Shaking his head, Aleksandr said, “Because of his trauma, he’s never allowed himself to be vulnerable enough with another person to fall in love.”
At first, it was hard for me to believe Aleksandr, but then I thought back to when Maksim told me he’d never brought a woman around his family.
“I came so fucking close to losing Dima. I couldn’t imagine a world without him in it. But Maksim…” Aleksandr swallowed hard. “Heismy world.”
“He’s mine too. Living without him has been hell!”
Aleks’s brows furrowed. “Then why the fuck aren’t you running out of here?”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “Don’t you get it? I’m scared out of my fucking mind.” Shaking my head, I replied, “I can’t take being hurt by him again. And if he breaks me, I won’t be any good to my parents or my brother.”
“He will not hurt you again.”
A mirthless laugh tumbled out of my mouth. “You can’t possibly promise that.”
“You have my word that if he does, I’ll kill him myself. But you can rest assured, Maksim would rather kill himself than ever hurt you again.”
At the resolve of his words, tears blurred my vision. I fell forward in my chair, and Aleks caught me. Hauling me to my feet, he wrapped his arms around me. In his strong arms, I lost myself.
But then I realized it wasn’t just me crying.
Aleks was too. Loud, guttural sobs wrenched through him. The caregiver within me couldn’t bear his pain. “Shh, it’s okay. He’s going to be all right.”
Pushing myself out of his arms, I stared into his eyes. “I’ll come with you.”
“You will?”
“Absolutely.”
Nodding, he swiped his eyes. “Don’t you fucking dare tell him about me crying on you, okay?”
I wanted to argue with him that it would be good for Maksim to know he’d shown his vulnerable side, but I didn’t. Instead, I merely nodded.
“Thanks.”
After grabbing my phone and purse, I said, “Let’s go.”
With his hand in mine, Aleks led me to the door. When I opened it, Tara stood with Susan and a couple of my other colleagues.
“Are you okay?” Tara asked, glancing between me and Aleks.
Nodding, I replied, “I can’t talk right now. I have to get to Maksim.”
Hope surged in her face. “Thank God you’ve come to your senses.”
“Bite me,” I muttered.
Turning to Susan, Tara grinned. “Yep. She’s back.”
Aleks tugged me towards the exit, and I followed him. As we started down the stairs, it hit me how he knew where to go, and I started laughing.
“What the fuck could possibly be funny right now?” he demanded.
“I was just thinking this wasn’t the first time you’ve snuck into my office.”
He shot me a look as I kept laughing. “Are you going into shock or something?”
“Maybe.”
