With This Secret

I dialed my father’s number, and moved aside to speak privately to him. “Where is she?”

There was a moment of silence, and I shut my eyes.

“She’s at a warehouse in Brooklyn. I’ve just sent the location to Mikhail. Go quickly. Maxim is already on his way there.”

I jumped into the car, fear coiled up in the pit of my stomach and we were on our way.

50

Bianca

I rushed to my father’s side.

His face was turned towards me, and with each moment that passed his breathing grew more and more shallow. He was dying.

My face was soaked with tears and so were his.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

I brushed my hands softly over his bald, bloodied head, and placed a trembling, wet kiss on it. He had saved me.

Bogdan had been a breath away from raping me, when he used up the last bit of strength he had and somehow, through his own pain he set himself free, picked up the heavy metal chair, and swung it so ferociously at Bogdan’s head I heard his skull crack.

The consequences were deadly.

Bogdan’s men heard the sound of their boss screaming, and immediately burst in. They instantly fired, hitting my father in the stomach and he had collapsed to the ground next to Bogdan.

Frantically, I tore strips of my clothes and tried to tie up his wound so the bleeding would stop, but the material was getting thoroughly soaked and blood was seeping out from my makeshift bandage.

He was dying.

“Don’t die, Dad,” I whispered, but he was too gone to hear me.

Bogdan’s men appeared confused when we all suddenly heard a deafening commotion beyond the warehouse. The few men left inside with us instantly hurried out, their guns cocked, their steps pounding against the concrete floor. There were shouts outside in Russian, and when a gunshot rang out, I kissed my father’s bloodied cheek, and put my ear to listen to the faint sound of his almost undetectable breathing.

Tears poured down my cheeks.

I wanted to move my father away from this terrible place, but I knew that if I did, he wouldn’t make it anywhere. I’d seen enough movies to know that a gunshot wound to the stomach was deadly. I looked ahead to the mangled chair he had broken upon Bogdan’s head, and thought perhaps I should finish the job now. My head said kill Bogdan and end it all, but my heart was afraid that if I left my father’s side, someone might come in and shoot him. So I moved as close as I could to him, and as carefully as I could, put my body over his as a shield.

Another gun went off, the sound reverberating and bouncing off the walls of the massive space. I shut my eyes, and prayed for us both, too afraid to look beyond.

Perhaps Maxim had found a way to send someone after me. I turned around then, too afraid to hope and watched the door. As I stared at it, someone burst through.

I heard his voice before I saw him.

“Bianca!” he called.

For a moment, I was certain I was hallucinating. He couldn’t be here!

“Bianca!” he called again.

“Levan? Levan!” I screamed and rushed to my feet. I ran towards him.

He caught me and held me tightly in his arms. All I could do was sob, the choking sounds emanating from my throat sounded like I was dying.

“Baby,” he muttered as he held tightly onto me, my head cradled in his hand. “Sweetheart, it’s alright. I’m here, you’ll be fine.”

I pulled away. “My dad,” I said and pulled him towards my father. “We need to get him out of here. Right now! He’s been shot and he’s losing a lot of blood …” My voice broke. “I’m afraid he might not make it.”

“Viktor!” Levan roared as we hurried over to my father.

I crouched next to my father as Levan inspected the injury.

“It’s bad but he’ll live,” he said to me, before he called out to more of his men, “Mikhail! Olav, he needs to be taken to a hospital right now.”

I watched as they all lifted my father carefully and carried him out of the warehouse. I went with them, trying my best to keep calm but it was close to impossible. We passed four bodies on the floor. They were bleeding out. I recognized them as Bogdan’s men and barely gave them a second thought.

The moment they got him in the car, Levan caught me and pulled me along to another vehicle.

At that moment, two more SUV’s drove up. Maxim came out of one of them. He walked over to us. “Is he still in there?” he asked his brother.

“Yes.”

“Good. I will take care of it all from here.” Then he looked at me and gave a small smile. “You did well. Now can I have the bracelet back?”