Someone Is Waiting
The sound of gunfire seemed to swallow the entire world.
I couldn’t see what was happening outside.
All I could see was Roman.
His body was covering mine, one arm wrapped tightly around my shoulders while his other hand braced against the seat.
“Stay down,” he ordered.
Another bullet struck the SUV.
I screamed.
My hands instinctively went to my stomach.
“My baby…”
“She’s safe.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I’m not letting anything happen to either of you.”
His voice was so calm that, for a moment, I believed him.
Then another shot rang out.
Roman’s security team shouted outside.
The driver accelerated.
The SUV swerved violently, but Roman never released me.
I could feel his heartbeat against my cheek.
It was steady.
Controlled.
As if gunfire was nothing unusual to him.
And that frightened me almost as much as the attack itself.
The driver suddenly shouted.
“We’re through!”
The SUV surged forward.
A few seconds later, the gunfire stopped.
I slowly lifted my head.
Roman looked toward the rear window.
“Are they following us?”
The driver checked the mirror.
“No.”
Roman picked up his phone.
“Get me a secure line to the hospital.”
I stared at him.
“Who were those people?”
He didn’t answer.
“Roman.”
His eyes met mine.
“I don’t know yet.”
“You knew someone was waiting for us.”
“I suspected.”
“Why?”
He looked away.
“Because your husband has enemies.”
I shook my head.
“Julian doesn’t have enemies.”
Roman gave me a strange look.
“You don’t know your husband as well as you think.”
The words hurt.
Because I was beginning to realize he was right.
The late-night phone calls.
The unexplained money.
The secret meetings.
The folder.
Celeste.
The sudden flight.
Maybe I had been married to a stranger.
Another contraction came.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Roman immediately reached for my hand.
“Breathe.”
“I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
“It hurts.”
“I know.”
“You don’t know.”
A faint smile appeared on his face.
“No. I don’t.”
For some reason, that made me smile too.
Then he looked at the driver.
“How long?”
“Three minutes.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“That isn’t fast enough.”
“We’re almost there.”
He picked up his phone again.
“Tell them to have a trauma team and an obstetrician waiting.”
I looked at him.
“Why a trauma team?”
“Because whoever attacked us may try again.”
My heart sank.
“Do you think they’ll come to the hospital?”
“I don’t know.”
“That’s not comforting.”
“I wasn’t trying to comfort you.”
I stared at him.
He looked back at me.
Then, unexpectedly, he said:
“But I will keep you safe.”
The SUV turned sharply.
The hospital entrance appeared through the rain.
I could see emergency lights flashing.
Medical staff were already waiting.
But something was wrong.
There were two security vehicles blocking the road.
Roman immediately noticed them.
“Slow down.”
The driver did.
Roman leaned forward.
“Who authorized hospital security?”
The driver shook his head.
“They were already here.”
Roman’s eyes narrowed.
“Stop.”
The SUV stopped.
My heart began pounding.
“What is it?”
Roman didn’t answer.
He opened the door slightly.
One of his men approached.
They exchanged a few quiet words.
Then the man looked toward me.
Roman immediately shut the door.
“What happened?”
He looked at me.
“The hospital security team wasn’t expecting us.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means someone may have gotten inside before we arrived.”
I stared at him.
“Inside the hospital?”
He nodded.
I suddenly felt cold.
“Then where do I go?”
Roman looked toward the entrance.
“There’s another entrance.”
He turned to the driver.
“Use the service corridor.”
The SUV moved again.
I gripped Roman’s hand.
“You really think someone is trying to kill me?”
His eyes remained fixed ahead.
“I think someone is desperate enough to try.”
“Why?”
Roman finally looked at me.
“Because they believe you have something they need.”
“What?”
He didn’t answer.
“Roman.”
He looked away.
“Not yet.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re about to have a baby.”
I stared at him.
“That doesn’t mean I don’t want the truth.”
“You’ll get it.”
“When?”
“When you’re safe.”
The SUV entered a narrow service road behind the hospital.
A side entrance opened.
Two nurses were waiting with a wheelchair.
Roman jumped out first.
Then he turned toward me.
“Madeline.”
I looked at him.
“Can you walk?”
I shook my head.
“Not anymore.”
He nodded.
Without hesitation, he lifted me from the vehicle.
I wrapped my arms around his neck.
“I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“Making you carry me.”
“You’re not heavy.”
I almost laughed.
“You’re lying.”
“I don’t lie.”
The words came so naturally that I believed him.
He carried me through the side entrance.
The nurses rushed beside us.
“Thirty-seven weeks,” Roman told them. “Water broke earlier tonight. Contractions are about two minutes apart.”
The nurse nodded.
“We’ve got her.”
They transferred me onto the wheelchair.
But I immediately reached for Roman.
“Don’t go.”
He looked at me.
“I’ll be right here.”
“You promise?”
“Yes.”
The nurse pushed me toward the delivery ward.
I kept my eyes on Roman until the doors began closing.
Then I saw something that made me stop breathing.
Roman wasn’t looking at me.
He was looking down the hallway.
At a man standing near the elevator.
The stranger wore a hospital employee’s uniform.
But he wasn’t carrying medical equipment.
He was watching Roman.
And when their eyes met…
The man turned and disappeared through the elevator doors.
Roman’s expression became terrifyingly cold.
He reached for his phone.
“Find him.”
The doors closed.
I was taken into the delivery room.
But now I knew something.
The danger hadn’t stayed outside.
It had followed us inside the hospital.
And somewhere in that building, someone was waiting for my baby to be born.
