I burst out laughing and pull him into a hug. “You’re okay, it’s just your shoulder. You’re okay,” I sob against his jacket.
“It still hurts, Kat!” he scolds me, trying to push me away, but he’s laughing now, too. My laugher is almost giddy. Shock, happiness, relief, but also way too much adrenaline pulsing through me.
Yulian stands behind me and places his hand on my shoulder.
“Let’s get him to a hospital. The bullet probably shattered the bone.”
“Oh, right. That would hurt quite a bit,” I stammer, gently letting Artur go.
Yulian leans over, and without a word, he helps my brother to his feet and lets him lean on him as he guides him out to the car.
I glance back at the scene in our living room. Blood. Horror. Death.
But not my death. Not anyone I love. Yulian found me in time. He kept me safe. Just like he promised.
I close my eyes for a moment, thanking the universe, trying to calm my shaken heart.
Artur sits in the front seat, next to Yulian, and from the back seat, I listen to them bickering all the way to the hospital. I’m trying desperately to hide my grin, but in the end, it doesn’t matter. Neither of them looks back at me; both are too busy lecturing each other.
“You should have stayed outside and waited for me before you chased Mikhail,” Yulian huffs.
“What, you think I haven’t done this type of thing before? I don’t need your help, Andreev.”
“Clearly you do. Because,for the record,I saved your life.”
“You? You didn’t save my life. I had it covered. You came in there and distracted me.”
“You got shot, asshole. You’re busy bleeding all over my car as we speak. You want to try and gaslight me into believing that didn’t happen? I saved your life, just accept it.”
“I got shot in the shoulder. It’s not exactly fatal. Stop gloating over the one good thing you’ve ever done in your entire life. This doesn’t fix your karma.”
Back and forth, back and forth, all the way to the hospital.
I shake my head and smile, because for some reason, this feels like a breakthrough. At least they’re talking. That’s a step forward.
We arrive at the private hospital, and Artur shoves the door open, hurting himself in the process.
Yulian scolds him and runs around the side of the car to help him.
“I don’t want your help, man. I want you to leave,” Artur snaps.
“Art, stop this,” I say, stepping to his side to hold him up.
“I don’t need your help either, Katerina. I’ll find my own way inside.” He turns his back on both of us and walks away.
I sigh heavily. Maybe it wasn’t progress. I had high hopes, but Artur is as moody as ever. And it was his almost-ally that didall of this, so it doesn’t even make sense for him to be angry with us.
“Come on, kitten, let’s go back to the mansion, grab what we need, and go stay in the penthouse. I’ll get a crew in to clean up the mess.” Yulian pulls me into his arms, turning me to face him. He places his hand beneath my chin and lifts my eyes to his. “Are you hurt at all? Did he…”
“No,” I shake my head adamantly. “He was a monster, and I hate to think what would have happened if you didn’t find me, but he didn’t have time to hurt me. Just to scare me,” I sigh.
“My love, I was terrified. I went crazy. I lost my mind when I realized you were taken. I beat the crap out of your brother in front of all of his guards in his office,” he scowls.
“Is that how you got this bruise?” I ask, gently touching his temple.
“He might have gotten one or two shots in,” Yulian smiles sadly. “Kat, honestly, I can’t lose you. I don’t know what I would have done. I’ve never been so afraid in my life.” His voice is strained with worry. It breaks my heart.
I thread my arms around his waist and hold him tighter. “You’ll never lose me. I belong to you. I’ll always belong to you,” I say, hugging him close to my body.
