I Accidentally Saved a Mafia Boss

Episode 4

Michael's Pov

For one terrifying moment, I think my brain went dead.

Because standing next to me in the middle of Saint Levi’s Hospital, wearing Ethan’s I LOVE MEN shirt, was what was apparently suspected to be a Russian mob boss.

Nikolai Sokolov.

The name screamed inside my head, a shot echoing. No wonder he looked so familiar! How could I have forgotten?!

“Attention please,” a disembodied voice crackled over the intercom system. “Security to the east entrance immediately.”

A flurry of motion burst throughout the lobby as two police officers burst through the double doors, and my soul literally left my body.

They were here for Nikolai.

Oh god. Oh god.

Without thinking, I grabbed his wrist. “Come with me.”

His head whipped around instantly. The officers were speaking to the receptionist. One gestured to the TV toward Nikolai's face and my heart nearly exploded in my chest.

“Move!” I hissed.

To my utter shock, he did, and I yanked him through the hallway, moving fast enough to elicit offended looks from nurses.

My pulse pounded a million miles an hour and my brain spiraled out of control. Why was I helping him?! Why was I running?! Why was I basically assisting a fugitive right now?! He was right behind me, dangerously quiet, not complaining, not asking questions, just watching me pull him along, his gaze darting to everything, letting me drag him through the hospital while two police officers’ voices faintly echoed behind us, “We're looking for a man matching this description.”

Crap. Crap crap crap.

I shoved Nikolai into a supply closet and slammed the door shut behind us.

What was with my life turning into closet scenes with men who were apparently wanted by the law? I put my hands on my face and took a shaky breath so I didn’t hyperventilate.

“This is bad,” I whispered. “This is so, so bad.”

Nikolai stood directly in front of me, his gaze following my hands. “You are scared.”

“You don't say? What was your clue?”

His hand slid around my wrist. It was warm and steady and his grip tightened slightly. “I won't let anyone hurt you.”

There was something about the certainty of his statement that made my chest ache in a totally foreign way.

“Maybe you're the one who will,” I whispered before I could stop it, and I saw it instantly.

His expression crumbled slightly and a flash of pain shot through his green eyes.

For one horrible second, guilt surged through me because, regardless of how dangerous he apparently was, he looked utterly devastated at the thought of hurting me. And then voices were echoing outside the closet. Both of us froze.

“Check every room,” a police officer said.

My pulse leaped up my throat. Nikolai's grip tightened, not painful but protective, and the footsteps grew closer and closer until they stopped right outside our door.

I stopped breathing. The handle began to slowly turn. Before I could even think I reached out and grabbed Nikolai's hand. His eyes met mine instantly. The door rattled once. Then…

“Officer! We need you over here!” A nurse shrieked down the hall. It was Diane.

When footsteps vanished and I almost passed out from relief.

Nikolai stood silently, his gaze locked on our joined hands. I realized I was the one clinging to him and I quickly snatched my hand away.

“We need to get outside,” I whispered.

Nikolai nodded once and said quietly, “You should leave me.”

My eyes widened. “What?”

“They're looking for me, not you.”

A bitter twist settled in my stomach. “And I should let them arrest you?”

He looked down at me with an oddly soft expression. “Yes.”

That answer made me so angry I nearly screamed. Before I could process whatever that told me about myself, loud voices echoed nearby once more. There was no time. I grabbed his hand again. “Run.”

Nikolai's eyes widened in utter shock. Not because I touched him, but because I was choosing him.

We slipped out the back emergency exit behind the hospital.

The cold morning air instantly hit my face, and I barely had a second to breathe before Nikolai abruptly shoved me behind him hard enough that I stumbled.

“What the hell!” The rest of my words died when my eyes landed on a man standing next to the parking lot.

He was tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in a black coat. Recognition hit me like a ton of bricks. It was him. The terrifying stranger from the alley that night, the man who asked me about Nikolai.

Fear shot through my body. “Nikolai, that man is…”

Nikolai didn't say a word. He slowly positioned himself fully in front of me, shielding me.

The stranger immediately caught sight of the action, and his gaze shot toward me with surprise.

“Nikolai,” he said carefully, “You need to come with me.”

“No.” Nikolai snapped. The word came out sharp enough to slice.

The stranger sighed. “Boss, please.”

Boss? I blinked. Wait, what?

Nikolai abruptly grabbed a metal pipe leaning against a wall and my throat caught.

“Nikolai!” I yelped, but it was too late.

He attacked first, fast and violent and utterly terrifying.

The stranger dodged and grabbed Nikolai's wrist and the pipe clattered loudly onto the pavement.

The two men fought with a terrifying precision that screamed professional combat, not a street fight. It looked like they had both been trained to kill.

I stumbled backwards in horror. “What the hell is going on?!”

Nikolai slammed the stranger against a parked car hard enough that it dented.

The stranger cursed in Russian and punched Nikolai across the jaw, a splatter of blood across the concrete. Nikolai didn't flinch.

Jesus Christ.

The stranger noticed me standing too close, and his eyes widened. “Get down!”

Before I could register the command, I felt a blinding pain shatter the back of my head. Everything tilted and my knees buckled.

The last I hear is Nikolai yelling something I don't understand before the darkness envelopes me.

I woke up with a groan a few hours later.

The first thing I registered when I opened my eyes were warm fingers wrapped gently around mine.

I moaned and my head throbbed as consciousness slowly began to return.

The hand in mine immediately tightened, and I looked up to see Nikolai's face before me. Relief crashed into me so hard it surprised me.

“You're awake.” His voice was rough, like he hadn't slept.

I blinked slowly. I was in a bedroom that clearly wasn't mine with an IV drip stuck in my arm.

“What happened?” I whispered weakly.

Nikolai leaned toward me instantly. “You were hurt.”

No kidding.

“You kept calling his name,” another voice cut in.

I turned my head and saw the stranger from the parking lot standing by the door, arms crossed, looking every bit as intimidating as he did then, up close.

I tried to sit up quickly but Nikolai's hand tightened around mine protectively.

The stranger noticed and sighed. “You really don't remember anything, do you?”

Nikolai glared at him. “Who are you?”

The man paused, studying Nikolai for a moment before he said, “My name is Oslo and I'm your brother. ”

He reached slowly into his pocket and whipped out an old photograph. It looked like it was taken recently but in Venice.

Nikolai had sunglasses in his hair with a lit cigar in his hand while Viktor was drinking from a wine glass. It looked like they were at some party.

“We were just celebrating your birthday two months ago when suddenly, you disappeared,” Viktor explained as he shoved the picture back in his pocket.

I turned to Nikolai whose brows were furrowed like he was trying to remember what happened.

I turned to Viktor. “If you're really his brother, then why did you try to hurt Nikolai?!”

“I would never hurt my brother. When I saw him with you, I thought he was in danger. You saw the news, didn't you? About the attack. For all I know you could be a member of the Malfesttos.” Viktor snapped back.

I blinked. “The Malfesttos? Who are they?”

Vikto sighed. “You don't need to know. You're an ordinary civilian.”

“Really?” I scoffed. “I treated a mafia boss and now, we're fugitives. I feel very much involved in whatever this is.”

“The Malfesttos are a rival mafia group. You can guess the rest.” He said curtly

“They tried to kill Nikolai?”

“Yes.”

I froze. “Why?”

“What do you think?” He shot back, then sighed. “I have to take him home. Thank you for your help.”

He gave me a brief nod before reaching for Nikolai. Before he could reach him, Nikolai grabbed his elbow and shoved him to the floor.

A gasp tore through my lips.“Oh my God.”

“Michael,” Caesar said, startled. “What's wrong?”

“You just…”

“He's the enemy!” Nikolai snapped.

I turned to Viktor who looked just as surprised as I was.

“What do we do?” I whispered.

“Since he listens to you, tell me we have to leave right now.” Viktor said.

A few hours later, we were taken to an underground facility in the city. Apparently, it was an illegal hospital for treating criminals. As we walked into the building, I wondered if Nikolai had been here before. He probably had.

Viktor insisted Nikolai undergoes a brain scan. At first, he refused until I told him it was safe and stayed with him.

Hours later, the doctor, Mikhail, brings me and Viktor into his office with the scan results.

Mikhail sighed as he folded his hand on his desk. “We’ve got a huge problem.”

“Dear God.” I gasped, expecting the worst.

Mikhail continued. “The assassination attempt caused significant trauma to Nikolai's brain. He hasn't lost all his memory, but…”

Viktor clenched his fist. “But what?”

“It's been reshaped in a strange way.

Viktor frowned. “Reshaped? What do you mean?”

Mikhail’s gaze drifted to me. “Nikolai’s brain has latched onto the very first person he saw after waking. To him, that person is not just familiar, but deeply important.”

“What do you mean?”

“What I mean is Nikolai believes Michael is his lover.”

“What?”

Viktor scoffed. “But that doesn't even make any sense. He doesn't even know who Michael is.”

“Not consciously, no,” Mikhail pushed his glasses to the bridge of his nose. “But you have to understand that trauma can confuse emotional memory. Sometimes, the mind fills in the gasp with what it most desperately craves or fears to lose. Tell me… did he lose anyone close to him around the time of the assassination attempt?”

I turned to Viktor. “What is he talking about?”

He ignored me and answered almost quietly. “Yes. Nikolai lost his fiance.”

My jaws dropped in horror.

Mikhail sighed gently. “Then it's possible Nikolai's mind is rewriting that grief. The first person he laid eyes on became the stand-in for the one he lost. To Nikolai, Michael is the embodiment of the girl he loved.”

“So now he's the only one he sees and I'm nobody?” Viktor looked down.

“It doesn't mean you're forgotten forever. With therapy, there's hope he'll recover pieces of his past but for now, Michael is the center of his world.”

“Holy shit.”

We left Mikhail's office in silence. What could we possibly say to each other? I, for one, was too speechless after what I'd heard.

Vikto hesitated for a moment before he spoke. “We'll get Nikolai's memories back.”

“But what about me?” I asked.

“That's where you come in.” Viktor held my gaze.

“I don't understand.” My brows furrowed.

“You're the only one that can help him.” Viktor admitted.

“What?! What about my life? My family?” I panicked.

“Your family is safe. I contacted them while you were unconscious. My men are with them right now,” Viktor grabbed my shoulders. “You cannot go back to your old life now. I know it's selfish but we need you to bring back Nikolai's memories.”

I swallowed a gasp.

What the hell had I done to myself?