Would I be kicked to curb, my daughter taken from me by the mafia leader I unknowingly slept with four years ago?
I didn’t want to believe that, and when I thought about the kiss we shared last night, a part of medidn’tbelieve it, but telling him he was her father still felt like a risk.
“I still think—”
Mira’s words cut off as we heard a shout coming from outside of the room. The gym sometimes got noisy when there were a lot of people working out, the murmur of conversations, the clanking of weights, and the hum of treadmills. But this was a single man shouting.
Alarmed, we all rushed out of the room. The class was about to start, but no one seemed to care as we joined the crowd of people near the front of the gym watching the commotion.
“Get off of me!” a man shouted.
That was followed by a scream and crying that I recognized. Panic rushed through me as I shoved my way through the people gathered. That was my daughter crying.
When I finally broke through the crowd and saw the scene that had gained so much attention, my stomach dropped. Nikolay was restraining a man on the ground, an employee of the gym, based on the blue polo shirt he was wearing. The man was struggling, but Nikolay had zip-tied his hands behind hisback and was holding him in place with a knee between his shoulder. The look in Nikolay’s eyes was cold as ice. Nearby, Alexis stood with one of the people who ran the childcare room, tears streaming down her face as she watched the two men on the floor. She looked terrified, and I rushed to her, lifting her into my arms.
Turning to Nikolay, I had to fight back the fear making my throat feel tight just to ask him what the hell happened.
“This asshole tried to take her,” he said, nodding toward Alexis, who buried her face in my shoulder, her tears soaking into T-shirt.
“What?” I gasped.
Mira came to my side, rubbing her hand up and down Alexis’s back.
I looked more closely at the man being restrained. I recognized him from my previous visits. He was a real employee of this gym.
“He works here!” I protested, annoyed that Nikolay would do something like this.
Nikolay eased off the man for a second and said, “Ask Alexis what happened, he grabbed her. If I hadn’t heard her screams, he’d have taken her.”
Was he associated with those men who threatened me? Or was it a coincidence that he tried to kidnapmychild?
I glanced at my child. She was still crying. “Is this true, sweetheart?” I asked.
She nodded and pushed her head into my chest.
Tightening my hold on Alexis, I took a deep breath and silently thanked whatever divine intervention brought Dmitri tomy door Friday night. I still didn’t know why he was compelled to help me, but if he hadn’t, Nikolay wouldn’t have been here today, and my little girl could be gone.