When it came down to it, I was choosing between Mila’s freedom and my own.
Weirdly enough, it didn’t even feel like a choice.
There was only one option, and that was to protect her at all costs.
Viktor answeredon the first ring. “Are you okay?”
“I’m good, thanks. Did Mila make it back to Vancouver okay?”
“I picked her up a couple of hours ago.”
I looked around the boarding area. My flight was scheduled to leave in less than an hour.
“Did she eat?”
“Not much, but she was happy to see Bandit and I’m not sure I’ve seen a dog so damn excited in my life.”
Something thick tightened in my chest, making it hard to swallow. “Oh, yeah? How’s she doing?”
“Blaire tucked them both up in the guest room. It’s been silence from their corner since then.”
The thought of Mila asleep in the safety of Viktor’s home, with Bandit in bed with her, made something inside of me crack open.
Everyone she needed protecting from was now either in prison or dead.
She was finally safe.
So why’d it hurt so much to hear about her? Wasn’t this exactly what I had planned?
“She’s been through a lot.”
“You want to talk to her?”
I wanted to get on a flight and take my chances getting back into Canada. I wanted to walk into that guest room and lie down on that bed beside her, while Bandit thumped his tail in approval, so I could watch her sleep.
But I didn’t want to talk to her on the phone and endure another excruciating goodbye.
I couldn’t handle the restrained sorrow in her voice.
I couldn’t take her disappointment. I’d inflicted a lifetime of that already.
I didn’t know what would happen when I rolled into Moscow, but I didn’t expect to be welcomed with open arms. I would be more than sufficiently punished for abandoning my post to pursue a mark in a different country without jurisdiction that had resulted in murder.
It would be bad. I just wasn’t sure how bad.
How could I explain all that to Mila when I knew she’d ask me if I was coming back? The humane thing was to let her go, now that she was safe and free. I was the last anchor from her past that was holding her back.
Which meant I had no business talking to her again. “Let her sleep.”
“Where are you heading?” His tone was casual, but his question was loaded. He wanted to know if this was my departure call before I disappeared into the ether.
“Bought myself a ticket to Moscow.”
Silence hummed over the line. He sounded concerned. “You sure that’s a good idea?”
“They’ll leave her alone if they have me.”
Static hummed between us. “What do you want me to tell her?”
