I thought he had a code, but that was before we had two Russian agents trailing us around London. Threatening the woman who meant everything to me.
“This ends today, Valentin. I mean it.”
Elizabeth’s eyes had gotten rounder and rounder with every word I said and her grip on my arm tightened as she glanced over her shoulder.
I snapped the call with Valentin off abruptly. “Don’t look at them. Keep walking. We’re fine. They’re not going to get anywhere near us.”
“Maxim, they’ve both got guns.”
“And there is no way they have authorisation to open fire in a public space in a country where they don’t have jurisdiction. Especially not on a British subject.”
I met her eyes and she nodded just before we set off at a faster pace, jogging rather than walking.
“Just up here, we get to the Italian Gardens. We make a sprint for it, and we’re away to Lancaster Gate. ”
I didn’t know if it was going to work. Running away had never been my style, but this wasn’t that this was evasion. As soon as Elizabeth was out of harm’s way, I’d come back and finish the pair of them.
But Elizabeth let out a gasp, doubled over and when I looked back she was breathing hard and her face was flushed and pale.
“Maxim.” She grimaced, double over and clutching her belly. “Oh God.” This wasn’t the Elizabeth I knew.
Seeing her in pain was the worst thing in the world. I didn’t care what caused it and I didn’t stop to find out. Without a moment’s pause, I scooped her up into my arms and headed straight to Lancaster Gate tube station, running as fast as I could.
I powered down the steps, setting her down just before the barrier and one stern look at the station guard was enough for him to swipe the gate open for us.
“Wise choice.” I wouldn’t have argued with me either.
I pushed through the tourists, to the far end of the platform, holding Elizabeth to my chest. The weekend was almost as crowded as the middle of rush hour on some lines, and the Central Line in summer was the worst of them all. If only because of the thick, hot, dirty air that shunted through the tunnels in front of every train, heated up by the engines, with no opportunity to cool.
Sweat was glistening on Elizabeth’s top lip and three people got up to give her a seat when I glared down the length of the train.
Elizabeth slumped down, and I crouched in front of her, steadying myself with the metal pole at the end of the row.
“What’s going on? Are you okay?”
She shook her head. “I’m fine.”
I didn’t believe it. There was fear in her eyes.
“Elizabeth. Do you need a doctor?”
She shook her head, but her eyes had turned wide and glassy and her hand darted up to cover over her mouth. “I think it’s the baby.”
“The baby?” I echoed her dumbly, blindsided by a rush of emotions. Sheer, utter joy. I was going to be a father? Abject fear. There was something wrong. “Jesus Elizabeth why didn’t you say something?”
She sniffed hard, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I thought – I didn’t know if you wanted-”
I growled, cupping the back of her head roughly and pulling her in for a possessive kiss, my fingers tangled into her short hair. “I do. I always will.”
She let out a sob, burying her head against my shoulder wrapping me up in her arms. “Oh God, Max. What if they’re something wrong?”
That was a possibility I couldn’t think about.
When the next station came, I hoisted her up like she was the most precious parcel in the word and carried her off the train.
“Come on. We need to get you home. And then I’m calling the doctor.”
“But Max, I can’t risk-”
“Our doctor, Liz. She’s not going to give you away to anybody. I promise. We need to get our baby happy again, don’t we?”
Elizabeth
Back in Knightsbridge, I almost wished we were in the little flat in Greenwich, when Maxim forcibly bundled me into bed and wouldn’t let me so much as make a cup of tea myself.
The company doctor visited and she looked a little surprised to find she was dealing with potential pregnancy complications rather than some kind of wound stitching, which one glance into her medical bag told me she’d come prepared for.
She told me she was called Dr Petrova and started to examine me all the same.
“How are you feeling, Elizabeth? Any pains?” she asked as she pumped up the cuff to test my blood pressure.
I shook my head. “No.” Since we got in, they’d subsided and I felt a little foolish now that there were two people fussing over me.
“Any bleeding?”
“No. I just felt like I was going to pass out.”