Watching Her: A Dark Romance (Keep Me Series Book 3)

by Angela Snyder

  I walk along the hallways, looking for some sort of storage or locker room that the doctors and nurses use. When I find it, I walk in like I own the place. I've learned over the years that's the best way to keep people from asking questions or thinking you don't belong.

  I quickly make my way inside and shut the door behind me.

  Flicking on the lights, I search the lockers until I find what I need — an extra pair of surgeon's scrubs. I tuck them under my shirt and grab some other things while I'm at it — a mask, boot covers, and blue latex gloves.

  Shoving everything under my shirt and doing my best to make it look like I'm suddenly six months pregnant, I open the door just a crack to make sure the coast is clear. When I see that it is, I slip out of the room and walk with purpose out of the emergency room doors and back to the parking lot.

  When I reach the SUV, Lucien is so close to losing his shit it frightens me. His breathing is labored, harsh. He's on the verge of a panic attack, but I hope that I can help him in time before he has a total mental breakdown.

  I pull the clothes out from under my shirt and hold them out. Lucien looks up at me, and I give him a small, reassuring smile. "Jax told me a little bit about your…issues," I tell him softly. "I think these might help."

  He stares at the contents in my arms. "Where exactly did you get all of this…or should I ask how did you get all of this?"

  I cock my brow and say, "I have my ways." Then, I instruct him with a stern tone, "Hurry. Put them on."

  Grabbing the set of scrubs first, he slides them over his clothes. Next, he slips on the boot covers and puts the mask over his face. As he breathes through the mask, his features instantly relax.

  Mind over matter, as they say. And I needed to trick his mind to make him feel better. I'm just glad it actually worked.

  Lastly, he grabs the blue, latex gloves and puts them on. Glancing at me, he says, "Thank you." And I can tell he truly means it.

  "You're welcome. Now, let's go see how your girl is doing."

  CHAPTER 38

  KATYA

  AFTER A COUPLE of days of sleeping in the waiting room, I'm worn out and on edge. Jackson has barely slept, and I know that for a fact since every time I wake up, he's awake. His eyes are bloodshot, and he looks like he hasn't slept for over a week. Although, I'm sure we all look like that at this point.

  "I'm going for coffee," I announce to the room since Jackson has barely spoken to me in the past forty-eight hours…or maybe it's been even longer than that at this point.

  All he's concerned with right now is Adeline, and I can't help but be jealous of that fact. Even though he assured me that Lucien and Adeline are together and getting engaged, something is…off. It's hard to believe he cares that much for a girl who is just a friend.

  I walk out of the waiting room without so much as a single word from Jackson. And by the time I reach the small kitchen at the end of the hall, I am seething to the point that my entire body is shaking. I'm sure it's lack of sleep…and food…and everything else that has me so on edge, but I'm ready to walk out of this hospital and never look back.

  "Katya?" someone calls.

  I grip my empty Styrofoam coffee cup in my hand and turn to the voice. A petite, blonde girl stands several feet away, and it's almost like looking in a mirror…except from a few years ago.

  She's the girl from the pictures Wraith showed me.

  The cup falls out of my hand and bounces to the tile floor with a hollow sound. My fingers tremble as I bring them up to my lips, covering my mouth to silence the sob threatening to escape.

  "Katya, it's really you, isn't it?" the girl asks me.

  I nod, unable to believe my eyes. "Senga?" I gasp.

  When the young girl nods, I can't hold back anymore. I run towards her, throwing my arms around her and hugging her so tightly that I'm probably scaring the poor girl. "Sestra," I whisper in her ear. Sister.

  I pull back and hold her out at arm's reach, my eyes scanning her. She looks healthy, glowing, in fact, like the angel she always was. She looks the same as when I left her but completely different all at the same time. It's so hard to explain.

  "I can't believe it," I cry. It's as if the years that we were apart have completely vanished, and I finally have a piece of my soul back. "I've missed you. So much," I choke out, allowing my emotions to overcome me.

  My little sister reaches up and wipes away my tears with her thumbs. She's being strong. For me. I've been so damn strong for so damn long that it's nice for someone else to take the burden for once.

  "I've missed you too. You have no idea."

  Taking a step back, I quickly compose myself, drying my tears. My eyes never leave my sister. I'm afraid that, if I blink too hard, she'll disappear from this room.

  "How did you…how did you find me?" I ask the most obvious question.

  She points to the camera in the corner of the ceiling. "Facial recognition software. I got word that the Bratva was coming for you. But since I was already here in the States, I knew I could get to you first, warn you and take you somewhere you'll be safe. With me," she says with a big smile.

  I knew it was stupid for me to be in such a public place with a huge bounty on my head, but I figured I'd be safe as long as I was with Jackson. Lot of good that did me, I tell myself.

  "If we leave now, we can disappear, get you underground before they come looking for you," Senga says, grasping my hand in hers. "But we have to leave right this minute," she adds.

  I nod at her in understanding. I only have a certain window to escape. Now that the Bratva know where I am, they'll have no trouble tracking my every move. It's only a matter of time before they find me…and kill me.

  She pulls me towards her, and I follow. But then I stop in my tracks. "My…my friend," I stammer, not even knowing what to refer to Jackson as anymore.

  "There's no time, Katya. They could be here any minute."

  "But —."

  Senga stops and stares at me with a stern look on her face. "Do you really want your friends to be involved and get hurt?" she asks with a raised, blonde brow.

  Shaking my head, she nods in satisfaction. Then she says, "Let's go," with so much authority that I have to wonder if this really is the little sister I left behind in Russia all those years ago.

  On the way through the hospital and out a side door exit, three men that I didn't even know were there begin to follow us. Nervously, I tighten my grip on my sister's hand, but she simply says, "They're with me."

  I can't help the small tug in the corner of my lips. My little sister turned into a little bad ass while I was gone, and I couldn't be prouder.

  All those years I had worried that she was under my papa's rule or maybe that she had run away and was living…or dying…on the streets.

  But I obviously had no reason to worry. Senga appears to be just fine. She looks healthy and doesn't have a haunted look in her gaze that I've seen more times than I can count in my own reflection. She turned out all right after all, and I couldn't have asked for anything more than that.

  We escape into a dark sedan with two men climbing in the front and the other man in the back with Senga and me. The man narrows his eyes suspiciously at me, but then quickly averts his gaze when Senga clears her throat.

  I glance around the back of the fancy car and at the large muscle occupying most of the car. An uneasy feeling starts to fill my stomach, and no matter what I do, I can't tamp it down.

  "So…these are your hired men?" I ask my sister.

  "Yes," she states simply.

  But how did she get the money for…all of this? And why has she been living in the United States? When did she leave our mother and father behind?

  The questions swirl around in my mind, but I have a feeling I'm not going to like the answers I receive. And I know now that I should have asked them before I got in the car.

  "Is there any way I could borrow your phone?" I ask, trying to keep my voice calm. I could call the hospital and ask them t
o page Jax. Just letting him know where I am and who I'm with would make me feel a hell of a lot better. "I would like to tell my friend why I left the hospital so suddenly," I explain to her.

  Senga gives me a sweet smile. "I left my phone back at the safe house, but I'll let you use it as soon as we get there."

  I nod, accepting her response, but not fully trusting her…yet.

  And as I stare out the window as the city passes us by, I have a sinking feeling that I somehow made a mistake in trusting her at all.

  CHAPTER 39

  JACKSON

  STARING OUT THE window in the waiting room has become my new favorite pastime. It was reading the magazines on the coffee table…until Lucien informed me how many germs are littered on each and every filthy, disgusting page.

  Shit, my cousin drives me insane sometimes.

  But right now I feel sorry for the guy. He's going through hell and back while he's waiting for Adeline to wake up. Turns out she was pregnant with twins. One of the babies didn't make it, but the other one is still fighting. I just hope he or she can survive, because Lucien and Adeline would be devastated over losing the other one too.

  The knowledge of them having a baby together and seeing the ultrasound with my own two eyes further confirms that I have no business meddling in their relationship. I need to get my shit together and tell Katya how I really feel about her and stop pushing her away just because I'm sulking over something that was never mine to begin with.

  Adeline was Lucien's the moment she stepped foot in the door. She owned him — heart, body and soul — from the start. And now I'm starting to think that it wasn't so much Adeline that I wanted, but more so their relationship. The intimacy of what they have is what I crave. I just deflected it upon Adeline; and, thus, my sort of obsession for her continued to grow.

  But after reflecting for the past couple of days, I know what I want now. And what I want has been gone for thirty minutes I realize as I glance at my watch. Katya's never taken this long before to get coffee, but maybe she also went for a walk.

  Sighing, I stand up and stretch my arms up over my head. Wraith is crashed out in a large recliner in the corner of the room — the only chair big enough to hold his hulking form. His snoring ends abruptly and he jolts awake when I walk past him. Fuck, he's always on alert…even in his sleep.

  "I'm just going to find Katya," I tell him.

  He gives me a nod and closes his eyes once more. His snoring amplifies as I walk down the hall. Fuck, he could wake the dead. No wonder I haven't gotten any damn sleep.

  When I get a few feet from the cafeteria, I find it empty except for a single Styrofoam cup lying in the middle of the floor. Narrowing my eyes on the cup, I pick it up and throw it away.

  "Katya?" I call, thinking she might be nearby. I make a circle in the surrounding hallways, but there's no sign of her. I check the bathrooms on this floor, but they're all empty…except for an old man, who forgot to lock the goddamn door.

  "Sorry!" I call out before shielding my eyes and slamming the door shut. Shuddering, I tell myself I'll never get that image of old man ass out of my head again.

  Feeling frustrated…and slightly sick…I go back to the waiting room. Wraith is asleep again and snoring; the sound a cross between a freight train and a chainsaw.

  "Wake up, Wraith. I can't find Katya."

  Instantly, the deafening sound cuts off as Wraith sits up in the recliner. "She's gone?"

  "No. I mean, I don't think so anyway." My hand goes to the back of my sore neck from sleeping in a cramped up position and rubs. "She probably just went to stretch her legs or something, but…" I'm worried. I don't know why I can't say the words out loud.

  Maybe because it shows how vulnerable you feel right now? Maybe because it shows everyone around you that you care for someone, and that scares the fuck out of you?

  Fuck, that voice in the back of my mind is always fucking right. I've been treating Katya like shit over the past couple of days because she scared me half to death when she disappeared on me and went with Wraith when we raided that house. I thought the worst. I thought she was dead.

  And when I saw her again and she gave me attitude, I just snapped on her. I shut her out, and I know now that was a mistake. She doesn't deserve to be shut out, especially not right now when we're in a strange place…literally and figuratively.

  I need to tell her how I really feel and stop being a goddamn pussy about it. I need to tell her that…I think I love her — no, scratch that. Not that I think I love her. That I really do love her. Like love, love and all that happy rainbows, sunshine, puppies and shit that you see in romance movies.

  "Is she still wearing the anklet you gave her?" Wraith asks, breaking me out of my thoughts.

  The anklet! Fuck, I didn't even think about that. "You're a genius, Wraith." I pull out my cell phone and bring up the app Lucien installed on it. I haven't needed to use it before now, but I just might need to track Katya down. I need to know that she's just on another floor of the hospital…maybe in the gift shop or something…and not missing.

  But my worst fear comes to fruition when I realize her location is not in the hospital…or the gift shop…or anywhere near this fucking place. She's miles away, in a car most likely, heading upstate.

  "Fuck!" I hiss.

  "What? What's wrong?"

  "She's gone. She fucking left." I can't fucking believe it. The only other woman I've allowed myself to love since my mother, and she left me too…just like I always thought she would. It's my biggest fear coming to life and unfolding right before my eyes.

  Wraith takes a moment to digest my words. And then he offers, "Or she was taken."

  A cold chill runs up my spine at his words. Of course, there's a bounty on her head. I hadn't even considered that she wouldn't be safe here with us, but I should have. I should have been more careful.

  "Shit," I whisper. "We have to go check the security footage to find out for sure. Come on," I tell him, grabbing my coat and booking it out the door.

  Wraith follows me as we get in an elevator and head to the security office on the first floor. After some convincing and pleading, one of the guards finally allows us to watch the camera footage on the tenth floor.

  He fast forwards until I finally spot Katya's image. "Stop! Right there! Play it," I tell him quickly.

  He grumbles under his breath, but plays the damn tape.

  We all watch with bated breath as a blonde girl steps into the frame. We can only see the side of her face, but the reaction from Katya gives her identity away in a heartbeat. As the cup falls out of Katya's hand and she goes running to embrace the tinier version of herself, I tell Wraith, "That's Senga. Her sister."

  He nods in agreement.

  We watch in silence until they leave together. Katya looks unsure, hesitant, but she goes with her sister anyway. Senga must have lied to her, and now I feel bad for not following up on more leads and finding out what happened to her sister over the past few years. I feel even worse for not telling Katya that her sister is a criminal. Perhaps she wouldn't have gone with her so willingly had I spilled the beans in the first place.

  "Do you think Senga could be involved with the Bratva?" I ask him point-blank.

  "Anything is possible," he answers cryptically.

  Given her criminal history, I'm not willing to bet money on the fact that she's not involved somehow. And I'm certainly not willing to bet Katya's life on it.

  "Well, I have to go find her just in case she's in trouble," I say. "I don't think that Katya's long-lost sister showed up after all these years just to take her sightseeing."

  Wraith tells me, "I'm going with you." And then he asks, "Should we tell Lucien we're leaving?"

  I shake my head. "He has enough to deal with right now. I'll text him on the way just in case things get out of hand up there."

  While we walk out of the hospital, I can't help but feel an overwhelming burning sensation in my chest. If anything happens to Katya, I'll never be
able to forgive myself. I've been pushing her away ever since I met her, but it's only because I'm afraid of getting hurt. I ended up hurting her in the long run. And if she gets hurt…or worse, I may never get to tell her how I really feel about her, about us.

  And that would kill me.

  CHAPTER 40

  KATYA

  AFTER DRIVING FOR a while, we finally arrive at our destination. It's a dilapidated farm on the outskirts of the city. Weeds are overgrown on every part of the property with broken down farm equipment and pickup trucks scattered about. At one point in time, this farm probably was really beautiful; but now it looks like an apocalyptic mess.

  "It's not much," Senga says, "but I only use this farm when I need to hide."

  Why would she need to hide? I ponder internally.

  I've seen a change in my little sister during the ride here; and quite frankly, I don't like it. She seems distant now, as if she's on an entirely different planet.

  I try to brush the feeling off, thinking maybe she thinks the exact same thing about me. I mean, it has been over a decade since we've seen each other. It's not like our reunion was going to be as if time had stood still all those years ago and we would unite with a bond as strong as we once had.

  The car pulls in front of the barn, and the back door is opened by yet another muscular man that could compete in professional wrestling.

  How many men does my sister have working for her? I think to myself as I climb out of the back of the car.

  Grabbing me by my elbow the moment I step out of the car, the man whirls me around, pushes me up against the body of the car and starts patting me down.

  "Oh, Franc, is that really necessary?" my sister asks with a smirk on her face as she steps out.

  I notice that she doesn't stop him, though, and Franc continues with his pat down. Seemingly satisfied that I'm not packing any kind of heat, he takes a step back and gives Senga a nod.

  "Sorry," she tells me with a wave of her hand. "My men are protective of me." She gives Franc a pat on his muscular chest like he's some kind of pet to her. "Sometimes too protective."