I tighten my grip just enough to pull her closer. She stumbles, her knee bumping the edge of the bed. “You thought I just ran off?” I growl, the words dripping with disbelief. “I got shot, Wren. Twice. I was in a goddamn coma.”
Her mouth opens, then closes, her expression shifting between anger and confusion. “You didn’t show up for weeks, D,” she snaps, her voice cracking. “I didn’t know if you weredead,if you even cared!” She yanks at her wrist, but I don’t let her go. “What was I supposed to do, just sit and wait while you played gangster?”
I narrow my eyes at her. “Yeah, maybe! Maybe you should’ve fucking waited.”
She jerks her wrist out of my grasp, finally pulling away, her face flushed with anger. “I had no idea, okay? I thought you didn’t want us. I thought…” She trails off, her chest heaving. “And then,what,D? You want our kid in this shitshow?” She throws her hands in the air.
I sit up straighter, ignoring the sharp pull of pain in my side. “You think that’s what I wanted?” I snap. “You think I wanted him to grow up in this life?” My voice lowers, the anger still simmering beneath the surface, but something else, something deeper, is there, too. “I wanted to know him. I wanted to know you were safe.”
She clenches her jaw, her eyes glassy. “And I wanted to keep him safe. Away from all this. Away from the blood and bullets.”
My heart feels like it’s caught in a vise, a weight pressing down on my chest. “You think I wouldn’t protect him?” I say hoarsely.
She doesn’t answer; just looks at me, her eyes softening for a split second before she blinks it away. “I… I didn’t know. I didn’t know if I could trust you.”
The words hit me like a blow.
She narrows her eyes, her chin jutting up. “You weren’t there, D. You weren’t fucking there.”
Silence.
It’s like a goddamn elephant in the room, crushing us under its weight. Her words hit like a sledgehammer, no sugarcoating or bullshit, and there’s fucking truth in them. And I fucking hate that.
I let go of her wrist, my hand dropping to the bed like a dead weight.
“You should’ve fucking told me.”
She takes a shaky breath; her eyes bore into mine, a challenge I can’t ignore, and it hits me harder than any bullet ever could. “And I was trying to protect our son.”
We stare at each other, my heart feeling like it’s trying to twist itself inside out.Blyat, a son.Myson. The words echo in my head, and I can’t decide if I want to laugh or put my fist through a wall.
My throat’s so fucking tight I can barely breathe. The words that come out are raw as if they’re being ripped from my chest.
“I’m sorry, Wren.”
Her body stiffens like she’s been hit by a stun gun, and her eyes grow wide as saucers as she stares at me in disbelief.
“I’m fucking… sorry,” I say again, but the words aren’t for her. They’re forme, for the broken man I am inside, trying to put the pieces back together.
I clench my jaw and look up at her, and it’s like the dam breaks. My chest tightens, the words sticking in my throat, but I can’t hold it back anymore.
“I never wanted this, Wren,” I say, my voice cracking in a way that makes me want to swallow the sound back down. “I never wanted to lose you. I didn’t want to miss out on… onhim.”
She blinks, and I see her throat bob as she swallows, her eyes widening just slightly, like she’s trying to understand. Like she’s seeing something she never thought she’d see.
And then I feel it—a warmth sliding down my cheek.
83
Dimitri
Fuck. A tear.
Blyat,this is real. A fucking tear.
I grit my teeth, trying to stop it, but it’s useless. Something inside me cracks. It’s like a dam breaking, and suddenly, I can’t hold it back anymore.
Another one follows, and another, and I can’t remember the last time I let myself break like this. It’s been so long since I felt this kind of raw, unfiltered hurt.
