Her Volkovs #Book 4
Chapter 49

Somewhere outside New York City.

Axel arrived in a limo to his uncle's property. His men went out of their cars and immediately disarmed Juan Pablo's people. One of the men opened the limo door to give way to Sebastian Axel De Alba, son of the deceased Antonio De Alba, the boss of the Cabana Cartel-Colombia's most powerful drug cartel and the other half of the Conglomerate.

Juan Pablo De Alba is at the lakeside quietly fishing. He heard the arrival of his nephew but he chose to sit still, knowing exactly why Axel is here.

The Cartel Boss sat across his uncle, looking straight at the stillness of the water.

Juan Pablo: Your father and I used to come here to plan our take over of New York and the east coast from the son of a bitch Vyacheslav. He would always sit there, impatiently tapping his shoes on the wood and he doesn't even care if he catches fish or not. Between him and I, Antonio was always the thinker, the planner. He had this-(points at his head while looking at Axel) and I, I was your father's attack dog. His executioner. I did most of his dirty work for him and now for you, Sebastian.

Axel: (Wears his black leather gloves) Where is Sergey Yvanislov?

Juan Pablo: (Momentary silence) He is on his way to carry out our original plan. Get rid of the Russians, control the conglomerate and take over New York. The Cabana Cartel will soon supply the whole of east coast and every European connection they have. We, Sebastian, are going to be the most powerful crime family in North and South America!

Axel: We, as a family? (Stood up and signals one of his men to place a gun on top of the small cooler right next to Juan Pablo) I found this in the possession of the sicario you sent to kill me last night. It has the prints of Sergey Yvanislov.

(Wraps a cord around his fingers on both hands and then suddenly strangles his uncle. The man gasps for air as he struggles to remove the cord from around his neck) And you know what else I found out Tio? It's the same gun that killed my father. Your own brother!

(Axel snarles as he squeezes the string tighter. Juan Pablo's feet flail as he desperately gasps for air) You are using Sergey to kill Volkov and you hired a hitman to kill me with a tainted gun to frame Sergey. (He lets go of the cord, took the gun and watches his uncle crawl to get away from him) Where is Sergey?

Juan Pablo: (He's in New York. He hired private contractors to kidnap Volkov's wife in exchange for his daughter, Yrina. (Chuckles mockingly when he saw Axel dial his phone) It's too late Sebastian! Axel: No, Tío, it's too late for you. (Axel points his gun and shoots his uncle in his head. Blood drips down his face as he falls lifeless onto the pavement) Por mi Padre.

Featured song: Wolves by Sam Tinnesz

Belle's POV

Our SUVS sped like there's no tomorrow on the way to the garage where we once had rendezvous sex. It still looks old and dingy just like the last time that we were here. No one would ever suspect that this place hides guns and high-end vehicles of the Russian Mafia.

My lips parted when Boris and Andrey removed the covers of the four cars parked inside the garage. Yup, these are Volkov's cars alright. Even Andrey whistled in awe looking at the four shiny jet black luxury vehicles light up one by one in front of him all of which are armored and impenetrable by regular and even high caliber rounds.

"Damn, Boss. These are slick!" Said Andrey, his eyes are sparkling like a child with presents on Christmas morning.

"The Boss and Dimitri were able to lose the tail but it will not be the last one. We must take you and Belle to the safe house as soon as possible. The chopper is waiting for you at Artan Bogdani's shipyard. You were right, VH is compromised and the Mansion is too far from here to take off. As a precaution, Artan offered his help for Belle." Yuri said to Nikolai.

Nikolai did not respond but instead signaled the boys to give us privacy which they obliged instantly.

"Nikolai. Is it Sergey? Is it him?"

He just nods and held my face with his palms to face him. "Baby, it's time. Remember what we have agreed on before? If anything bad happens to me today-"

"No!" I did not let him finish. At this point, my eyes started to well with tears. I know what he's going to say and I don't want to hear it. I can't believe that we have actually reached this point.

"It's okay. Everything is going according to plan, except that he is now putting a target on you, that's why I want you to leave for the safe house without me."

"No! I'm staying here with you and Alexei!"

"Baby, please listen to me. My brother and I have to do this. Sergey killed my father and he killed Alexei's father. That bastard put bullets through their heads from the back. He may not have ruined the Mafia but he has ruined my family. And now with you in my life, he tried to kill you and our babies using Victoria and the traitor in the Conglomerate. When that did not work out, he wants to take you away from me so he can get his daughter back. I am not going to let that happen. Not with you, not on my watch."

"But Nikolai please, there must be another way!"

He lands a long sweet kiss on my lips and then connected his forehead to mine. "I love you more than anything in this world. More than my life, Belle. I see no point in life if I lose you."

The tears that have been threatening to fall moments ago are now flowing down my cheeks. I am so torn between letting him do this so he can finally exact retribution for the death of Papa Vyacheslav or convince him to come with me and Alexei to the safe house and let our people replace Sergey.

I know that Nikolai and Alexei have been waiting for this moment to come. They have carried this in their hearts for the longest time. Now that revenge is within their reach, I do not want to be the one to deprive them of that chance. Lest, I regret it in the future.

"Nikolai, if you do this, promise me you'll come home to me? Promise me?"

"I promise, cross my heart, hope Artan dies."

"Nikolai!" I smack him on his chest but he just chuckles. How can this man think of these kinds of things when we are actually in the middle of a friggin crisis?

"I'm kidding." He said.

"That's not funny. Why do you hate Artan so much?"

"Because if my brother and I were to die, I know you'd choose Artan." He replied without a hint of doubt or hesitation. He looks at me intently, the man is actually probing for my reaction.

"Well, you and your brother better not die then Nikolai." I retorted. I see this as an opportunity to give him a little bit of a push to put his mind back to destroying Sergey so he can never hurt our family ever again. Nikolai's dark green eyes turned even darker and I know that I got into the man's head.

It's a matter of fact that of all the men that we had issues with, it is Artan whom he had the most serious rift, to a point that it almost broke us apart.

"Let's go." He signals Yuri and the boys to get in the vehicles while he opens the car door for me and then fastens my seatbelt.

He went around to the driver's seat, puts his leather gloves on and adjusted the rear view mirror with such suave, I had to bite my lower lip to stop myself from thinking unholy acts.

Why does he have to be this good looking, sophisticated and dangerous at the same time? The man is literally trouble, and yet I could not get enough of him even though he's already absolutely mine. Our convoy of jet black sports cars left the garage and sped like we stole something. The engines revved and roared in the streets on our way to Artan's shipyard.

We are not even halfway to our destination, the uninvited guests have shown up in three vehicles. My heart started to beat at an abnormal pace but my husband looks like he's already in the zone to eliminate whoever gets in our way. He looks at the rearview mirror while he tightens his grip on the stirring wheel.

Yuri, Andrey and Boris are already engaging in a speed chase and gunfight with the people sent by Sergey. They are trying to come for the vehicle behind us, probably thinking that Nikolai and I are there-only to be surprised by Boris' series of grenades. They made huge successive blasts and left one armored vehicle burning. Oh my goodness, Boris.

Two other SUVs are flanking us from both sides but they just could not seem to get a hold of us. Nikolai is such a skillful driver that all I could ever do is watch him do his magic.

"Hey baby, hold on tight okay? It's gonna be a rough ride."

"You know that I like it rough, baby." I replied as if I have any other choice at the moment. I could already feel my abdomen constrict. If this goes on, I think I'm going to labor earlier than expected.

He curses under his breath. I did not know at first what has gotten into him but the moment he reaches for my hand and placed it on top of his crotch, I instantly knew what's up.

"Nikolai! What is wrong with you? We are in the middle of a gunfight! There are bullets flying everywhere but you-you-" I could not even bring myself to say it. It's just too incredibly mental. "That's how hard you affect me."

"Okay! Now focus."

"Yes Ma'am." He responded with a naughty smirk on his face.

My heart is already banging inside my ribcage as I hold on tight to the handle. Nikolai swerved the car to the right, ramming hard against their SUV. This gave Yuri and Andrey the chance to come right in the middle as they fire multiple shots at them, accelerating even more to push them against the gutter and force the vehicle to tip and roll over to the sidewalk.

"Did you see that? Oh my god! Two down, one to go!" I exclaimed in awe. "Nikolai, your men are amazing!"

"Baby, they can't live with us in the mansion if they are mediocre. They hold high positions in the Mafia for a reason."

This actually makes a lot of sense. This is also the reason why Yuri and the boys get so much respect from other members of the Mafia. They walk their talk, exactly like their Bosses.

This time the only vehicle tailing us is this SUV to our left flank. Where is my baby bazooka when I need it the most?

"Where are you?" Said Nikolai calmly, talking to someone over the car's speaker.

"I'm right behind you." Alexei replied.

I see his car fast approaching from behind, while Dimitri, I assume is the one firing like a mad man from the passenger seat.

"Took you a while. You fucking getting rusty now?" Nikolai retorted while glancing at the rearview mirror.

"Hey princess, look away, ill just send a very important message to my brother." I did not get it at first but the moment they went past us, I realized what he was trying to do. Alexei opened his window and flipped the bird to Nikolai while looking straight at the road, smiling like a lunatic from ear to ear.

This made Nikolai smirk like lunatic number two. If anything, I think he's just happy to see his brother alive and safe.

"Hello! Excuse your bromance but there are people literally shooting at us?!" I scolded them under my breath.

"I got it." Said Alexei.

To my utter horror, he drifted his car so it faces the vehicle chasing us, the resulting smoke effectively blankets their vehicle, giving us the chance to speed away to safety.

"Do svidaniya, fuckers!" Exclaimed Dimitri, as we hear him over the speakerphone. The next thing we know, the uninvited guests' car crashes through an old building.

Nikolai took this chance to get away from the chaos. He changed gears and turned on the GPS so we can replace the fastest route to Artan's shipyard. When he realized that we are actually close to our destination, Nikolai's mood somehow changed.

I feel like, everything around us became somber and quiet. Nikolai took my hand and held it tightly. He did not have to say a single word. I know what he feels. I know what he wants to say.

He hates sending me away but he has to do it. We have overcome every single difficulty that came our way. We fought to be together and yet, here we are, on our way to separate. The worse part is, I know he's thinking that there is a chance that this might be the last time that we will see each other.

I kissed the back of his tattooed hand and our wedding ring around his finger and then lay his hand on top of my belly. He must have felt our babies' wrestling match inside which explains the smile on his face. "Nikolai, you have to keep your promise. You and your brother will come home to me alive. I'm going to wait for you. Your babies are going to wait for you."

You know that split second when your life flashes before your eyes? That nanosecond that seems to stop your world from turning. That tiny- minuscule gap between your past and your definite future. That very moment you realize that things will never be the same, ever again.

A black SUV suddenly crashed into our car and forcefully smashed on to Nikolai's side.

My ears wrung as I try to make some sense of our situation. I tried to call Nikolai's name but he seems to not hear me at all. There's blood gushing out of his forehead covering almost half of his face.

As I try to unhook my seatbelt, I noticed that my dress is soaked in water and not long enough stream of fresh blood trickled down my thighs. I wanted to scream for help but then my body shook in fear when I saw men wearing ski masks come out of the vehicle that hit us.

One of them is now trying to pull me out of the passenger seat so I did my best to hold on tight. I kept my mouth shut and stood my ground.

At this point, my helplessness made me feel numb from any physical pain. I'm alone and my husband - my Nikolai is unconscious and bleeding to his death. I have no one but myself to rely on.

If this happened to me before, I would have probably begged to be let go. But now, I'd rather die than beg. I am a Volkov and no man can ever make me beg to a man beneath my last name.

When I realized that they are arguing on how to transfer me from our car to theirs, seeing that I am bleeding and probably going into labor, I took the chance to grab the gun from Nikolai's side and gathered enough strength and courage to shoot at them. A gasp escaped my mouth when the first shot went to the first guy's head and the other two shots into the other man's chest. They fell to the pavement, blood splattered around. My hands are still shaking in complete shock.

"Toss the gun." Said someone from the side pushing something on my head. I did not have a choice but to oblige.

"The bitch killed them." Said the guy who checked the pulse of the men I shot.

Despite them seeing that I am bleeding, the man still forced me out and dragged me to their vehicle. The next thing that happened however, shook me to my core.

"Nooooooo! No! Nikolai! Nikolai! Wake up Nikolai! Nooooooo!" I screamed at the top of my lungs as I witness with my own two eyes how the man is about to shoot Nikolai on his head from the back. My worse nightmare is about to happen right before my eyes. Nikolai having the same fate as his father Vyacheslav.

They wrapped a hanky around my mouth, tied my wrists together and put a cloth pouch over my head effectively preventing me to see anything. And then that sound. The sound of a muffled hiss of a gun silencer in three successive shots.

My body dropped as I feel my strength drain out of my system. It feels like my throat is being tied into a knot and slowly suffocating me. At this point, I have abandoned all hope. My mind drifted off in submission.

St. Michael Hospital

"Mrs. Volkov, can you hear me?" Said

someone in white with that echoing deep and raspy voice. There are also people in white who are standing behind him. I could not see him clearly as my vision is still blurry like I'm in a dream. My eyes feel so heavy I am not sure if I want to stay

awake or just go back into darkness. And then it dawned on me. Oh my goodness I'm dead.

"God?"

I try to reach for his face but he seems to be far away. Well at least I died not a virgin anymore.

What I heard next however, made my heart jump.

"Hey my princess."

Slowly, a familiar face is staring straight at me. I forced myself to get up to embrace him tightly. "Alexei."

"Hey, it's okay. You're okay. You're safe now. You did not see God yet. It was the doctor and you're in the hospital. You underwent an emergency c-section. You were unconscious for four days princess. You need to lay back. You still need time to heal."

"My babies. Where are my babies Alexei?! Those men-they killed Nikolai! They shot him! He promised me that he will come home to me. He promised me!" I'm already hysterical. I saw with my own two eyes how that man pointed a gun at Nikolai and how I heard the sound of gunshots thereafter. Those men killed my husband.

"Baby, you know that I am a man of my word. I don't make promises I can't keep."

I did not know what to think, let

alone what to say the moment I saw

a

Nikolai standing there wearing hospital gown, a neck brace and

holding two babies in both arms net

Werne

wrapped in white cloth with monogram V etched on them. The ray of sun is shining down their beautiful faces as he lets out a

beaming smile like a proud father.

He slowly places in my arms the two little angels who are now asleep while their fingers are resting against their cute little chubby faces. They look so beautiful and so at peace. They have no idea how strong they are to have endured and pulled through so much.

"They just came from circumcision. My little Volkovs are now ready to face the world-and the girls." Nikolai said as he places our babies in my arms.

Circumcision.

Boys.

Two more Nikolai Vyacheslav Volkov.

I don't know if I'm crying because of pure joy, of panic or of horror knowing that I have in my arms, literally smaller versions of Nikolai. I can barely survive with one Nikolai, now I have two more of him. Nikolai scooted over to my side and kisses me on my lips. "We need names for them." He whispered.

"Hmm.. You once said regardless of sex, you're going to name our baby Vyacheslav Nikolai Volkov. So I guess we only need one more name."

"Right. So, what do you think?" Asked Nikolai, looking at his brother. It obviously touched Alexei's manly heart. If I did not know any better I would think that his glistening eyes are not because of lack of sleep.

"Me?" He said, in obvious momentary panic.

"Well, uh, Roustam is a good name and Viktor would be a nice middle name." He continued.

Roustam is Papa Vyacheslav's middle name and Viktor is Alexei's middle name and his father's first name. It actually sounds good, not to mention, badass.

"I like it." Said Nikolai, which made Alexei smile from ear to ear. "So, who's Vyacheslav?"

The moment Nikolai asked the question, the identical twin on my right arm raised his hand while stretching and squirming. The three of us were so surprised, we burst into silent laughter.

"Well, I guess that's settled." Said Nikolai. "You, my boy, are Vyacheslav Nikolai Volkov. And you, young man, are Roustam Viktor Volkov. The future of the Volkov crime family and the new underbosses of the Russian Mafia. End of."