It’s been a week since the night I pulled the trigger, and even though time has blurred the edges of the memory, I still can’t forget it. The man’s face. The fear. The blood.
Aleksei has been there in every way he knows how, even trying to convince me to take time off work. But I couldn’t. My job matters to me. I can’t just disappear, not with so many cases depending on me.
His smile softens. “I would never kill you, lyubov moya. I’d die before I let that happen.”
Those words seep through my chest, and I make my way toward him, throwing my arms around his neck.
“You’re such a romantic.”
“I take after my brother.”
I actually laugh, an honest sensation I haven’t felt in days. “Wait until I tell Konstantin you said that.”
He groans. “No, please, anything but that.” His hand goes to his chest like he’s been wounded. “I have a reputation to uphold.”
I shake my head, letting the ease of the moment cloak around me and make me forget the ugliness for a while.
Fuck it.
I slide onto the seat behind him.
“Good girl.” He kisses the tip of my nose and secures the helmet around my head.
When I lean forward, my arms find their place around his waist, and it’s stupid how right it feels. Like I’ve done it a thousand times before. Like this is where I was always meant to be.
“Are you ready?” He glances back at me over his shoulder, mouth threaded with that smirk he always wears.
My heart gives a little thump. “As ready as I’ll ever be.”
Please don’t kill me…
“I promise to take it easy on you.” He revs up the engine. “I’ll go slow.”
“You? Go slow? That’ll be the day.”
He chuckles right before we move, gliding down the long driveway of the estate, past the stone walls and security gates and the parked cars. The wind rushes around us, and I squeeze my eyes shut for a second, letting the sensation crash over me. There’s something about being on the back of this bike, arms locked around a man like Aleksei, that makes the world fall away. It’s reckless. Exciting. Dangerous in a way I’ve never craved before.
“Go faster,” I tell him, and he answers with a laugh before the bike surges forward, wind tearing past us.
For the first time in days, everything falls away. The death. The cryptic notes buried under a stack of files in my office. The fear that someone is coming after me. That my parents could be next.
They’re still in the guest suite down the hall. Aleksei insisted they stay until the threat is gone. He even assigned men to guard the vineyard while they’re at work, and for that, I’m grateful.
He takes a smooth, effortless turn, and we coast along a back road lined with trees, the sun melting low on the horizon. Reaching back briefly, he places his hand on my thigh, squeezing gently. Like a reminder.
I’m here. I’ve got you.
I squeeze him tighter, burying my face in his back, letting the warmth of his body and the hum of the engine quiet the noise in my head.
Later, we’ll go back, and it’ll all drown me again. But right now, I can pretend for just a little while longer that this ride is the only thing that matters.
That maybe, in the eye of the storm, we’ve found something that feels like peace…and even something deeper than that.
“I seriously cannot believe you guys kept this from me.” Emilia’s eyes narrow as she glares between Konstantin and me, her disbelief so exaggerated, I half expect her to throw her hands in the air. “Do you all think I’m some fragile little thing who needs handholding? That I can’t handle hearing my best friend almost got her face blown off? Because I can.”
She’s not wrong. She could probably out-shoot half the men Konstantin employs, and she’s had her fair share of close calls. But still, Konstantin insisted it was better not to tell her. Said it would stress her out. And now that she overheard Kirill talking about it earlier, here we are.
“Katyonak.” Konstantin reaches across the table and takes her hand, bringing it to his lips. “I love you. I love our baby. I didn’t want to stress you out or put your health at risk.”
