by Bella Rose
Suddenly, two shots rang out. Ella screamed as two of the guards went down quickly. Yashin whirled around with his gun in his hand but no one retaliated. She couldn’t see where the shots came from.
“The problem with that explanation is that your daughter made her move first.” Erik’s voice echoed off the walls. “If you’ve stashed her away somewhere to surprise me, I suggest you bring her out now.”
Yashin slowly moved around in circles. His men looked a little spooked, but Ella couldn’t take her eyes off the two dead men on the floor. Their blood spilled across the floor, and she felt her stomach roll. She was out in the open. If they began to fire wildly, things might not go so well for her. No one was watching her, so she started doing her best to pull at the duct tape.
“Mr. Chesnovak, it seems that you were not honest about how long it would take you to get here. No blood had to be spilled today. Give me the pictures, and we’ll leave.”
There was no response. She pulled and twisted and did her best to get out of her restraints. It wasn’t until her hand bumped up against the metal of the pole that she realized she could scrape the tape along the outer bolts that held the pole in place.
“Erik, I’m tired of these games. Show yourself, or I will put a bullet in your lover’s head.” He swung the gun around to point it at her, and she gasped.
She was going to die. She was going to die in a Russian mob-run club tied to a fucking stripper pole.
“I am a good person,” she muttered as she glared at him. “I had a plan for my life and none of it included any of you. I was going to school to help animals. You know why I picked animals? Because they don’t blackmail people and seduce them when they’re at their lowest, and they don’t fucking point guns at my head!”
The tape ripped, and she kicked out hard with her foot. Yashin grunted in surprise, and the guns started firing. Her heart pounding, Ella launched herself off the small dance platform. Tumbling behind one of the bars, she crawled along the bar and searched desperately for something to protect herself with.
Angry words flew in rapid Russian. Since Erik still hadn’t shown himself, Ella could only assume that Yashin was furiously ordering his men to find him.
She hoped he wasn’t ordering them to find her.
The bar was fine for coverage, but she was trapped. If she didn’t find a new place to hide, she was going to be easy pickings for anyone who leaned over the top or around the end.
Maybe they’d let her have a last drink before she died.
“Get out. Now.”
The cold Russian-accented words were clearly directed at her. Ella slowly looked up to see Yashin standing at the end of the bar. His gun seemed to be even more menacing before.
“I’m actually okay right where I am,” she squeaked. He fired, and the bullet hit one of the glass bottles next to her. Glass sprayed everywhere, and she cringed. “Okay, I’m coming. I’m coming.”
Moving as slowly as possible, she stood. Yashin seemed to be the only one in the club, but a quick look around told her there were no more bodies. His guards had to be somewhere.
“Tell him to show himself. Let him hear you beg for your life.” Malice gleamed in his eye, and she had a terrible feeling that he enjoyed this.
No wonder Valeria was such a horrible woman.
“Erik,” she called out. Her voice was shaky. She took a deep breath and tried again. “Erik. It seems that Mr. Yashin here would really like a word with you.”
“Beg, you stupid bitch,” he snarled.
Another gunshot sounded, and Ella could help it. A scream tore from her throat, and she immediately ducked behind the bar. Yashin fell heavily, falling into liquor bottles, before landing on the floor next to her.
Blood pooled from his head. “Oh my God,” she whispered. “Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.”
“Ella, are you okay?”
“Erik?” She slowly got up and peered over the bar. He was jogging quickly down the stairs from the second floor lounge. “The other guys?”
“Don’t worry about them. We need to get you out of here before—”
The sound of the door hitting the wall sent a shock through her. “Get down,” Erik hissed. She complied, but she could hear the heels of those familiar boots hitting the floor.
Valeria. What would she do when she discovered that Yashin was dead?
“What happened? Where is my father?”
“He left,” Erik said flatly. “I gave him the documents, and he took Ella and left. I guess his men were supposed to take care of me.”
“He has your woman?” she asked hesitantly. “Good. I will have quite a bit of fun with her before I finally kill her nice and slow. But first, I’ll have to do what they were not man enough to do.”
Erik. She was going to kill Erik.
Ella didn’t even realize she was moving until she was over the bar with Yashin’s gun pointed at Valeria. Squeezing the trigger felt both powerful and awful. It kicked back and pinched the flesh of her hands. Slow motion. Like a dream. Grab the gun. Kill the woman. Save Erik.
Kill the woman.
Erik reacted quickly. Two shots fired and the two-armed men went down.
Kill the woman.
Valeria gasped and fell. Blood bloomed from her chest, and there was a look of shock on her face. Ella let the gun fall from her hands as she stared. Erik jumped forward and kicked the other woman’s gun away from her body before picking it up, along with the one Ella had dropped.
Kill the woman?
What had she become?
“Ella. Ella!” Erik was next to her, shaking her shoulders. “Look at me, baby. Say something.”
“She was going to kill you,” Ella whispered.
“Baby, she’s not dead.”
“I didn’t want you to die.”
“Ella. Listen to me. She’s not dead.”
“I didn’t even think. I just didn’t want her to hurt you.”
“Ella!”
She tore her eyes away from the scene and blinked. “Erik. I killed her.”
“Hey.” He gave her a strangely sweet smile and caressed her cheek with his finger. “I need you to listen to me, baby. You’re not a very good shot. She’s not dead.”
Confused, she looked back. The woman pushed herself off the floor and moaned.
“Not dead.”
“No, but you did save my life, baby. Come on. I want the paramedics to check you out when they get here. Did he hurt you? Did she hurt you?”
“You called the police? But you’re the mob. And you killed a bunch of people tonight.” She swallowed hard. “Won’t you go to jail?”
“I think I know someone who can help with that,” he said with a cheeky grin. “Come on.”
With one hand wrapped tightly around her, he helped her to the door. As they passed Valeria, he didn’t even look at her, but Ella made him stop.
“You’re a horrible woman,” she murmured. “You take pleasure in people’s pain. You think love is a weakness. You think sex is a weapon. You want to know the difference between you and me? You were going to kill him just because he turned you down. I was going to kill you to save him. And I felt bad about that.”
“We’re not finished,” Valeria hissed as she pressed a hand to her shoulder. She tried to push herself off the ground, but her leg was twisted at an odd angle.
“Your father’s dead, Valeria. You’re going to prison. It’s over,” Erik said quietly.
Despair was written all over her face. Erik tugged gently at Ella, and they left her crying on the floor. “What do you think is going to happen to her?” Ella asked quietly.
“With any luck, she’ll be locked away in a very deep dungeon,” he grumbled.
The sun shone bright in her face as they walked out, and she squinted. There were three police cars out front, and as soon as Erik nodded to them, they drew their weapons and ducked inside.
“Why didn’t they help you?” sh
e muttered. “Have they been out here the whole time?”
“We just got here.” An elderly man walked up to them and held out his hand. “I’m Jeffrey Granger, the police commissioner.”
Her eyes widened. The police commissioner was out there? “Wow. You must really owe Erik a favor.”
He just grimaced. “Ms. Davis, I’m glad to see that you’re safe. If you’ll head over to the paramedics to get checked out, I’m going to get a statement from Mr. Chesnovak.”
With his arm still firmly around her, Erik guided her over to the ambulance. “I’ll be right back,” he whispered. For a moment, she thought he might kiss her, but he just squeezed her hand gently and let her go.
“Any pain or injuries?” a female paramedic asked briskly. She shone a light in Ella’s eyes, and Ella blinked.
“I think I’m okay. There was some glass around me, but I don’t think I’m cut. My wrists are really sore.”
The paramedic pulled her arms out and examined the ugly red marks from the tape. Ella looked around the scene and couldn’t help but frown. No sirens. No flashing blue lights. Three cars for eight gunmen? No wonder Erik wasn’t worried. None of it looked official.
“If anything changes, and you start to feel dizzy or in pain, you need to get to a hospital immediately. Shock can sometimes dull the senses, and when it wears off, you might realize you’re more injured than you think.”
Ella nodded, but her eyes were only on Erik as he walked back towards her.
“Can you please give us a minute?” he asked in a low voice.
The paramedic nodded. Ella wasn’t really sure what she wanted to say to him. “She threatened my mother. Do you think—”
“Don’t worry about your mother,” he said softly. “I have someone keeping an eye on her.”
“Thank you. Are you hurt?”
“Nothing too serious.” He gave her a faint smile and shook his head. “Did the paramedic say that you were okay?”
“Yes, but she thinks I’m in shock. I think I’m fine, but I guess people in shock don’t realize they’re in shock.” If she said shock one more time, she was going to sound insane. They lapsed into silence, and she studied him.
There was pain, anguish, and rage in his eyes. She knew he was angry with her. If she had just done what he’d asked, they never would have been in this situation. “I’m sorry I left.”
“Please don’t apologize. It’s done.”
It’s done. They were done. She swallowed hard and tried to smile. “Erik, I’m not sure what happens next.”
“You don’t have to worry about anything. You can go back to your life, and I’ll make sure everything with your mother is taken care of.”
Her heart dropped. “That’s not what I meant.”
“Ella—”
“I love you,” she blurted out. His eyes widened, and her heart pounded in her chest, but there was no going back. “I’m not the kind of woman who moves in with a man she barely knows. I don’t get tangled up in criminal organizations, and I don’t get kidnapped by crazy Russians, but I do love you. If you ask me to stay, I will.”
The world stopped as he gave her a small smile. She tried desperately to figure out what was on his mind.
“This is all my fault,” he said sadly.
Was he talking about the danger or the fact that she’d fallen helplessly in love with him? Erik didn’t elaborate.
“An officer will take you home. I’ll have your things delivered to you immediately. Goodbye, Ella.”
A lump rose in her throat as he walked away, but she refused to cry. Hadn’t he already warned her that this wasn’t a story where the bad boy changed his ways? The mob was all he knew.
In some ways, he was still a hero, but he wasn’t going to be the man in her happily ever after.
Chapter Twenty
Erik surveyed the space with a smile. It was absolutely perfect for what he needed. He’d signed the deed yesterday, and now he waited for the contractor to get there.
A month had passed since he had walked away from Ella. In several moments of weakness, he’d called her but left no message. She hadn’t called back. What did he expect? He was not the man she wanted him to be.
It was time to move on. Despite the changes, the Black Orchid was running well, and it was time to expand to something new.
“Erik Chesnovak?”
He turned to greet Jimmy Hostin, the owner of Jimmy’s Renovations. “Mr. Hostin. I’ve heard good things about you,” he said with a smile.
“That’s good. That’s good. This is a nice space you got yourself here. Great view. Plenty of foot traffic. What do you need from me?”
“The first thing I need is a divider wall. It’s going to actually be two separate businesses. I don’t need much room for this space. Just enough for a desk and a couple of chairs to meet with clients.
Jimmy pursed his lips and nodded. “Sure thing. I’ll get some guys out here to measure. Will you need an outside entrance to both spaces?”
Erik nodded. “I will. The clients are going to have very different interests,” he said with a vague smile.
The construction worker gave him an odd look but didn’t say anything as he noted the request on his clipboard. “All right. Any shelves? You need a storage area? Some cabinets installed?”
Erik went over the changes he wanted in the bigger space. He needed a main counter in the front and three smaller rooms in back. He could see the man’s eyes getting wider and wider as he thought about the final price.
“That should cover it for the first floor. I’ll actually need quite a few more changes upstairs on the second floor.”
“You fitting another business up there?” Jimmy asked.
“Not exactly,” Erik said softly. “Follow me.”
By the time Jimmy gave him the estimate, Erik was satisfied. “I’ll pay extra for priority service. I’d like it finished within the next six weeks.”
“I can do that,” Jimmy said with a nod. “Six weeks is not a problem. Can you meet us back here in the morning to go over measurements and talk details?”
“I can do that.”
They shook hands, and Jimmy left. Erik leaned against the wall and took a deep breath as he looked around. Ruefully, he reminded himself that he didn’t have a choice. It was time to make the phone call he’d been dreading for the past few days.
It was time to say goodbye and get some closure.
* * *
“Ella, Mr. Herman would like a word with you.”
Ella looked up from the desk in a panic. Caroline, her boss’s secretary, stood in the opening of her cubicle. Her internship at the California Bay Wildlife Center had been a dream come true. She hadn’t put that in danger just because she was trying to sneak in a few minutes of studying, had she?
“Thanks,” she said as she closed her book. “I’ll be right there.”
She ran her hands over her hair in an effort to look more presentable. She hadn’t been sleeping well. Although her mother’s surgery had gone flawlessly, and her recovery was quick, Ella still worried. With all the hours she spent on schoolwork and at the wildlife center, she didn’t have much time for sleep.
Don’t lie. You aren’t sleeping because you miss him.
She tried to push the thought from her mind, but the ache never seemed to go away. She told him that she’d stay, and he walked away. That was three months ago. Three months. She’d moved on with her life. Things were going well for her. Really well.
It was harder than she expected. Her heart had been broken by Josh, but it was nothing compared to the pain she felt now. It had taken all the self-discipline she had not to return his phone calls. The memory of his kiss and his touch haunted her.
Even though the door to the manager’s office was open, she still rapped on it quickly. “Mr. Herman? You wanted to speak to me?”
Michael Herman was an older man. Probably pushing seventy, he no doubt should have reti
red years ago, but he loved the job, and he was well loved by everyone in the small organization. He smiled at her kindly. “Come in, Ella. Please close the door behind you.”
“Mr. Herman, I want you to know that I love this job. I might have been sneaking in a few study sessions, but I promise to stop,” she said hurriedly.
Herman laughed and held up his hand. “You’re not here so I can fire you over your studying, although you’re not nearly as sneaky as you like to think you are. In fact, I’m quite pleased with your dedication to this job and your studies. I didn’t know it at the time, but we desperately needed some young blood working for us. He was quite right when he suggested that I hire you.”
Ella frowned. “I’m sorry. Who suggested it?”
“The education department has become overwhelmed with public demand, and we need to expand. We’re opening up a small space that will be dedicated to education about the local wildlife, and I’d like you to help me run it.”
She just stared at him. “Me? But I’ve only been working here for a month, and I’ve got school.”
“You’ll have help,” he said quickly. “Of course you’ll have help. I can think of no one better to help me get this program off the ground. You have a passion for both teaching others and for learning. It’s quite a big salary increase, and it would never cut into your education. We need you to get that degree so you can handle the animals yourself.”
Ella blew out her breath and smiled. “Of course I would love to help you! You’ve really been keeping this a secret. How long have you been planning to expand?”
“It wasn’t until a fan of ours kindly donated the space. You’re finished with your classes for the afternoon, correct?”
She nodded. Most of her generic classes were online, so she only had one class on campus three times a week and a lab one night out of the week.
Herman handed her a piece of paper and a key. “Excellent. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like you to check out the new place. It’s all set up, but it won’t open for another month. Let me know if you see any changes we may need to make before opening day. We already have some summer camps contacting us to see if they can bring their kids by.”
