The Arrangement (Crimson Romance)

by Bethany-Kris

  Considering he was still on his fucking phone.

  Viviana didn’t really know what was going on, but it had to be something serious because from five o’clock in the morning on, Anton wasn’t at her side like he usually was before he left to go to the club. When she asked, he wouldn’t say.

  Irritated was an understatement.

  “Anton, hey, are you going to make that tasting or not?”

  Nothing.

  “No, that’s good. I don’t like that that’s where he wants to go, but I can’t say anything about it. He wants to be comfortable, right?” Anton paused in his spiel, his fingers coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose as he shook his head. “I don’t know, Ivan. I was lucky they stayed here as long as they did, honestly.”

  Viviana looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand as she put the clean sheets on their bed. Their time was running short and she still didn’t know anything about the day’s plans. Both of them needed to be out of the house within a few minutes or she wouldn’t make her doctor’s appointment. She had just managed to get that appointment an hour ago, too.

  Damn it, her heart was stuttering just thinking about it.

  In the midst of everything going on, Viviana had forgotten about something she shouldn’t have. She felt so incredibly stupid. They drank, and smoked …

  What if?

  Her thoughts were all but screaming.

  Finally, the conversation out in the hallway ended.

  “What, Viviana?” Her words seemed to catch in her throat at his exasperated voice. “Yes, I’ll make the tasting. We can pick up the invitations together after. You’ll have to go to the designer’s alone because Daniil got confirmation for his release from the hospital and he convinced Sasha to go back to their home. I promised to be there to get him settled. What else is there?”

  She blinked back at him, her hands splaying out to the comforter. Tears threatened to make an appearance, but she forced them back as a deep breath shuddered into her aching lungs. More than anything, she just wanted to blurt it out and see what would happen, but her nerves weren’t quite strong enough then.

  “Okay, thank you. That’s all I wanted to know. I’m going to the clinic first, so I might be a little late for the appointment with the designer. Can you call her and let her know; she likes you better and probably won’t bite your head off.”

  Anton didn’t move for a minute. “Why?”

  “I just said—”

  “No, why are you going to the clinic today? You should have told me you weren’t feeling well, Vine.”

  Something painful rolled through her stomach. One thing they had made clear between them was no more lying. Ever. If he couldn’t tell her something, he just wasn’t to say anything at all and she would get the point. This wasn’t even close to being the same thing and Viviana knew it.

  “I forgot to take my birth control shot.”

  The words were breathed below a whisper but they seemed to reach his spot, given the phone slipped out of his grasp with a clatter to the hardwood floor. Frozen like a statue, Anton didn’t even blink. In fact, Viviana was sure she didn’t see him breathe for a whole thirty seconds.

  “Say something, please.”

  A noise … that was all she got. A single noise.

  Viviana felt the need to explain. “I used to get appointment notifications from my doctor’s office in Toronto on my old phone, but Boris destroyed it. I’m so, so—”

  Another noise interrupted her, his heated gaze blazing into hers with a burn that had her aching.

  “Don’t apologize,” he said quietly.

  Relief washed over her. “I know I was supposed to get something set up here, but it just slipped my mind. I thought I’d have time.”

  “Stop.”

  “What?”

  Anton exhaled through his nose. “Just … stop. When did you figure it out?”

  “This morning. I was trying to work out the dates for the rehearsal and all that … then it clicked. I should have started my cycle two days ago. I’m pretty damned regular. Most girls don’t even get their period on the shot.”

  “We fucked last night. We’ve fucked every night for the last week.” A nod answered him back. That was about all she could give. Viviana didn’t need a verbal reminder of just how often they had sex; she was more than aware. “So, even if nothing shows up, it might still …”

  “Yeah.”

  The silence that answered back was almost painful. Anton’s gaze had turned to the wall behind her. Viviana finished making their bed and tossing the pillows back up in place before she grabbed her purse from the couch. She didn’t have time for him to let it sink in. The appointment was in thirty minutes and she would just make it in time.

  She bit her lip and shrugged. “It’s more than likely that nothing is going to come up. Chances are pretty slim. The shot is weird like that.” Even she didn’t believe what she was saying. “Anyway, we can talk about it tonight. I have to go, Anton.”

  With a nod, he stepped to the side and let her leave the bedroom. Viviana had just made it to the stairwell when she heard him clear his throat.

  “Wait …”

  Viviana turned to find him staring down at the floor where the phone had dropped. “Yeah?”

  “Do you not want to be?”

  “At all, or at this moment?” she asked back. “We talked about my feelings when it came to kids.”

  “No, I know. I just meant—”

  “Yes, eventually that’d be awesome. And even right now, if you were okay with it. There’s also the issue of smoking up and drinking. That kind of stuff isn’t okay when you’re …” Oh God, she couldn’t even force the word out. “It’s just not okay, Anton.”

  He opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She understood the confusion he must have felt, because turmoil had wrapped her heart all morning.

  “It’s a bad time,” Viviana said, waving like that was the best explanation she could give. “It’s great Daniil and Sasha want to go home and that you’re allowing it. I’ve asked you repeatedly to make accommodations for us to leave here and move into the Oceana house, but you refused. That tells me you don’t think it’s safe at all.”

  Anton swallowed, his fists dropping into his pockets as he looked up to the ceiling. “It isn’t. I haven’t been talking about it, but there’s a good chance Sonny dropped off the radar because something’s about to go down and he doesn’t want to be found after it happens.”

  “I don’t care.”

  Exasperation wrote lines over his face as he stared back. “This would be even more of a reason to stay here where security is in place.”

  Viviana pointed at a door three feet away that had been locked the entire duration of their stay. “What’s behind there?”

  “Nothing.” Anton cringed, eyeing the door before he corrected himself, “Nothing that’s for you to bother with.”

  “Don’t lie to me. There are two other rooms in this house that I can’t enter, too. Do not shovel bullshit at me. Sure, when we leave this place it will go to the Bratva and it’ll be out of our hands, but right now, it’s not. I want to go home. If you want to get serious about this …” she muttered, waving at her midsection because the word just didn’t feel okay to say, “then talk to me about going home.”

  Scooping up the phone off the floor, he dropped it into his pocket, and made his way down the hall. It didn’t matter now that she was likely going to be late for the appointment, not with the soft smile that played on his face filling her sight. Coming to stop beside her, a single finger found its way under her chin. His lips pressed softly to her cheek.

  “Okay, we’ll talk about going home.”

  “Just talk?”

  Grazing his thumb along her bottom lip, Anton said, “No, we’ll figure it out.”

  “I can’t get the shot today … in case, you know. We’ll have to wait a little while.”

  “I’ll pick condoms up.” Turning her face, she met his tender kiss. “I
’m sorry I was being difficult this morning. Daniil is … stubborn. Mom just wants him to be happy and comfortable.”

  “And so do you,” she pointed out gently.

  “Yes, but I want them safe and close, too. That’s why they had a private suite upstairs, despite the awkwardness at first. I had them close so I could keep my eye out in case someone got crazy ideas. Just like I keep you close.” Anton sighed before he added, “Please don’t do anything rash. Give me time and I’ll do whatever the hell you want. Shocked the fuck out of me for a minute … I wasn’t expecting to hear that for at least another couple of years, baby.”

  “I might not—”

  “But you might be,” he interrupted, his hand touched comfortingly on her back. “You’re trying to soften it like we’re teenagers here. I’m twenty-seven, not nineteen. This is okay.”

  “Just okay?”

  The feel of his mouth curving against her cheek told her more than he would say. Anton was ecstatic, he just wouldn’t admit it outright.

  “Great, Vine. Go to your appointment and call me the moment you find out anything. I promised Sasha and Daniil, plus I have to pick up something from one of my guys. Otherwise, I’d drop everything and go with you. I’m sorry. I’ll let the designer know you’re going to be late.”

  “I feel stupid,” she whispered. “I should have been keeping better track.”

  Again, Anton shrugged dismissively. “You were, but I came in and upset your life and the schedules you were keeping. It just happened. We’ll figure it all out. I’m not going to complain.”

  Thank God for that.

  Viviana was shrugging on her coat and opening the front door to the safe house when she heard Anton calling behind her.

  “Hey, you know how this goes. Rory needs to escort you and don’t forget Rocco.”

  “Anton, I don’t want him going in,” she said, eyes narrowing as he came around the corner of the hallway with their pup on his heels. “That’s private business. Rocco, on the other hand, can wait outside with him.”

  Crossing his arms over his broad chest, Anton’s challenging stare meet her defiant gaze. “Rory can stay in the waiting room. Everything remains private. Rocco will wait outside with the other two.”

  Viviana stared at him in total disbelief. “Come on, please?”

  “No. No one is going to know a thing, but you have to have at least one of them close by.”

  “No one is going to shoot me in broad daylight, Anton!” Just the look of pain that crossed his features had her backtracking. “I’m sorry, I just … fine. I’ll take Rory inside but I swear to God if he makes a move to go in the room with me I will cut off his balls.”

  A faint smile curved his lips before it disappeared. “You know why I’m doing this.”

  “I know.” Turning to grab Rocco’s collar off the designated hook, the pup was already bounding over and letting it slip over his thick neck. He took off out into the wide driveway when Viviana allowed him to, hearing the whistle of a bull outside. “I won’t be difficult if you promise to make good on your promise about going home.”

  “I’m a man of my word.”

  “Come on, princess … we haven’t got all day out here,” Rory said.

  Viviana frowned over her shoulder.

  “I’ll be happy when I can go somewhere without babysitters.”

  “Probably never going to happen; you just won’t know.”

  “Yeah, but I could handle that.”

  “Go,” Anton said, leaning down to kiss her mouth soundly. “You’re going to be late.”

  Outside, Rory waved at the SUV parked across the quiet street. Far too excited for her liking, he began to make grabbing motions at Viviana’s car keys. Rocco sniffed between her car and Anton’s with a vengeance. Sharp huffs of breath panted from the dog like he was catching something, drawing her attention in.

  “Let me drive, please,” Rory pleaded.

  “No way.”

  “You haven’t opened up that pretty thing in days. Let me be the one to do it properly.”

  That was sadly true. Despite how much she loved her Bentley, Viviana didn’t get to drive it as much as she wanted.

  “No.”

  Viviana unlocked the car just as Rocco came to sniff her leg. A sharp bark fell from his curled back muzzle, stopping her action up short.

  Rory opened the door on his side, not even thinking about the warning the pup had just given off. Anton was out the front door shouting her name fearfully. Rocco bit down onto her wrist with damning force. Then, she heard the slight hiss before a tick … tick … tick echoed.

  Viviana hit the ground, all breath gone at impact.

  It was heat …

  Screams …

  Pain …

  And then nothing.

  Chapter Twenty

  Anton stared with unseeing eyes at the emergency room lobby. All he could picture was Viviana, lying pale and slumped on the pavement. Dimly he registered that Ivan was talking to him, but Anton barely heard, unable to stop his mind from replaying the terrifying events, the horror and helplessness he’d felt when that car bomb exploded.

  “Please open your eyes, Viviana … look at me.”

  “Call the ambulance!”

  The lowest, most achingly pain-filled whine from the pup curled around one of his arms was the hardest thing Anton ever had to hear, next to the total silence of the woman in his other. He’d take anything, even air, to pass her lips.

  “… time relay, gave it a five-second lapse before the pipe blew. Someone screwed it up when they set up the wires because it shouldn’t have had a delay like that at all. The blast wasn’t as big, either.”

  “Rory, you good? Rory!”

  “Yeah, I’m good. Shit. Knocked the wind out of me for a minute. Cracked my head on the pavement.”

  “The second floor and basement needs to be cleaned the fuck out. We’ve got three minutes at the most.”

  “Did they clear out the safe house?”

  “Just in time before the cops showed,” someone else piped in.

  “Boss?”

  “Call the goddamn—”

  “I did … I did.”

  “Rocco took most of the hit. She didn’t get a burn on her, thank God. They’re performing an emergency operation at the vet. Burned half of his side to nothing.”

  “Get that vet on the phone for my dog!”

  “Somebody get the vet on call for Rocco!”

  “I’m sorry, Boss … I didn’t know.”

  “Ambulance is here …”

  “When was her car left unattended?”

  “Does that really matter right now?”

  “Turning tachycardic… Blood pressure is dropping”

  “No ocular reaction …”

  “Anton?”

  “Possible head trauma …”

  “Anton?”

  “Severe blood loss. Have two liters of type-O on standby …”

  Anton blinked up at the face staring down at him then looked around. The emergency room seemed to go on like nothing was amiss.

  Like his heart and soul hadn’t almost fucking died two hours before.

  No one would give him answers, he wasn’t immediate family. No one would say a thing.

  “What?”

  The sound of his voice was nothing more than a raspy breath of air. Panic and pain had all but saturated his entire nervous system. Never had he shut down so totally before. There was something to be said for a body that responded to shock in the way his did, and for a moment he was grateful because he hadn’t even noticed the time passing him by.

  His fists curled and fingernails bit into the palms of his hands as the memory of her blood staining everything red filled his mind again. The thuds of his heart turned louder, adrenaline rushing through his widening veins like a drug.

  Ivan rubbed a hand over his face, chancing a glance over his shoulder.

  “Her aunt just arrived.”

  Anton was out of his chair instantly. “
Who in the hell—”

  Ivan’s hands landed on his shoulders, keeping him in place. “This is important, Anton, so shut up for a minute. Sonny’s wife is considered her immediate family. You wanted info, now here’s your chance, okay? Even the bastard’s cousin showed up with her. The one we paid off the first time. They’re either really stupid, or they’re looking for something. Take a breath and decide how you want to go about doing this.”

  A beat of silence passed before Ivan asked, “Shit, have you had your neck and arm looked at yet?”

  “No,” Anton growled.

  Glass had embedded into his shoulder and arm from the blast of the amateur pipe bomb. It didn’t even register over his anger and anxiety. More than one nurse had approached him, but he made it clear if they weren’t there to tell him about Viviana, he didn’t want to see their faces.

  Eventually, they stopped.

  “Man, this one is bad …”

  “Don’t touch me,” Anton spat, jerking out of his friend’s hold.

  Several heads swung in his direction, given it was the first time he’d spoken that loud in hours. Too many of his men to count. They all just stared and waited. He didn’t know what to fucking say. So many precautions had been put into place. Rocco had done just was he was trained to do.

  Unfortunately, things slipped his eye.

  Given her car was left unattended whenever she traveled with him, the device could have been placed at any time. Someone suggested it was likely done during a rain that happened three days before because the wiring hadn’t gone off right for the timer. Maybe water screwed it up.

  Anton didn’t care.

  It still happened.

  “Goddamn it!”

  The hard plastic chair met his back again. Ivan was quick to find a seat beside him while Anton studiously avoided the eyes watching his every move. There was nothing worse than feeling like you were under a microscope. Of course his whole life had felt like that, but this was so much different.