Page 25 of Beautiful Trauma (The Irish Rogues #5)

A s the SUV careened in and out of traffic, I kept a tight hold on Dima’s hand. Instead of taking him to a hospital, he was to be brought to my father’s house. Bratva men and women were never taken to the hospital.

Hospitals meant questions, and questions brought the police. In the basement of my father’s mansion, there was a state of the art medical center that was used whenever our men were injured.

When we finally reached the house, I ceased my prayers. Dima’s hand was torn from mine as they took him from the SUV. As they carried him into the side door, I lurched behind them like a zombie.

A surgical team stood waiting on Dima. After the bodyguards carrying Dima eased him onto a gurney, I glanced around. I didn’t see my father or other brothers.

“Where is everyone?” I asked Petyr, Dima’s bodyguard.

“They were at a dinner party in Pittsburgh. They’re on the jet now.”

When one of the nurses ripped away Dima’s shirt, I gasped at the sight of the gaping wound in his side. “Mila?” someone asked.

“I’m fine,” I replied, even as the world around me began to dim. The next thing I knew, the floor was rushing at me as I passed out.

When I came to, I was stretched out on a gurney in another room of the medical ward. With a groan, I pulled myself into a sitting position. My arms and legs felt unusually heavy.

“She’s coming around,” someone said outside the door.

At the hysterical cry in the doorway, I looked up to see Lev comforting a hysterical Kira in the hallway.

“Kira?” I called.

She rushed forward into the room while Lev followed on her heels. “Oh God, Mila, it’s so awful.”

Icy fear splashed from my head down to my toes. “Dima’s dead,” I choked out.

Lev shook his head. “No. He’s in a coma.”

“What?”

“He was hit in the side, and when the doctors went in, they found the bullet in his spine. When they took it out…something happened, and he had a stroke on the table.”

My eyes bulged in horror. “A stroke? He’s only twenty-seven.”

Swiping her eyes, Kira nodded. “I know, I know.”

“What are his chances?”

“They say if he wakes up, he’ll have damage.”

I swallowed hard. “What kind of damage?”

As Kira sobbed, Lev replied, “The doctors aren’t sure, but he could be paralyzed from the waist down from the spinal damage.”

Bile rocketed into my throat. “Oh God.”

“And he could have brain damage from the stroke.”

As the realization rained down on me, I pitched over the side of the bed and emptied the contents of my stomach into a trash can. When I finished, I swiped the back of my hand across my mouth.

Kira came over to my bedside. “Why don’t we get you upstairs, so you can shower and change?”

As I gazed down at myself, the sight of my blood-soaked clothes had me retching again. This time, when I finished, I began to weep.

“Help her, Lev,” Kira instructed.

Lev came over to the bedside and eased me off the bed. After draping an arm around my waist, he began leading me out of the room. We took the elevator up to the main floor of the house.

When we stepped off, Maksim stood before me. Tears welled in his dark eyes as he drew me into his arms. Because of his speech defect, he’d never been a man for many words. But tonight I didn't need anything but his comfort.

After squeezing me tight, he pulled back to stare into my eyes. “H-He’ll p-pull through.”

“It doesn’t look good, Maks.”

“He’s s-strong.”

“I hope so.”

At the sound of footsteps behind us, I peered over Maksim’s shoulder to see Annika with a tearstained face. “Father wants to see you,” she said in a soft voice.

With a nod, I eased out of Maksim’s arms.

When I entered the study, Father sat at his desk with his head buried in his hands. His entire body was coiled into itself, radiating defeat. Two empty vodka decanters sat on the desk, along with smoke curling from a lit cigar in the ashtray.

While I stopped in front of his desk, Annika walked around to stand beside Father. After placing her hand on his shoulder, Annika murmured into his ear. “Father, Mila is here.”

His head jerked up before his haunted eyes met mine. He stared at me for a moment before rising out of his chair. His movements were slow and sluggish.

Surprise flooded me when he opened his arms to me. When I stepped forward on tentative legs, he suddenly lunged at me. Annika screamed in horror when his hands wrapped around my neck.

“You worthless cunt! You’ve killed my son!” His face warped into a mask of rage as he tightened his grip. My own hands flew up to try to fight him off as the escaping air slowly deflated my lungs.

Just as my vision began to grow dim, Father suddenly jerked away from me before slamming back into his desk. As I gasped and choked for air, I collapsed to the ground.

It was then that I realized that Maksim and Aleks had pulled Father off of me. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that if they hadn’t, he would’ve killed me.

Lev dropped down beside me to pull me into his arms while Aleks shoved Father. “What the fuck is your problem? Mila isn’t the one who shot Dima.”

“But she’s the reason why he was there! She’s the one who alerted Kavanaugh that Dima was about to shoot. That’s why his fucking bodyguard returned fire.”

Lev shook his head. “Dima shouldn’t have been firing on Kavanaugh to start with. Not to mention telling our men to stand down so he could be the one to end Kavanaugh. For fuck’s sake, that’s the reason this happened.”

Jabbing a finger at me, Father countered, “But he’s dead because she alerted Kavanaugh.”

“Dima isn’t dead,” Lev argued.

“You know what the doctors have said. Even if he comes out of this coma, he’ll be a cripple!” He snatched the antique figurine from the table before flinging it at the wall. The smashed pieces rained down onto the floor.

“My heir will be a cripple!” he screamed. Slamming his hand against his chest, Father shouted, “The Korolovas can’t be run by a cripple. He’d be better off dead.”

“You bastard!” I hissed from the floor.

When Father started to come after me, Aleks and Maksim stepped in front of him. “Enough!” Maks blared clearly.

“Get her out of here,” Father snarled.

When Lev started to help me, I shook him away. I wanted to be able to walk away from him all on my own. Although I staggered and lurched, I made it to the door without help.

“Do you want something to change into?” Kira asked in the hallway.

With a shake of my head, I started back to the elevator. “I’m going to be with Dima when he wakes up.”

“But Mila–”

“He will wake up. I won’t lose him.” A shudder rippled through me. “I can’t lose him.”

And then I got into the elevator.