My heart drops further. “I’m sorry, Papa. I didn’t mean to put you all in danger. I was just so afraid in that moment.”
He tilts my face toward him, fingers brushing my cheek. “I know. Now rest, Kroshka. That’s all I want from you.”
I nod. “You should sleep too.” After a pause, I ask softly, “Where’s Matleon?”
“He’s outside.”
Papa stands, presses a kiss to my head, and smiles gently. “Rest well.”
I nod again. He leaves the room. Almost immediately, Matleon enters. He comes to my side and sits in the chair beside me.
“What kind of husband roams around outside while his wife is lying unconscious?” I pout weakly.
He chuckles and bends over me. “I was talking to your doctor, dear wife.”
His fingers trace the outline of my forehead, then my cheeks, his touch careful, reverent. There’s something strange in his eyes.
“Are you sad that I’m alive?” I try to joke.
He doesn’t laugh. His jaw clenches. His eyes water. “I realized something,” he says hoarsely. “I’m never going to let you live in peace without me. Even after you die, I’ll follow you there.” A crooked smile touches his lips. “I think bothering you is the mission of my life.”
“I like you bothering me.” He keeps staring into my eyes, unblinking.
I chuckle, breaking the thick silence. “You know… I was regretting it big time—dying without telling you that I love you.” I try to say it casually, but my heart starts racing anyway.
His nostrils flare. The next second, he’s kissing me, too violent, considering I’m a patient lying in a hospital bed. But I still kiss him back, drinking in his love, his sadness, his guilt, every violent emotion radiating from him.
He pulls away, resting his forehead against mine. “There was nothing to regret, Angel. I would have followed you into the afterlife, and you could have told me there.”
I chuckle, he moves up. “I would’ve gone to heaven, and you, for sure, to hell.”
He smirks. “Nah. I would’ve forced you to hell with me.”
“So arrogant. But I think I’ve already lost my ticket to heaven.”
“After marrying me?” He raises a brow.
“After killing people,” I mutter.
“It’s okay, Angel. Heaven won’t disregard one of their entities just because she killed people who were already about to die.” His lips curve. “But anyway, whether they want you or not, I won’t let you go. So don’t regret something you were never getting anyway.”
I shot people in a rush of adrenaline, but now the guilt is here.
“Don’t think about killing dead people, wifey. If you hadn’t killed them, your husband would have.” He shrugs lightly. “And since we’re married, it’s only fair to share the work. I’ll help you in the garden in return.”
I chuckle.
He smiles, then leans in and kisses me again.
chapter 44
Iselyn
Today is Avi’s bachelorette party, which is just the women in our family laughing and dancing. I couldn’t join the dancing because it’s only been a month since I took the bullet, so I’m sitting with all the elder women. They are sharing stories of their wedding nights, excluding the explicit parts, of course.
“He made me wear the dress again so that he could remove it himself,” Aunt Savi tells us, grinning.
I could totally believe Uncle Maksim doing something like that.
