And right now, I feel clean, almost like I’m floating.
I was afraid the Pakhan would come after Milo for killing his younger brother. Everyone knows the Pakhan is no better than the rest of them, and I expected retribution.
But Isaak told me he had handled it, and we are finally free.
Viktor is dead.
Yuri too.
When things return to some semblance of normal, I will go back for the rest of Viktor’s associates and finish it.
I shake the thought away and finally pull my eyes from the mirror. My ribs throb and I grow dizzier by the second, I must have been standing here longer than I realised.
I pull on a pair of grey trousers, then reach for a white shirt and slip it over my head. His scent wraps around me instantly, and it calms me even more.
I run the towel through my hair and let it dry by itself before sliding my slippers on and stepping out of the bathroom.
My eyes go straight to him. He’s watching me from the bed, a smile on his face.
“You’re awake.”
I cross the room to him and sit on the edge of the bed beside him. He takes my hand and lifts it to his lips.
“How are you feeling?” I ask. “Do you need me to call the doctor?”
He shakes his head. “I love you doting on me like this. I should get hurt more often.”
I hit his hand lightly. “Don’t joke about that.”
His eyes narrow. “You should be in bed as well,” he says.
We are still in Russia, and I can’t wait to leave this hospital and get out of here. I know Milo feels the same.
He took two bullets to the back. Clean shots, nothing vital was hit, but he lost a great deal of blood.
The surgery lasted eight hours.
Eight hours of me sitting outside, crying until my head pounded and my chest felt scraped raw.
They refused to tell me anything. They kept insisting I go to the room they had prepared for me because, apparently, my own injuries were serious to require admission. I couldn’t do it. I had to know he was all right.
By the time the surgery ended, Isaak was there with Adelaide, and Ido had arrived as well.
The doctors told us he was stable, and I could finally breathe.
I gave in finally and went to the room they had prepared for me. They hooked me up to a few IVs and ordered me to rest. But when Milo woke from the anaesthesia and found his room empty, he lost it. He tried to get out of bed, still barely conscious, and the doctors had no choice but to move us into a larger room so we could stay together.
I never needed anyone before. I was fine on my own. But now I know, without question, that I need him.
We’re broken, unhinged, completely fucked up. But we are perfect.
Together.
My eyes fall to the tattoo on my finger, on the promise ring, and a small smile forms on my lips.
His voice draws my attention back. “I knew you’d get used to it,” he says. “Might even start loving it.”
I roll my eyes. “Try something like that again and I’ll stab you.”
