Page 49 of Beautiful Trauma (The Irish Rogues #5)

A week passed after we returned from Kellan’s farm, and I felt so much better. The medicine, combined with alone time with Kellan, made such a difference.

Kellan had started back to work, so I was left alone at his apartment during the day.

Well, I should say our apartment. But I wasn’t a bored mafia wife who lunched and shopped.

I’d started auditing some astronomy courses at Boston University.

When the new semester rolled around, I would start in person classes.

I was in bed reading an article on astrophysics when my phone rang. When I glanced at the caller ID, it read unknown. Hope surged in my chest that Kira or Lev had gotten a burner phone to talk to me.

“Hello?”

“It’s Dima.”

I sucked in a breath. Although it had only been weeks, it felt like an eternity since I’d heard his voice. “What do you want?”

“Kira’s been in an accident.”

Icy fear crashed over my head, causing me to shudder. “What? How?” I demanded

“She left a party with some drunk idiots, and the driver hit a tree.”

A sob tore from my lips. “Is she okay?”

“They’re keeping her in a coma to help the swelling on the brain.”

“Oh God,” I murmured as my chest constricted. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t lose Kira like this. It was traumatic enough being separated from her. But I knew she was alive and just a plane ride away.

“Where is she?”

“Temple University. They took her there before we could intercede.”

In the back of my mind, suspicion swirled. “Why didn’t Lev call me?”

“Because he knew you would need my permission to enter our territory.”

Dima was right. If I tried to enter Philly without his permission, I wouldn’t live long. But at the same time, a voice nagged at me. “How do I know this isn’t a trick?”

“You can call the fucking hospital and ask for her room,” he growled.

“Okay. But after everything that’s gone down, you can’t fault me for being suspicious.”

“There is another reason I needed to speak to you.”

“What is it?”

“You need to come alone.”

“Absolutely not.”

“I’m serious, Mila. I’m sticking out my neck enough for you. There’s no way in hell I can do that for Kavanaugh.”

“How do you expect me to sneak off?”

“You’re a smart woman. You’ll figure it out.”

And with that he hung up.

“Fuck!” I shouted.

“Ms. Korolova?” Andrew asked from outside the bedroom.

“Sorry. I’m okay. I just…dropped something on my foot.”

“Okay.”

I listened as his footsteps walked away from the door. Pacing around the bedroom, my mind spun with out of control thoughts. I had to find a way to ditch Andrew, so I could get to the airport.

My gaze fell on the nightstand. At the sight of the sleeping pills, an idea flashed in my head.

I stalked over and grabbed them. After popping the top, I pulled out four pills before pouring the remainder of the bottle into the top drawer.

As I gazed at the pills, I tried imagining if they would be enough.

Andrew was a heavy weight, so it would take a lot to put him out.

Heading into the bathroom, I grabbed my highlighter brush. After laying the pills on the counter, I crushed them up with the end of the brush. Once they were powder, I slipped them in the bottle before stuffing it into my pocket.

With my heart beating wildly in my chest, I left the bedroom. Andrew sat at the bar in the kitchen. “Good morning,” I said pleasantly.

“Good morning.”

Eyeing the coffee mug before him, I asked, “Can I top you off?”

He smiled. “That would be nice.”

Feeling like a horrible bitch, I picked up his mug. I brought it over to the coffee maker before I pulled a mug out of the cabinet for myself. “When did Kellan leave?” I asked absently as I eased the pill bottle out of my pocket.

“At seven-thirty. He had a meeting across town at eight.”

With my back to Andrew, my trembling hand poured the powder into the mug. “Why so early?”

“They were meeting with a real estate developer about some of their buildings.”

“Oh, I see.” Throwing a glance at him over my shoulder, I asked, “Do you take it black or cream and sugar?”

“I like a little cream.”

“Can you grab it from the fridge for me?”

“Of course.”

As he went to get the milk, I shoved the bottle back into my pocket. I then jabbed a spoon in the mug and started stirring when he sat the cream down. With a smile, I asked, “How many splashes?”

“Let’s go for two.”

Nodding, I poured the cream. Since I wanted to disguise the bitterness, I hit a third splash. “Oops, I’m so sorry. You said just two.”

“It’s okay.”

“Are you sure?”

“It’s fine.”

I handed him the mug. “I think I’ll do three splashes myself this morning although as tired as I am, I should get an espresso.”

“I know that feeling,” he replied.

As he brought the mug to his lips, my breath hitched. After taking a large gulp, Andrew smiled. “That hits the spot.”

Exhaling the breath, I held my mug up in front of me. “Cheers!”

As Andrew finished up his mug of coffee, I remained in the kitchen. I cleaned up our dinner dishes from last night. Then I cleaned out the fridge. I was just about to start on the dishwasher when a chair clanged to the floor causing me to jump.

When I whirled around, Andrew staggered around at the bar. He shook his head manically back and forth. “Andrew?” I asked.

“I’m…so….sleepy.”

Then his eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed to the ground. Thankfully, he didn’t bang his head on the hardwood floor too hard.

Since I knew I didn’t have long, I didn’t bother with a suitcase. Instead, I grabbed my purse and headed for the door. After I took the elevator to the lobby, I sprinted outside. I flagged down a cab. “The domestic terminal at PHL,” I instructed.

As the driver eased back into traffic, I pulled up the airline app on my phone. The next flight to Philly was in two hours. It felt like I was cutting it close to be able to get through security in that amount of time. But I needed to get out of Boston as soon as possible.

After booking my flight, I eased back against the seat. I couldn’t help wondering when Kellan would discover I was gone. I hoped it wasn’t until I was in the air, so he couldn’t stop me.

More than anything, I hoped he didn’t do something stupid like try to follow me to Philly. If things went south for me, I needed him to be safe. I needed him to have a happy life after I was gone.