transfer payment via my secure phone. We may be family, but nothing for The Fallen comes for free. I’m just lucky he decided on this and not another favour. “This everything?”
He raises a dark brown brow at me. “Everything I could find on Sergi Petrov’s recent activities. Shipping manifests, personnel movements, equipment purchases.” Az leans forward, his eyes dark in the low light. Jesus, he can be scary, and I don’t frighten easily, but there’s something about him that is…disconcerting. “He’s gained military-grade surveillance tech. Satellite access, long-range thermal imaging. The kind of stuff governments use.”
I keep my expression neutral despite the chill that runs down my spine, making all the hair on my body stand on end. “Anything else?”
“He’s put out feelers to private military contractors specialising in extraction operations. The kind where they don’t ask questions about consent.” Az hesitates, and I know that what he just said isn’t the worst of it. “There’s something else. He’s been upgrading his medical equipment. More advanced fetal monitors. Special incubators. The stuff you’d need for a high-risk premature birth.”
All the blood in my body runs cold. “When was this?”
“Started a few weeks ago, but ramped up three days ago with rush orders. He’s preparing for something specific.”
Fuck.
FUCK.
He must somehow know about Iris, about the preeclampsia, and is planning to take her again, maybe even force the birth somehow.
Nausea swirls in my gut as I give Az a nod and stand up to leave. He gets up too and offers me his hand. As I take it, he wraps his other around my forearm, pulling me closer. “We may not know one another as well as we should, as well as we might have had our lives been different, but family is family, Roman. You call me if you need help and I will be there.”
A lump forms in my throat as I dip my head.
“Thank you, Az.” He makes that rude sound in his throat again.
“Not sure I gave you permission for a nickname, cuz,” he states but gives me a half smile before releasing me and walking away, melting into the darkness.
Back at my hotel room, I upload the data Az gave me from the thumb drive, encrypting it to send to Nik so he has all the information as soon as possible. My phone pings next to me on the bed with a notification from our island security system. A package delivery.
I open the security feed to see a small wooden box sitting on our doorstep with no delivery person in sight. We don’t get any packages or mail. No one should know we’re on that island, aside from the Black Knights. So how the fuck did it even get on the island, let alone outside the front door?
My heart thuds inside my chest as I dial Rowan while scrolling back through the feed, but there’s nothing. The box isn’t there, and then it is. Someone has messed with our systems.
“Roman, you need to get back here,” my twin says without preamble, his voice tight.
“The package—”
“It’s from Sergi,” he cuts me off. There must have been a delay in my receiving the notification because it seems he knows more than I do. “It’s… Fuck, just get back here.”
