Two Months. Three Weeks. Six Days.
Shit between my brother’s club and the family have been getting crazier by the day. Uncle Viktor is out for Stavros and I have no idea why. Whenever I ask about it, he tells me to mind my own business since I didn’t want to handle it originally.
He’s just pissed that Stavros is finally hitting him back with full force. Just last week Stavros had his men kill three of ours in order to keep their shipment from being taken. Part of me doesn’t blame them. We are all in the same war. We fight to keep our shit locked down for a reason.
When someone tries to take over your territory, it makes you look weak if they get a shipment or two. Stavros is anything but weak. He does what he has to in order to make a name for himself. Walking into the house after being gone most of the day, I see a piece of paper on the counter. Grabbing it, I see my name written on it. I open it and see a little note written by Ivelisse.
I love you more today than I did yesterday. You have no idea how much you mean to me, but I can show you. Xoxo Ivey
I make my way through the house and finally find her in the master bathroom. She’s lying in the jetted tub with her eyes closed and soft music playing. I start to strip out of my clothes and when I start to walk towards her, she finally opens her eyes. “Hey, baby,” she says sounding tired.
“Scoot up.” She does as I ask and I slip in right behind her. She rests her head against my chest as I wrap my arms around her. She sighs as I kiss the top of her head. “I got your note on the counter,” I murmur in her ear.
She turns her head to look at me and I see the smile on her lips. She grabs my hands and moves them down to her stomach. I leave them where she wants them and close my eyes. Just sitting in this tub with her right now is so fucking relaxing. I could do this every night if I had her in my arms.
“So you know how I thought I had the flu?” she asks. I kiss right below her ear and answer her with a yes. “Well, I finally made it to the doctors and they said it isn’t the flu.” My eyebrows furrow as I try to piece together what she’s saying. “I’m pregnant.”
She turns so she can see my face and I just stare at her with my mouth wide open. “Are you kidding me?” I ask dumbfounded. I can’t even get a logical thought out of my head right now.
“The doctor confirmed it today.” She grins at me. Her eyes tear up and she looks ready to start crying at any minute. Wrapping my arms around her, I pull her to me and kiss her stomach. Her laughter fills the room and I store this moment away.
“I fucking love you, doll,” I rasp. “How far along are you?” I need to know more about the baby.
“He said a little over three months.” I put my hand on her stomach and just hold it there. I still can’t fucking believe it.
“Are you happy?” I ask. I stare into her eyes and see something I’ve never seen in them before.
“You have no idea how happy I am.” Her grin is wide and I can’t help but kiss her over and over again. “I love you, Nikolai.”
Standing up in the tub, I pull her up with me and grab a towel, wrapping it around her body. She steps out of the tub and I grab another towel and wrap it around my waist. As I make my way towards her, I see her sway. For the last few weeks, she’s been getting sick constantly and sleeping crazy amounts of hours.
For a while, she claimed that she had nothing else to do but sleep since I wouldn’t let her work at the bar anymore. I called bullshit on that, but then she started getting sick so we chalked it up to the flu. But now that we know she’s pregnant, I can’t wait to meet this little one.
Although watching Harlyn give birth was an experience, I can’t wait to see my kid born.
Grabbing her hips, I steady her and walk her to the bed. Her eyes are half closed as I help her get under the covers on my side. She cuddles up under the covers and closes her eyes. “You going to be okay while I do some work for a few hours?” I ask.
She doesn’t even open her eyes as she nods her head yes. I kiss her forehead before making my way to the dresser to pull on a pair of sweats. During the walk to the office, the only thing I can think about is getting more security on Ivelisse. I won’t take any precautions with her or the baby.
What I haven’t told her is that we are gearing up for a war against her family. I was supposed to take out her brother, but I didn’t. My uncle is pissed, but after the little talk I had with Alec Franco after the wedding, I know who put him up to the rat in Ivelisse’s bag. My uncle is playing a game with me and he’s about to find out I don’t play by the rules, especially now that she’s pregnant.
I’ll be using her family as a reason to take my uncle out. It’s about time he gave up the reigns to the family. He’s only out for himself now and that is no way for the boss to act. We fight for the family and not against each other.
I grab my cell and dial Ilias’ number. As I wait for him to answer, I can’t help but think about the baby that I helped create. A little life that I will be responsible for, another reason to get the family under my control.
“Hey, boss,” he answers on the third ring.
“Hey, Ilias. I need you to help me with a plan,” he mutters something to someone in the background, but I could care less. He knows the rules better than anyone and is the go-to man for any hits we have. I have him on my side for a reason. I knew that when the time came to take my uncle out, he’d be the best man for the job.
“What do you need?” he asks.
“Not over the phone. Come to the house and we can talk about it.” He says he’s on his way as he hangs up. Leaning back in my chair, I stare at the photo next to my laptop. It’s from our wedding night. Ivelisse looks perfect with her white dress and a huge smile. She has her arms wrapped around me as she’s smiling up at me.
I don’t even remember anyone taking photos of us, but it truly is my favorite photo of the two of us. We both look happy. Happier than any other arranged marriages I’ve ever been to for the family. Typically the bride looks ready to cry, as the groom is getting drunk with the family, but not us. We both have wide smiles on our faces as we look at each other.
I hear the knock on the front door, so I check the security camera and see Ilias standing there waiting for me to answer it. As I get to the door, I open it and wait for him to walk inside. “It’s not like you to not talk over the line, boss. Everything okay?”
“Yeah, just a more delicate matter. Come to my office and we can talk details.” He nods his head and follows me to my office. Once we are shut inside, I tell him my plan.
“As you know, there is a hit out for my wife’s brother. Viktor wants me to pull the trigger, but I won’t do it. He’s now family and I won’t risk my marriage for whatever vendetta he’s trying to settle by killing Leif.” He nods his head but doesn’t say anything. I didn’t expect him to, but I also respect his judgment.
“Viktor is starting a war for no reason. He wants to take out members of their family and destroy the peace agreement we have come to. I don’t want that. I have a pregnant wife to worry about.” He raises an eyebrow at me and stops me.
“She’s pregnant?”
“Yeah, three months. Don’t let word out about it. I don’t want Viktor getting any more ideas right now.” He won’t allow her to have my child. Ever since we got married, I’ve heard nonstop shit about her being the daughter of Petrus Salvi. Uncle Viktor is the reason I am even married to her in the first place. I would have gladly just kept fucking her without anyone in the family knowing. My dirty, best-kept secret.
“You know I don’t say shit to him. He’s a loose cannon and even my father wasn’t completely with him before he passed.” He stares at me for a second, almost like he’s trying to wrap his head around something. “So you called me here to tell me that you’re going to be a dad or that you want Viktor’s head on a stake?”
“Both,” I answer calmly. I should be anything but calm right now, but I don’t even care anymore. I’m trying to protect the family even if Viktor isn’t anymore. I’ve given my life over to them and for once they are going to listen to me.
“You want to take out your uncle,” he states again warily.
“Yes. I want that bastard gone. He’s the one behind the rat in Ivelisse’s bag at the wedding. He’s been trying to ruin this shit before it was even started. If I tell him she’s pregnant, you and I both know he’s going to come up with some damn plan to ruin it.”
“You think he’d really do that shit to you?” His question is something I’ve considered.
“Yeah. He hasn’t been really on board with this since after he told me to marry her. I have a feeling he has other plans for her, but I don’t leave her alone long enough for him to make a move on her.”
“Fuck.” he mutters. “You are wanting to take out your uncle.” He shakes his head and runs his hand over his short beard. “There isn’t another way? I mean, this is going to cause war in our own family.” He looks over at me and I see the questioning look on his face.
He doesn’t want this shit falling back on him and I don’t blame him, but I won’t let something happen to Ivelisse or our child because of my uncle and his selfishness. “We aren’t doing anything right this minute. We still have time to get others on board with this. If we get the majority, then there won’t be much backlash,” I state. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t need to. I know exactly what he’s thinking because I’ve thought about the same thing.
I have to be sure about doing this. If I take him out without the majority vote, the family won’t think twice about taking me out too.
“We won’t do anything yet, but know that if he comes near my wife again, I won’t hesitate to put a bullet in his head. I want you as my right hand when the time comes. You and I have been a team for a long time and I want to keep it that way.” I watch his eyes and they tell me all I need to know.