“Fuck.”
Oleg stood beside the SUV waiting for us. At the sight of me, relief etched across his face. “Hello, Dr. Whitfield.”
“It’s Sarah, remember?”
He gave me a tight smile. “It’s good to see you.”
Unable to find the words, I merely nodded. Once I climbed inside, Aleks followed behind me. As we started down the road, I asked, “Where did it happen?”
“A bakery of all places."
Every molecule in my body shuddered to a stop. “Not O’Brien’s Bakery?” I questioned in a whisper.
Aleksandr’s brows furrowed. “How could you know that?”
Tears blurred my vision. “Oh God. He was getting cupcakes for Sammy.”
“Your brother?”
“Yeah, he only eats them from there. He and I had a fight about Maksim yesterday. I bet he called him, and Maksim went to get cupcakes to cheer him up.” I swallowed down the rising sob. “It’s all my fault.”
“No, it isn’t. It’s my uncles who are too much like my fucking bastard of a father. They tracked him down somewhere he’d be weak.” When I opened my mouth to protest, he shook his head. “They would’ve found somewhere else to get to him.”
I wanted to believe Aleks. But something within me felt like this was my punishment for not talking things through with Maksim. If he died, somehow it would be my fault.
And that thought twisted me in knots.
When we started heading out of the city, I sat straighter in my seat. “Wait, where are we going?” I asked suspiciously.
“To see Maksim.”
“What trauma center could possibly be in the suburbs?”
“The one at our compound.” Cocking his brows at me, Aleks asked, “Didn’t Maksim tell you about it?”
“No. He didn’t.”
At what must’ve been my panicked expression, Aleks burst out laughing. “For fuck’s sake, Sarah. Don’t tell me you think I’ve kidnapped you.”
“I wasn’t thinking that at all,” I lied.
“Our basement is finished with a state-of-the-art hospital bay.”
At that moment, the conversation I’d had with Maksim about Silas flashed in my eyes. “Oh that’s right. You have your own hospital since gun shots and stab wounds bring the cops.”
“That’s right.”
“My older brother was taken there to detox before going to rehab.”
Nodding, Aleks said, “How’s he doing?”
“Thankfully, he’s still in the program. His new schizophrenic meds seem to be working really well. Or at least that’s what my mother says.”
I hadn’t spoken to Silas since that night. He hadn’t asked to speak to me on the phone any of the times he called. But then a letter had arrived for me. In it, Silas apologized profusely for what he’d done that night at my parents’ house. I was surprised he could remember anything considering how out of his mind he was.
My mother and I had real hope that this time he had actually turned the corner on his addiction and his illness. And we had Maksim to thank for that.”
When Aleks shook his head with a grin, I asked, “What?”
