Alina answers without looking at me. “Yes,” she whispers. “If you have trouble remembering it, then we definitely need the doctor to come check on you.”
I smirk, though it hurts. “I don’t need a doctor. I remembered, I just wanted to be sure since I thought you were just…never mind,” I say before mentioning I thought about her touching herself. I can’t imagine how confusing this all must be for her. If not for her idiot brother, she wouldn’t be going through this shit but having a normal night at work. “All I need is Archer’s head in my hands for what he did to you.”
She swallows hard, then tapes down the gauze. “And if you can’t find him?”
My gaze pins her down until she finally meets my eyes. “Then I’ll make the whole world bleed until he crawls out of whatever hole he’s hiding in.”
She flinches, but she doesn’t look away. That’s what kills me. Her fear doesn’t stop her from holding my stare. The fire in her is small, but it burns, and I want to feed it until it’s an inferno.
“You’re mine to protect now,” I murmur then lean closer, so my mouth is near her ear. “Which means nobody gets to hurt you or betray you, not even your own damn brother.”
Her breath shudders, and for one dangerous moment she doesn’t pull away. Then she jerks back, putting distance between us as she climbs off the bed. “Stop saying that,” she warns.
I push myself up, ignoring the pain, my body fighting off a fever. “Would you rather belong to Gavriil?” I ask her, hating the way those words taste on my tongue. The thought of his hands on what I’ve already claimed twists something sharp and unfamiliar in my chest.
“No,” she answers without hesitation.
“Good. Then I’m your only option right now. And I would rather take a hundred bullets than let him have you.”
“That’s ridiculous, Dom. You don’t even know me. You’re just delusional with fever,” she remarks. “I’ll have someone call the doctor.”
I grab her hand to stop her when she starts to leave the room. “See? You’re worried about me because I’m already yours too,” I point out.
The silence stretches between us, thick with everything unsaid. She doesn’t offer her agreement, but at least she doesn’t flat-out deny it either.
Finally, she pulls her hand free and walks away, retreating from the room. But I see the way her hands shake, the way her shoulders tremble. She’s terrified and furious. But she’s mine all the same.
When she’s gone, I let myself fall back against the pillow. Pain lances through my side, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is that the world will know I bled and still stand. What matters is that my brother won’t ever touch her.
16
Alina
The throbbingof my headache intensifies as little glimpses of the shooting come flooding back to me in my dreams. The gunfire, like a storm ripping the sky open. Concrete biting my knees. Dominik’s body hitting mine, rolling me under him, the world strobing white-hot around us. His weight, his heat, the force of his breath against my cheek. The wet warmth of blood that wasn’t mine soaking through fabric and skin. A kiss that set my soul on fire and remains burning long after it was over.
Everything aches from where Dominik threw himself over me as I sit upright in the chair where I spent the night. I open my eyes and turn my head to find him still asleep in his bed, right where he’s been since he started running a fever.
Yelena came over and checked his wound. She scolded me like it was my fault it got infected, gave him a shot, and then left me with more antibiotics Dominik needs to continue taking by mouth.
Despite his shivering last night, she left his chest bare, the bandage clean and tight on his side. His face is slack as he finally sleeps soundly with a line of stubble darkening his jaw. At least he’s no longer mumbling nonsense or trembling the way he was a few hours ago. His skin looks pale, but he’s on the mend, or so the doctor claims—though barely. I hang on to her confidence because I don’t have any of my own left.
The sight of him vulnerable—after a night of fever and shivering—does something complicated to my chest. There’s still fear, yes. And gratitude so sharp it hurts. There’s also anger, hot enough to scorch through both. And under it all, the terrible awareness that when he covered me with his body, when he grunted with pain and didn’t move off me until the firing stopped, something in me made a choice I didn’t want to make. Not about right or wrong but about whom I can trust to keep me safe.
A trust that had me kissing him back like the world was ending and we had to live like there’s no tomorrow. One of two kisses I replayed over and over again in my head, and in my dreams, thinking about what would have happened if we hadn’t…
“Stop,” I whisper to myself because I don’t trust myself not to reach for him again now. “Just… stop.”
Dominik needs to heal, so I shouldn’t want to see him all worked up again, pinning me to the wall, making me feel the swipe of his tongue between my legs where his fingers were the other night.
No man has ever made me feel so much in such a short amount of time or made me feel like we were the only two people in the world.
I get to my feet and stretch my arms over my head, still feeling dazed. My muscles all protest, stiff and shaky from hoursof sitting in the cramped chair. It’s better than no sleep at all in a soft bed without him nearby.
Cinnamon coffee with lots of vanilla creamer would be a welcome treat right now. Not because I’m tired—I am—but because something about the ritual would just make the day feel more normal. I glance back to watch the rise and fall of Dominik’s chest, ensuring it’s steady before I exhale and slip from the room.
I pad toward the kitchen quietly on bare feet, afraid I might wake him with even my soft footsteps. The first thing I see when I reach my destination is the necklace on the island glistening with the reminder of Dominik’s offer. Turning away, I face the fancy coffee machine that’s a reminder of my stupidity. It’s hard to believe that it was just a few days ago when I pretended I didn’t know how to work a coffee machine to distract a guard and steal his keycard.
Deep down, I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape. I just had to test the theory to know for certain. And now…well, now I’m glad that I failed because the time I’ve spent with Dominik has come to mean more than I expected. He makes me feel important in a world that’s tried its best to forget I exist. He sees me when I’ve spent most of my life on the run with Archer, trying to be invisible.
