Chapter 161 Chapter 161
Chapter One Hundred and Sixty-One
Irina
I watched Dimitri sleep beside me. He looked peaceful for the first time in days. Nikolai was sleeping between us, safe and warm. This was all I wanted. Just peace. Just safety. Just my family together.
Dimitri had explained everything to me. The call with Don Romano. The meeting planned for tomorrow. The promise of negotiation. I wanted to believe it was real. Wanted to believe that our nightmare was finally over. But something felt wrong. I could not explain it. Just a feeling in my gut that things were not as they seemed.
"What are you thinking about?" Dimitri whispered. I had not realized he was awake.
"Nothing," I lied.
"Liar," he said softly. "I can tell when something is bothering you."
I sighed. "I am scared. Scared that this peace will not last. Scared that Don Romano is lying. Scared that tomorrow everything will fall apart."
"I am scared too," Dimitri said. "But what choice did we have? It was either make a deal or keep running forever."
"I know," I said. "I just wish I could believe that it was real."
"So do I," Dimitri replied. He pulled me closer. "But for tonight, let us just pretend. Let us pretend that we are safe. That our troubles are over. That we can finally be a family."
"Okay," I whispered. I closed my eyes and tried to let myself relax. Tried to believe that everything was going to be alright.
But sleep would not come. My mind kept racing, kept replaying every moment of the past few days. The attacks. The running. The fear. And now, the promise of peace. Was it real? Or was this just another trap?
I looked at Nikolai sleeping between us. So innocent and so unaware of the danger around him. He deserved better than this. Deserved to grow up without fear, without constantly looking over his shoulder, without wondering if today was the day someone would come to kill him.
I reached out and touched his tiny hand. He stirred slightly but did not wake. "I will protect you," I whispered. "No matter what happens, I will keep you safe."
I meant it with every fiber of my being. If the Romanos came for us, I would fight. If they tried to hurt Nikolai, I would die protecting him. Nothing mattered more than keeping him alive.
I must have dozed off eventually because when I opened my eyes, the room was darker. The sun had set completely. Dimitri was still asleep beside me and Nikolai too. I could hear sounds from the other rooms. Mikhail and Elena talking quietly. Alexei moving around. Everyone was settling in for the night, preparing for tomorrow.
I got up carefully, trying not to wake Dimitri or Nikolai. I went to the bathroom and splashed water on my face. Looked at myself in the mirror. I looked tired and scared but also determined. Tomorrow, we would meet with the Romanos. Tomorrow, we would find out if peace was possible. Tomorrow, everything would change one way or another.
I went back to the bedroom and lay down next to my family. I closed my eyes again. This time, sleep came easier. Not deep sleep and not peaceful sleep, but sleep nonetheless. And for a few hours, we rested. All of us together.
We slept peacefully.
I was deep in sleep when it happened.
A sound ripped through the night. Loud and violent and earth shattering. My eyes flew open. The room was shaking. The walls were cracking. Dimitri was awake instantly.
"Get Nikolai!" He shouted.
I reached for my son, but then the second explosion hit. Even bigger than the first. The entire building shook and the ceiling started to crumble, debris falling everywhere.
"Move!" Dimitri screamed. He grabbed me and Nikolai and pulled us toward the door.
But we were too late.
The third explosion was massive. The loudest sound I had ever heard. It was like the world itself was breaking apart. The floor beneath us heaved and split and the walls came crashing down. I felt myself being thrown, flying through the air like a ragdoll. I heard Dimitri screaming my name, heard Nikolai crying, and then everything went white.
Bright and blinding and all consuming. The light filled my vision and then there was nothing but pain and heat and the terrible sound of everything collapsing around us.
I hit something hard. My body bounced and rolled and came to a stop against what felt like a wall. I could not see. I could not breathe. I could not move. The dust filled my lungs and I coughed and choked and gasped for air.
Through the ringing in my ears, I heard voices. Distant and muffled like they were underwater.
"Irina!" Dimitri was calling. "Irina, where are you?"
I tried to answer but no sound came out. My throat was raw and my chest was on fire and I could not find the strength to speak.
More sounds echoed. Cracking and groaning and the terrible screech of metal bending. The building was still falling, still collapsing around us.
Then I heard something else. Something that made my heart stop.
Nikolai crying.
He was alive. My baby was alive.
I forced myself to move, forced my body to respond despite the pain. I pushed against the debris pinning me down and slowly, painfully, crawled toward the sound of his cries.
"Nikolai," I tried to call. "Nikolai, Mommy is coming."
The dust began to settle and I could see a little now. Shapes and shadows in the darkness. I saw Dimitri on his hands and knees, searching frantically. Saw Alexei pulling Elena from under a beam. Saw Mikhail bleeding from a gash on his head but still moving.
What was happening?
My body ached and trembled.
I had never experienced this kind of attack before. Or was the world coming to an end?
I moved in the direction of my son's cry. Then I saw him. Nikolai. He was lying on his back, his tiny arms waving, his face red and screaming. There was dust on his cheeks and blood on his blanket but he was alive.
I crawled to him and gathered him in my arms and held him against my chest. "I have you," I whispered. "I have you, my baby. Mommy is here."
He kept crying but I did not care. His cries meant he was breathing. His cries meant he was alive.
Dimitri found us and fell to his knees beside us. His face was covered in blood and dust and his eyes were wild with fear. But he was alive too.
"Are you hurt?" He asked, reaching for Nikolai. "Is he hurt?"
"I do not know," I said. "I do not know."
We huddled together in the darkness, surrounded by the wreckage of what had been our shelter.
From somewhere outside, I heard voices. Men shouting orders. Footsteps approaching through the rubble.
"They are coming," Dimitri whispered. His voice was heavy with fear. "They are coming to finish us off."
"Who are coming?" I asked, my voice trembling.
"The Romanos." Dmitri said. His eyes wide with fear.
I held Nik
olai tighter and closed my eyes.
Because deep down, I knew we might not survive.
This could be the end.