As the doctor checked her over, I hovered in the back of the room.
While the nurses fussed over her and helped wipe off the soot and debris from the smoke, I lurked near the door.
Misha had taken solace with Ivan. Both he and Lev helped him calm down.
It was Gabriella who took charge, proving yet again how fit she was to be Luka’s partner, his queen. She promised that she would be with Kalina when she woke up. Raisa wanted to be there, but a slight scare of bleeding had her on bed rest.
Luka waited for me to come for the torture.
For the final questioning of the Dubinin soldiers who’d turned traitor and sold the intel about my holding Kalina at the cabin. No price the Riveras could’ve paid the two young recruits could’ve been worth it. Now, they were paying for the deception with their lives.
Even though we had ample men who could handle the punishment for rats, Luka took an extra concern toward anyone daring to defy him and his rule from within the family.
He was in no shape to question the men, but Emil proved that he wasn’t an exact replica of his father. Emil handled the interrogation. I arrived once I had the diagnosis that Kalina would be all right. And it was right when Luka was beating them mercilessly, raging that they’d dared to harm his family.
Frozen in the guilt of almost losing Kalina, I witnessed it all. I didn’t participate in killing the soldiers who’d put this tragic and deadly night in action.
Niko was there too, giving the pair a steely glare of pure hatred. But like me, he wasn’t in the mood to make it personal.
“You hanging in there?” Emil asked me.
He drove me back to the mansion after the two were killed. Luka would follow us shortly.
I didn’t reply. All I could do was sigh at my cousin.
“No,” I said after a long moment. “I’m not.”
“She’s alive,” he reminded me.
Just barely.
“She will recover.”
“She was supposed to be able to trust me to let her do that in the first place,” I bit out.
He didn’t push the topic for the rest of the ride. Once I returned, I showered and sought out Misha. He had fallen asleep on Ivan’s lap, Lev cuddling close to comfort his best friend and relative.
“Go check on her,” Ivan said quietly. “I’ll watch him until he’s looking for you.”
But my son didn’t wake to seek me out. He ran to Kalina. At the sound of his footsteps pounding down the hallway, almost in a sense of déjà vu like he had done over a month and a half ago, he hurried to Kalina for comfort.
That was how I found her. Hugging him. Crying and holding him as Gabriella asked her what she wanted to do. Stay or go.
With the coolest indifference that was tinged with anger, she dismissed me and told Misha that she would stay. She chose to linger, but not for me.
Not forus.
The guilt that swamped me from that one look slayed me. In a daze, I dragged myself from the room and ended up in Luka’s study. Emil and Ivan were there. They all looked up as I entered, going silent until I sat.
“I almost lost her.” It was a monotone statement I wished I’d never have a reason to utter.
“You didn’t.” Emil furrowed his brow and glanced at Ivan.
“I lost one wife.” I swallowed hard as my heart ached. “And now when I can find another woman to care for…”
“Fuck,” Emil whispered, coming to sit across from me.
“Now when I’ve found her, I almost lose her too.”
