“Thank you, Leonid Rostova, you are very kind,” I manage to sound pleasant, even though just looking at this man is making me nauseous. “My brothers are well?”
Why didn’t they come to see me?
“Ah, well. They are very busy, as you can imagine.” He pats my hand heavily with his sweaty one and I force myself not to cringe.
“Come father, I know your time is short.” Aleksandr thankfully intervenes and Leonid reluctantly pulls his hand away.
Lucca slips back in as soon as they’ve left the clinic. “You arenotcontinuing with this insane agreement!” he snarls.
“I just woke up about ten minutes ago,” I said, rubbing my eyes. “Will you please just sit with me? Please?” I’m embarrassingly close to tears and he seems to understand.
“Here, you need some water,” he helps me sit up again, waiting until I’ve finished half the glass. “Good girl,” he whispers, kissing my forehead.
“Maybe you should have gone into medicine,” I sighed, letting myself slump against him.
He chuckles as if I’ve just said the cutest thing. “I’m better at taking bodies apart than putting them back together again,piccolo bacio.”Moving me with painstaking care, Lucca sets me on his lap with my cheek against his chest.
I’m about to fall gratefully back to sleep when it hits me. “Did you beat up Aleksandr?”
His entire body turns to granite. “Yes,” he admits.“Quell'inutile figlio di puttana,that useless son of a bitch was supposed to look after you and keep you safe. He never questioned why you were down in the Catacombs so long? The fucking idiot! He didn’t even try to hit me back. He just stood there.”
“That’s not fair,” I mumbled. Oh, his chest was so warm. I didn’t think I would ever feel warm again. “How long was I down there?”
“I looked at the notes,” he swallows, “they ripped off your toenail the first night and kept you hooded and soaking wet for two and a half days. Then another twelve hours in the spotlight. They never checked your vitals after the first night. No food or water for seventy-two fucking hours.”
“They must really have hated me,” I sighed.
“I called Lev for you,” he continued, “he nearly got shot at the gates, trying to get in. I’m pretty sure Dean Christie realized this was a clusterfuck, because she allowed him to stay with you for the first two days when we weren’t sure…”
“I’m sorry,” I whispered, stroking his ribs with my finger.
“Stop saying you’re sorry,” he said, taking my hands and kissing it. “This isn’t your fault. That interrogator fucked up.”
“Where’s Lev now?” I groaned a little, shifting position. “Is he okay?”
“He’s fine,” Lucca said in an odd tone.
“What does that mean?”
He curled his arms around me, bringing me closer, and whispered in my ear. “He’s in Florida. He tracked down that bastard.”
“Do you mean…”
“He took his time,” he said viciously. “He’ll be back tomorrow.”
It was too much. Too much death and pain. “Will you stay with me?” I asked, all dignity gone, “Just till I fall asleep?”
I feel his warm lips on my forehead. “Of course. And I will be here when you wake up.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
In which Mariya proves how delightfully cunning she can be.
Lucca…
When my phone vibrates in my pocket, I groan quietly. Taking calls in the medical clinic seemed like an obvious way to get caught, but when Lev’s name flashed on the screen, I had to answer.
“Hey,” I whisper.
