I turned my attention to the open window, sucking in a huge mouthful of fresh air as she patted my knee and moved to sit next to Grigori. He wrapped his arms around her, stuffing his face in her hair as she did to his neck a few moments later.
Guess they were still getting along fine.
Pulling over on the side of the road came too quickly. A lot more quickly than it had felt when I first come out of the woods this morning and driven to the hospital. Daniil exited the limo, still keeping me in his arms. I wiggled, wanting down.
“I don’t want to let you go yet,” Daniil murmured and stopped moving. He stared down at me. “Why do you want down?”
I cleared my throat, seeing so much love there and feeling it just as deeply for him, wanting to hold onto him a bit longer. I explained, “There’s a gun down there that I stole and dropped in the woods.”
Daniil stiffened and glanced at Zane and Cole, who had stopped behind us in what I was guessing was Grigori’s limo. They had gotten out, and heard what I said. Daniil jerked his head at the woods, but asked me, “Where did you drop it?”
I pulled my right hand out of the blanket, and tried to point, but again, I couldn’t since my hand was wrapped up like a fucking mitten. “Over there. The huge tree. I hid behind it.”
Cole and Zane nodded, moving down the slight decline to where I had gestured, after staring at my face and hair for a heartbeat since they hadn’t seen me yet. Sluggishly, I realized Zane and Stash were both here, finally registering they must have made it back from their ‘job’ safely.
Good.
If I was feeling emotion, I knew I would have been happy they were alive and well.
“Papa,” Grigori stated, hopping out of the limo and holding up a cell phone. “Her parents are on the line.”
“Not yet,” I whispered. I didn’t want to talk with them. I loved them…but not yet.
Daniil glanced down at me, his gaze assessing and he shook his head at Grigori. “She’ll call them back in a few minutes.”
Grigori nodded and walked away, speaking into the phone quietly and trotting to where Cole and Zane were searching.
“This was it,” the truck driver motioned down at the ground, walking toward us. “She was standing right here when I noticed her.”
Daniil and I both glanced down.
The driver had an uncanny memory. My bloody footprints were still right there.
Daniil stilled and slowly rotated, his gaze stuck on the footprints that darted out into the road. He said softly, “You’ll have the reward money in less than five days. Give my driver your information.”
The driver’s eyebrows puckered. “I’m not sure if it’s right accepting all that cash just for taking her to the hospital and knowing who she is.”
Daniil’s eyes hadn’t left the blacktop. “I would have given all my worldly possessions to have her back. Twenty-five million is nothing to me. Take the cash. I don’t care what you do with it, but just take it.”
Surprise.
Oh, hell yes. That emotion shot through me.
I jerked and blinked, and stared at Daniil.
He’d offered twenty-five million dollars for me?
My gaze darted to the truck driver. “Take the damn money.” He would have to be an idiot not to take it. I knew that Daniil was loaded, and he wasn’t lying about it not hurting his wallet. Ember had said he was almost a billionaire. He had put enough cash out there, though to have the entire world searching. Smart. Very fucking smart.
“Okay,” Truck Driver said, nodding to me, smiling softly. “I’m sure happy you’re all right, ma’am.”
I returned his smile. Nodded. That was what I was supposed to do.
“Found it,” Brent hollered.
Daniil turned to us as Truck Driver walked to give his information to the limo driver.
“I need a bag to put it in.” Brent peered down at the weapon. “There’s blood all over the handle.”
