“He is dying!” I blurt out.
It takes Roman about half a second to realize what I’ve said and then he’s moving. He steps out of the ring and rushes past me, toward the front doors. I follow him out the door, suddenly realizing that Roman just called Ivan his brother.
“What the fuck happened to him?” Roman growls at me while opening the passenger door. His eyes are full of fury, and he looks like he might rip my head off.
“He was shot.” I try to get my breathing under control, my pulse pounds in my ears, and all I want is for Roman to help him.
“I was going to take him to a hospital, but he insisted that I bring him here instead. Please tell me you can help him? He’s lost so much blood, and I don’t think that he would make it if I had to turn around and drive him to the hospital.” Tears start falling from my eyes.
Roman ignores me and instead, grabs Ivan by the arms, pulling him into a sitting position. Ivan doesn’t even say anything, nor does he look like he’s breathing.
“Help me get this asshole inside.” Cursing under his breath, Roman pulls his brother out of the car. A grunt of pain passes Ivan’s lips while both of us slip under his arms and help him inside. His legs barely move and Roman carries most of his weight while I just help keep him balanced.
“Ivan also said that this car has a tracker on it and that we need to get rid of it.”
Roman grunts as if he is annoyed by all of this as he kicks the door open with his foot and we carry Ivan inside.
“Devin… Mac,” Roman booms through the large room, drawing attention. All heads turn in our direction but only two guys start to run toward us. I step away while one of the guys takes my place. The girl from earlier suddenly stands next to us, staring us down.
“Have some of the guys get rid of the car out front… immediately,” Roman orders the girl, and she just nods before scurrying away.
I follow behind the three men as they carry Ivan down a long hall and into some back room. Once inside the room, I realize why Ivan wanted to come here. This place looks like a mixture between an operating room and a doctor’s office.
I cautiously watch as the three guys place Ivan on the table in the center of the room and start moving around it like they’re a well-trained team of doctors. Like they do this every single day.
“Lower the table as much as you can,” Roman orders and to my confusion sticks a needle in his own arm. Puzzled, I don’t realize what he is doing until the other guy sticks the same kind of needle into Ivan’s arm and they attach the two with a clear tube. Bright red blood starts to flow through the tube from Roman’s arm into Ivan’s, and I realize then that Roman is giving his brother a blood transfusion.
“Can I help with anything?” I question, worrying my bottom lip while staring at Ivan’s lifeless form. They’re all working in sync with each other, and I have no idea what to do. I want to cry. I want to scream at the world for giving me this man only to take him away.
“Just stay out of the way, and you’ll be fine,” Roman growls, as they rip Ivan’s shirt off his body. I gasp seeing the wound for the first time. Blood covers his skin, and all I want to do is run over to him and hold his hand and tell him everything is going to be okay, but I can't. Instead, I lean against the wall, feeling as useless as hell. All I can do is stay out of the way and watch as these three men save Ivan’s life.
The guy who Roman called Mac puts a pair of latex gloves on and starts digging his fingers into Ivan’s wound.
A pained cry rips from Ivan’s throat as he thrashes against the table.
“Hold the fuck still,” Mac growls and continues digging around until he pulls out a small silver bullet. He throws it into a metal bowl off to the side, and it lands with a loud clunk. Mac grabs some gauze and presses it into the wound, earning a loud growl of displeasure from Ivan.
“Pussy,” I hear Roman say under his breath.
“Is he going to be okay?” I ask.
Roman’s dark gaze swings to mine, and he looks me up and down, inspecting me with a fine-toothed comb. “Who are you again?”
His tone pisses me off, and I can't hold back the snarky response from slipping out. “Violet and I'm his… friend.” I cross my arms over my chest and stare him down. It feels like he's judging me, and I don't like it. He doesn't know me or what Ivan and I have been through.
“That's what they call it now, huh?” he snorts.
“Roman,” Ivan growls as if in warning, his eyes finally opening.
I rush over to his side and grab onto his clammy hand. He doesn't look at me and that's okay. I just want him to be okay.
“Don't Roman me. I have a right to know who the fuck she is. She's in my gym, and she brought your injured ass in here.” Roman takes the needle out of his arm and pushes some gauze on the tiny wound while Mac starts to sew up Ivan.
“What kind of shit did you get yourself into anyway? Why didn’t you just go to one of your people to get sewed up?”
Roman is clearly unhappy we are here but I don’t care how unhappy he is so long as he keeps Ivan alive.
“They’re not my people; they’re Rossi’s people… and they’re the ones trying to kill me.”
“Well, that’s fucking great. What the hell did you do to piss him off?” Roman moves to the foot of the bed and crosses his arms over his chest. He’s huge, just like Ivan. They share the same dark brooding features and olive colored skin. Roman’s body is more muscular than Ivan’s, more defined, like an athlete. In a fight, I’m sure they would be evenly matched.
“I took something of his,” Ivan hisses, pain filling his features.
“Well, here’s an idea… give it the fuck back.” Roman stops talking and takes a step back, turning to his side. His line of vision following Ivan’s.
I can tell the moment he pieces the puzzle together inside his head. Through clenched teeth, Roman speaks again, and his anger is damn near terrifying. “You took her, didn’t you? You took one of his fucking whores? God, why am I so surprised? I should expect this shit from you by now.”
“Shut the fuck up, Roman,” Ivan growls, trying to sit up. His attempt is futile, since within a second, he’s pushed back down on the table. “She isn’t one of his whores. I took her before he could get his hands on her. I gave up everything for her. I brought her into hiding with me. I want more for us, more for her.”
Roman rolls his eyes. “You must be fucking her then because no man I know is going to risk his life for a woman he ain’t getting any pussy from.” His remark makes my cheeks heat, he’s crude, unapologetic, and completely different than Ivan in every single way other than physically.
“It doesn't matter what I'm doing. I don't owe you an explanation. Just leave her the fuck out of it.” Ivan sounds annoyed, clearly not wanting to talk to his brother about our complicated relationship.
Roman laughs but it’s humorless and makes his already dark features darker. “Then I guess I didn't need to save your fucking life, now did I?” Without another word, he storms from the room, slamming his fist into the drywall on the way out. The noise vibrates through me, but I don't even startle. I bite my tongue and tell myself it’s not worth it to stick up for Ivan against his brother, but it is to me. I don’t want him thinking that all of this is his brother’s fault, not when almost all of it is mine. I release Ivan’s warm hand from mine and start toward the door.