Page 152 of Betrayal and Vows

God, I love her.

“Goodbye, Dmitri,” Lena says.

Dmitri hugs her and when she brushes her lips against his cheek, I move.

I pull her back and push him away at the same time.

She laughs softly. “Anton.”

“He knows better,” I growl.

Luda stands in the door.

“Thank you,” I say.

“Good luck.”

We walk into the trees.

I keep telling myself this is the dumbest thing I’ve done yet.

I’m walking to Georgia.

Who does that?

The climb is brutal. By midday, we’re sweating under our layers. My back is aching from the pack, and my right ankle is already sore. But I don’t complain. I’m used to pain. Lena isn’t.

But she doesn’t say a word.

When we finally stop, it’s in the shadow of a boulder that juts out. The wind whistles through the pines above us.

She pulls off her pack and unzips it. We both drink from our water bottles.

Then Lena pulls out the sandwiches Luda had made for us.

We eat in silence for a while.

“Are you okay?” I ask her.

“Yep. Great.”

“Lena.”

“Anton, I’m fine. It’s not bad. A hike. It actually feels good to be out here. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to just go for a walk.”

“You’ll be able to do lots of hiking in Spain.”

“We,” she corrects. “Both of us.”

I don’t say it, but I can’t picture myself living there with her. Living without the Bratva chasing me. But I need her there. I need her to be safe.

And then I’m going to finish what I started.

“We need to move,” I say. “Can you walk a few more hours?”

“Yes.”

We walk for another hour before Lena breaks the silence.