Lion's First Roar Read online

  After ducking into the bathroom to tidy up, Nikolai leaned down and captured her mouth in a slow, easy kiss. “I’ll see you later.”

  “Bye.”

  He left the door to the bedroom cracked an inch or two before heading downstairs. Danny and Arty were waiting in the kitchen. He grabbed his suit jacket from the back of the chair he had draped it on earlier and slid his arms through the sleeves. “Let’s go.”

  Flanked by his men, Nikolai left the house and climbed into the front passenger seat of Artyom’s SUV. As the street captain he trusted most backed out of the private drive, Nikolai stared up at the master bedroom windows overlooking the garden. He could just make out the silhouette of a woman—my woman—behind the gauzy white drapes. Certain she was watching, he broke his usual cool, collected demeanor and lifted a hand to acknowledge that he saw her. The curtain moved just enough to show her beautiful face and a waving hand.

  Behind the wheel, Artyom smirked. Nikolai caught his eye and shot him a fuck you glare. The captain just laughed it off. “You’re getting soft, boss.”

  Thinking of his wife waiting for him to return, he murmured, “Vivian is the softest person I know.” He fastened his seatbelt. “She’s also the strongest.”

  Artyom’s mouth twitched with amusement. “When did you become such a romantic?”

  Nikolai snorted and shifted to get comfortable for the long drive that awaited them. “Just drive.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  2 Two

  Stretching his aching neck, Nikolai stepped into the cold air of a January afternoon and strode across the deck. Secluded and private, the lakeside cabin had offered the four bosses exactly what they needed to get a deal struck on guns, narcotics and some side-businesses. It had been a long but productive two hours with very little friction. He usually found himself playing the role of diplomat in these conversations, but Hector, Luka and Romero had all come to the table ready to strengthen ties and expand their businesses while building better alliances.

  Movement in the trees drew his attention. He spotted Danny along the perimeter and then one of Hector’s men about twenty yards away. They had the area locked down tight, but Nikolai didn’t expect any trouble.

  “It’s beautiful out here.” Luka emerged from the house and joined him at the rail. The young boss pulled a pack of smokes from a pocket and offered him one.

  Nikolai shook his head. “I don’t smoke.”

  Luka smiled knowingly before lighting up and taking that first long drag. “How is your wife?”

  “She’s very well.” Nikolai watched him enjoy the cigarette without envy. The old cravings had finally settled down and rarely bothered him anymore.

  “You must be excited about your son coming soon.” He flicked ash over the edge of the railing before leaning his arms against it.

  “Yes.”

  “That’s good, you know? To have an heir so quickly? You’re a lucky man.” He expelled a lungful of smoke. “If your wife gives you another boy or two and then some girls, you can build a real dynasty. Family is everything. Blood is everything.”

  Nikola wasn’t sure what to say to that. Luka had been raised in a big, cohesive family where honor and respect and blood ties were the only thing that mattered. On the contrary, he had grown up the hard way, alone and unloved for most of his childhood.

  Sometimes he worried he wouldn’t know how to be a good father or how to be the family man that his wife and children would need—but then he calmed those fears by reminding himself that Vivian was his partner. She wouldn’t let him step out of line. She would show him the way.

  Thinking of the strange marriage contract that existed between Luka and the Dushku girl, he said, “You’ll be starting your own family soon.”

  Luka made a humming sound. “We’ll see.”

  “Are you going to see the girl while you’re here?” As far as Nikolai knew, the girl, a college student in Houston, still hadn’t been informed of the marriage pact struck by her family and Luka’s. He could just imagine the fireworks that accompanied that discovery.

  Luka shook his head. “No. I’ll wait until May, when she graduates, and then I can bring her straight home with me.”

  Nikolai didn’t think it was his place to tell another man how to woo a future wife, but he was pretty fucking sure Luka’s arrogance and aloofness were going to get him in trouble. He was still trying to figure out a way to give the young boss a little guidance without offending him when Romero joined them.

  His father-in-law dropped down onto an Adirondack chair and stretched out his legs. His leather motorcycle colors creaked with every movement. Rolling his ankle, he winced, and Nikolai wondered if age was finally catching up with the notorious enforcer. “How was my baby girl when you left her this morning?”

  As if sensing that his presence would hinder the discussion between the two relatives, Luka quietly excused himself and wandered down to the lake with his cigarette to keep him company.

  “She’s good. Tired,” Nikolai added, “but good.”

  Romero stared out at the lake. “You’ll keep an eye on her after the baby comes?”

  Nikolai knew exactly what Romero was asking even without saying the words. Vivian’s mother had suffered from terrible post-partum depression that had exacerbated her existing mental health issues. She had snapped one day and tried to drown Vivian in a bathtub. For all anyone knew, she had hurt or abused Vivian quite a few times prior to that horrific moment.

  “I’ll keep a very close eye on her, but you don’t need to worry. Vivian has spoken to her doctor about the family history. We’ve educated ourselves on the signs.” He didn’t have to say that he would do anything to keep Vivian and the baby safe. Therapy, drugs, nannies, night nurses—he would move heaven and earth to make sure his wife had what she needed to be a good mother and to be happy and healthy. “We’re prepared.”

  Silence stretched between the two men. Eventually Romero found something to say.

  “She was the most beautiful baby.” His gravelly voice didn’t match the wistful expression on his hard face. “Her eyes are a paler blue now, but when she was a baby, they were bluer than the ocean. I’d never seen anything like it.” He cleared his throat and kept his gaze fixed on the lake. “I couldn’t believe I had made something so perfect.”

  Nikolai wasn’t sure what to say. He wasn’t close to his father-in-law. After all, the man had tried to kill him a decade earlier! To hear the infamous machete-wielding hard-man talking about his feelings on fatherhood was unsettling, to say the least.

  Kostya saved him from the awkward conversation. Mouth tight and eyes narrowed with worry, the cleaner thrust a cell phone at him. “You need to take this.”

  Not liking Kostya’s tone, he snatched the phone. “Hello?”

  “Kolya?”

  Hearing the strain in Vivian’s voice, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Um…” She blew out a noisy breath. “Are you busy?”

  “No. We’re done. I was just about to leave. Why?”

  “Don’t panic.”

  He fucking panicked. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m in labor.”

  “What?” His exclamation brought Romero to his feet. “You’re sure?”

  “Kiki is here. It’s labor.”

  Fuck. “How long have you been having contractions?”

  “Um….”

  “Vee!”

  “So, they sort of started right after you left. They weren’t regular at first, but they were painful. Now they’re regular and painful.”

  His stomach lurched. Five hours. Five fucking hours! He wanted to shout a hundred different questions at her but he tried to remain calm. “How close are they?”

  “Oh, they’re about twenty minutes apart. Kiki says I have plenty of time to get to the hospital.”

  Kiki says. Kiki says. He had something he wanted to say to Kiki.

  “I’m on my way home. Don’t wait for me if you need to go to the hospital. Ten, Ilya
and Boychenko know what to do.”

  “I know.” She sounded strangely calm now. “Take your time. Don’t rush. This could take hours and hours.”

  Hours? He didn’t want to think about her being in pain for even one hour. “Ya tebya lyublyu.”

  “I love you, too, Kolya.”

  He ended the call and tossed the phone at Kostya. “We’re leaving. Now.”

  “Is it time?” Romero seemed almost anxious.

  “Yes.” He hesitated. “Are you coming to Houston?”

  Romero shook his head. “Not tonight. They’ll be expecting me. I’ll find a way to see my daughter and my grandson. Soon.” His father-in-law gestured to the house. “Go. I’ll let the others know you had to leave.”

  He ran through the cabin, hot on Kostya’s heels, and slipped into the passenger seat of the cleaner’s car. The drive back to Houston should have taken three hours and twenty minutes, but Kostya punched the gas and expertly manned the wheel. Nikolai kept in touch with Vivian with frequent calls and texts. The two hour drive was almost too much for him to handle. He kept running through the checklists and the lessons they’d learned in their childbirth classes. Eaten up with worry, he had to give the what-ifs and all the ways labor could go wrong a mental kick to clear his headspace.

  “She’ll be fine.” Kostya had remained quiet until they hit the Houston city limits. “Women have been having babies since the beginning of time. Her body knows what to do.” He quickly changed lanes and hit the gas again. “And if her body has problems, some of the world’s best doctors are right here in this town.”

  Kostya’s encouraging words didn’t have the calming effect he had probably imagined. Instead, Nikolai thought of shoulder dystocia and C-sections and prolapsed umbilical cords. By the time they finally pulled up in front of the house, he was a fucking wreck inside. He was out of the passenger seat before the car had even stopped.

  “Vee?” He burst into the house through the front door and found Boychenko sitting on the stairs, his head resting in his hands. The look of relief on the kid’s face was easily spotted. “Where is she?”

  “In the bedroom with her doula,” Boychenko said, standing and stepping aside. “The SUV is ready to go. I’ve got your bags in the back seat.”

  Nikolai nodded at the kid and raced upstairs. Ten leaned against the wall outside the master suite. Arms crossed, he looked tense and upset. Shoving off the wall, Ten swore loudly in Russian. “Were you pushing the car?”

  Nikolai cast a warning glare in the enforcer’s direction. “Not now.”

  “I think it’s starting to get serious,” Ten remarked. “She was walking around the house and climbing up and down the stairs but she went into the bedroom about forty minutes ago.” He checked his watch. “She and Kiki haven’t come out since, but Vivian is making a lot of noise.”

  Stepping inside the bedroom, he found Vivian walking from one end of the bedroom to the other while Kiki encouraged her to keep moving and to relax and blow through the next contraction. As soon as she spotted him, Vivian smiled. He rushed to her side, eating up the floor with long strides and engulfed her in a loving embrace. She buried her face against his neck. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  “I’m sorry it took so long.”

  “It’s okay. My contractions are twelve minutes apart. This is going slowly. I didn’t even—unnhhh.” She gripped his arms so tightly he actually flinched.

  Realizing she was tensing up, he grasped the back of her neck in one hand and kneaded gently. He placed his other hand on her rock hard belly. The training they had attended kicked in suddenly. “You have to relax, Vivian. Every time you tighten up and fight the contraction, it will hurt more.”

  As if calmed by his very presence, she blew out a slow, noisy breath. He could feel her muscles easing. She sagged against him, holding onto his waist and rocked side to side. Pressing his cheek to hers, he closed his eyes and held her, giving her the support she needed, until the contraction ended.

  When he opened his eyes, he discovered Kiki still seated on the chair but she smiled warmly at him. After all those weeks of not liking her, he felt strangely happy to have her approval. I’m not going to fuck this up. I can do this. I can help Vee get through this.

  Pointing to the bathroom, Kiki mouthed one word at him, “Shower.”

  Remembering the discussions about water and showers helping during the first phase of labor, he quietly led Vivian into the bathroom and shut the door. He turned on the shower, not too hot, and jerked at his tie. Not caring where his clothes landed, he dropped them haphazardly behind him and then helped Vivian out of her yoga pants and tank top.

  They hadn’t been under the warm spray of the rain-style heads very long before she whimpered with pain again. Leaning back against him, she swayed side to side. He wrapped his arms around her naked body, supporting her belly, and kissed her neck. “Breathe, solnyshka. You can do this. One contraction at a time.”

  Alone with Vivian in the steamy confines of their bathroom, he realized that all the dread he had been experiencing and all of his fears about what could go wrong weren’t going to help her. He had to let go of all that and be the strong, fearless man she needed. This isn’t about you. It’s about her.

  Whispering encouragement and keeping his hands on her so she would remember that she wasn’t alone, he talked her through the pains gripping her body. One contraction, two contractions, three contractions—they stayed in the shower for five of them before she wanted to rest her legs.

  Not caring who saw the tattoos he normally kept covered, he wrapped a towel around his waist and covered her in the fluffy bathrobe she kept behind the door. He didn’t bother Vivian with questions about what she wanted to wear. He grabbed a camisole and cotton undies from her side of the walk-in closet and helped her into them.

  Out in the bedroom, Kiki had brought out a large birthing ball. Vivian gladly dropped onto it and leaned forward against the mattress. The doula massaged Vivian’s lower back while he hastily dressed. He came out of the bathroom to the sounds of his wife gripped by another contraction. Glancing at his watch, he calculated the time between them. At this rate, she was going to be in labor for hours!

  Wordlessly, Kiki encouraged him to take her place and then quietly left the bedroom. He placed his chin on Vivian’s shoulder and kneaded her lower back. “What else can I do to help you?”

  “Just don’t leave me,” she said, her voice unnaturally tight and fast. “I need to be able to see you.”

  “Zolota.” He kissed her temple. “I’m here. I’m not leaving your sight again.”

  Vivian rested her forehead on her crossed arms and rocked back and forth on the ball. Her voice was muffled as she asked, “How was my dad?”

  He didn’t think this was the time to talk about her father, but if it kept her mind off the pain and discomfort, he would tell her anything she wanted to know. “He was good. He told me that he’s going to come see you and the baby soon.”

  “And your business?”

  He started to tell her not to worry about any of that, but he knew her too well. She would dwell on it if he didn’t reassure her. “Everything worked out exactly the way I wanted.”

  “Good.” Relief filled her voice. “I’m glad.”

  The next two hours passed the same as the first. She rocked on the ball. She walked. She leaned against him and swayed. He managed to get her to drink and even eat a banana that Kiki had grabbed from downstairs. The doula continued to surprise him by staying out of their way and only offering support or advice when it was needed. He silently—and grudgingly—agreed that Vivian had been right about hiring a birthing specialist.

  The contractions grew stronger and closer together until—finally—it was time to leave for the hospital. By now, Ten was pacing the hallway. Boychenko looked like he might pass out when Vivian had to stop halfway down the stairs to growl her way through a particularly painful contraction.

  “I’m driving.” Ten swiped the keys to th
e SUV from their peg. “You.” He pointed at Kiki. “Sit up front with me.”

  The doula didn’t seem to know what to make of the giant enforcer. She simply nodded and trailed after him with her bags of supplies. Boychenko stayed behind to watch the house, but Ilya and some of Artyom’s crew were waiting outside to ride escort, just in case. Nikolai didn’t think anyone was stupid enough to make a move tonight, but he never took anything for granted, not where Vee was concerned.

  If anyone did have the balls to try something, they wouldn’t have those balls for much longer. He wouldn’t call Kostya in for that job either. It would be one he would do himself—and relish.

  Once they were on the road, Vivian’s contractions seemed to grow more intense, but she became focused and unnervingly quiet. If it wasn’t for her hand gripping his so tightly his fingertips went numb, he wouldn’t have even known she was in pain. Ten nervously eyed the backseat in the mirror’s reflection. Kiki twisted and angled her upper body so she could offer help. Nikolai tuned out everyone except for Vivian. He held her gaze as she breathed through her longest and strongest contraction yet.

  When they reached the hospital, Ten stayed behind to deal with parking. With their hospital bag slung over his shoulder, Nikolai helped Vivian out of the vehicle with Kiki’s help. They made their way inside and were quickly taken up to the labor and delivery floor.

  The chaos he had expected never happened. An obstetrician from Vivian’s practice was on the floor and came to greet her while the nurse and midwife on shift took her vital signs and made sure they had her medical history correct. When they asked her if she wanted to stay in her camisole and remove everything from the waist down or use one of the hospital gowns, she opted for the gown.

  “Help me?” She didn’t seem to be able to speak in long sentences anymore. It was as if her brain had decided to shut down certain functions so her body’s sole focus could be on birthing their child.

  “Come on,” he said gently. Sliding his arm around her shoulders, he guided her into the bathroom and out of her clothing. He had turned around to fold her camisole and skirt when he heard her gasp. Spinning around, he found Vivian cradling her belly and staring at the floor where an increasingly large puddle started to form.