I chuckled, and his chest expanded beneath my head as he sighed.
“Now what?” I questioned, my low voice breaking the silence.
“We wait for them, as one.”
As we ventured in and out of sleep, my uncertainty about what the future held for us barely ebbed.
A gunshot.
I could recognize the sound any day. And I knew it was what I heard. The way Mikhail jumped told me I was right.
It was a few minutes, or maybe hours, after our intimate moment, and the time of waiting was up. We were thrown into the war, just like that.
“They are here,” Mikhail declared, his eyes on the shattered window a few inches away from our bed.
“So soon,” I breathed.
“Didn’t expect it, either,” he revealed. “But we’re anything but unprepared.”
He picked up his phone and dialed a contact.
“Roman. Bring the men.”
Here we go.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mikhail’s POV
The bang of the gunshots held a weight that was impossible to ignore. The night was cold, and the light pierced into my eyes while I tried to arm myself. My chest heaved as I loaded my pistol. This was it, I thought. I'd expected the Italians to come, but this felt like a gong show, an ambush that was meant to catch me off guard, and it did. Their appearance filled me with surprise. Nonetheless, I knew that this was the best time to protect Isabella from falling into the hands of the goddammed Italians.
The air thickened around me. My eyes darted from the door to the windows before settling on the balcony. And that was when I heard the open fire that exploded downstairs. I heard the shatter of glass, the bang of doors, alongside the screams whichcame from the maids downstairs, and immediately, I knew they were close.
I stood erect. My eyes calculated how I'd unleash hell on the bloody Italians. My breath steadied, and my jaw tightened as hard as my fist.
The spray of gunshots filled me with much anguish, and then the door opened. Yuri walked in with a sudden grace. His left hand held on to a shotgun while the other hid in the chest of his black suit.
“Thank goodness.” I sighed, grateful not to have pulled the trigger, or else I would have killed the one guard I trusted more than myself.
“Yuri, I need you to take Isabella to safety. Protect her at all costs from all this mess.”
He closed the door behind him, walked towards Isabella, who stood at the right side of the room, and held her by the arm. “Let's get going, miss.” He said in a calm baritone, and she resisted his pull.
“Let go of me.” Isabella yanked her arm out of Yuri's grip, and the sight of this was enough for me to confirm that she was going nuts.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” My voice cut through the thickness of the atmosphere, and all she did was sigh.
“There's no need to hide, Mikhail. If we fight, we fight together.”
“You're not armed. Yuri can protect you and take you to a safe room.”
“No. I can protect myself, and see, I'm armed.” She brandished the black pistol I gave her a while ago, and it shone in the white light.
It was something about her courage that stirred a passion in my soul. She wasn't just mad but insane, and I admired it. But this was not the best time for her to display bravery. Such an act would only get her killed, and the thought of her getting killed ignited the rage within me.
She tucked her hair behind her ear and held the gun with no fear. Her brown eyes shot a glance at me, and I traced the calmness in her look.
“Isabella, it is wise for you to keep the gun and let Yuri lead you. This is no time to be a hard ass.”
