Page 53 of Kidnapped By the Boss
Chapter Eighteen: Katya
With Vincent and I not focusing on work, our relationship was doingleaguesbetter. He’d been so attentive to me since I got hurt, waiting on me hand and foot, even when I was asking him not to. We spent so much time just snuggling in bed, sometimes with Sascha and sometimes without, watching movies, talking, or just sleeping so I could rest up and heal. It was actually really wonderful.
Sometimes, Ididhave to remind Vincent that my injury was against my neck and shoulder, and had nothing to do with my legs. He was often trying to carry me around places or force me to stay in bed when I wanted to get up and walk around. I had to gently remind him that I was fine, just in some pain from the shoulders up. After many reminders, he started letting me wander around the house again and see people outside of him and my mom.
By the end of the first week, I was able to eat and drink on my own again, although with some pain, and I still had to change my bandages daily. In truth, I was fine to continue playing hooky and taking Vince with me for the ride, but being cooped up in the house all day was getting a little arduous. So at the beginning of the eighth day, I made a gentle request of Vincent, knowing full well he wasn’t going to like it.
“I’d really like to get some fresh air,” I said.
“Okay, well we could take lunch out by the pool this afternoon if you want?” Vincent replied as he worked carefully to rewrap my neck bandages. “The food itself isn’t super exciting, but maybe you’ll feel better eating it outside.”
I frowned. “It’s getting pretty cold outside. Nearly the end of fall now.”
He gave me a pointed look. “Well I’m not the one who suggested fresh air, my love, that was you.”
I snickered. “Yeah, I meant like… I’d like to leave the estate for a bit.”
Vincent stopped mid-wrap and looked up at me like I was crazy. “You want to leave the estate?”
“Well, we can’t just hide in our house forever,” I said.
“Not forever, just until we root out The Wreckers and put a stop to them,” Vincent replied. “You really shouldn’t leave the estate right now.”
“What if it was like a twenty-car caravan?” I said. “Or we did a bait and switch car thing like you did before? I haven’t eaten at Gianno’s in a while, and I was thinking Annie and I could go for lunch. You know Annie wouldn’t let anything happen to me. Besides, you’ve been so wonderful just taking care of me and Sascha this past week, but I know you want to get back to work. Let Annie take a shift with me and Sascha this afternoon and you can work.”
“Now you want to takeSascha?!” Vincent yelped. “Katya, honestly, I’m not trying to start another fight. I’m genuinely curious if you don’t see the risk in leaving our estate right now?”
“Of course I know there’s a risk, but I also know it’s a risk to stay. We’re not sending the right message by never leaving here. We’re letting them know that they’ve backed us into a corner. For all we know, this could have been the plan to scare us enough that we never leave so that they can plan a raid and come try and take all ofusout, and then our home will be compromised too.” I set my hand on his face. “I know it’s risky, but I don’t think we should just sit here. I want us to be able to live our lives too, not just live in fear.”
Vincent quietly continued to wrap my neck while he considered it, then he looked back up at me and said. “Okay. We’ll send you and Annie out in a tinted truck at the same time as several others all going in different directions. You guys can go to lunch and the rest will do laps and see if The Wreckers follow. Who knows, maybe we could snag them up in the process.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’ll be armed too, and so will Annie, and we won’t be gone long. Plus, there are few places safer than with me and Annie. I’m not going to let anything happen to my son.”
“I trust you on that,” Vincent said. “Okay. I will bepanickingthe entire time you’re gone, but you’re right, I do have to go back to work sometime, and I agree that we probably are sending a bad message by just staying here.”
I gave him a sweet kiss and then stood up off the bed. “I’ll text Annie and then I’m going to get dressed.”
“Hey, how do you feel about someone else going with you? Like Mitzy? I’ll make him stay out of your way, I just—”
“Of course,” I said. “If that will make you feel a little better, I never mind having him around.”
He let out a relieved sigh. “Okay. I’ll let him know I’d like him to escort you as well.”
“Thank you, Vincent. Not just for this, but for the last week. I know how much work you’ve done and how difficult it was to stop working altogether. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me.”
Vincent gently set a hand on the side of my face. “It’s my job to take care of you. You don’t have to thank me for that.”
I leaned in and gave him a more passionate kiss then. It made me kind of want to blow off lunch and see if I could convince Vincent to have a little fun instead, but past experience had taught me that Vincent wouldn’t want to do much with me while I was hurt and I didn’t think my pride could handle rejection from him right now, even if it was just because he didn’t want to put me in a position to suffer more pain. We’d work on rekindling our flames later. For now, I wanted to take advantage of him loosening the reins a little bit so I could actuallyseesomething other than my house.
The restaurant that Annie and I wanted to go to was well within the city, so once we were into NYC proper, we all felt more comfortable that we weren’t going to be followed or attacked by anyone—not out here in broad daylight, and especially not with a police detective by our side.
“Honestly, I don’t know why you guys haven’t called me sooner,” Mitzy said. “The berries and cherries carry at least some weight.”
Mitzy had parked his car a bit away from our estate and started to tail us once we were hitting that same half-a-mile mark where we seemed to always pick up tails when we were out. Another car got behind him and started to follow pretty closely, but once he turned on his lights and Annie and I pulled over, the car kept driving right by. We didn’t recognize who was inside, but if they were working for Antonio, they now knew that we had cops on our side as well. After that, the rest of the trip into the city was a breeze.
“Yeah, this may come as a surprise to you, Mitzy, but I don’t think mafioso make it a big habit of hanging around with detectives,” Annie mused.
“Hey, weallknow I ain’t getting the upstanding police officer award,” Mitzy said. “Some rogue cops empty out the evidence locker, I let Vincent line my pockets to accompany a couple of incredibly beautiful women to lunch.” A smirk popped up on his face. “I think I’m winning.”