This time, he takes the glass from my hand and drinks on his own.
Damn. His little gestures of rejection are slashing me open one cut at a time.
Death by a thousand cuts.
“You saved me?” he asks, watching me peculiarly.
I set the glass on the table. “I can’t do that?”
“You can, just not sure why you would.” He lifts his shoulder in a casual shrug, then coughs and winces.
“What do you mean why I would? Of course I’d save you, Yulian. You think I’d sit back and watch you be beaten to death by your piece-of-shit dad?”
“Yeah, because you were never really all in with me, so I’m surprised you went to these lengths, that’s all.”
My chest stutters. Fuck. He’s still hurt about that last meeting.
Maybe he’s been mad for a while.
“Yulian—”
“I still want to go back and be with Alya and Cy.”
“I said. You’re not going anywhere until you’re better.”
He raises a brow. “Are you kidnapping me right now?”
“Call it whatever you want.”
He releases a breath, then groans and closes his eyes. The fact that he’s in so much pain and I can’t do anything to lessen it makes me believe I’m useless.
I feel like I can’t even touch him for fear that he’ll pull away again. I don’t think I could handle that rejection anymore.
Yulian’s eyes meet mine, and there’s no color there, asif he’s just…given up. “You should let me leave. I’ll only bring disaster to you and your uncles.”
“No.”
“Vaughn…”
“Yulian,” I mimic him, and he just grunts, but I’m not sure if it’s in frustration or pain.
“Dad won’t let me go,” he whispers softly, running a hand over his face, then wincing and dropping it. “He’ll track me down eventually. He might beat me the hell up and drive me to death’s door, but he won’t kill me. He’s spent too much time, money, and energy on making me his heir, and giving up now would only mean he’s admitting defeat, which he never will. So…just let me go back now before you or your family are any further involved.”
“Go back to what? To be nearly killed?” My voice rises slightly. “I’llneverallow that, Yulian, do you hear me? So what if he tracks you down? He’ll never be able to find this place. It’s not on the map, and even if he does, I’ll kill him before he touches you again.”
His lips part as he watches me, unblinking, and then he purses his lips. “If you kill him, you’ll start a war between Chicago and New York. Don’t do that.”
“There will be no war if you become the de facto leader.” I smile. “You’ll be the one to decide everything.”
“They don’t respect me enough to let me lead. And I’m not sure I want that anyway. At least, not at this point.” He watches me silently for a long time. It’s disconcerting.
“What?”
“You said we were temporary and that we wouldn’t last, so why…” He swallows, then blows out a charged breath. “Why go through all the trouble to save me and bring me here?”
“Because I lied.” I take his hand in mine. “To myself as well as to you. Truth is, you were never temporary.”
His hand twitches in mine, and I hold it tighter, scared he’ll pull it away.
