Niko’s chilly eyes look down at the ground, then flick back to Bri. “I don’t want to sound like an asshole, but what would you like us to do with… the body?”
My baby’s lips pout, but then her brow arches. “I see. Her name was Alice, Nikolai. Seeing as she was my father’s daughter, I believe she should be buried on the grounds. Just… not by Charlie. That’s my spot.”
He hikes a dark brow. “Who’s Charlie?”
“You’ll know who Charlie is when you see him,” I inform, which causes his gaze to shift slightly, not enough to make Sabrina notice too much, but just enough for me to be aware of it.
“Oh, and Niko?”
“Yeah, Boss Lady?”
“When we get back to New York once my husband is fit to travel, I’ll need you with me when I go have a little chat with my father.”
Niko grins real wide, showcasing every gleaming, white perfect tooth. “You got it, Mrs. G. Anything else you need from me?”
She nods her head. “Yes, let me know when she’s ready to be buried, please. Thank you, Nikolai.”
He does a little head nod like he’s bowing to the Duchess and retreats, calling out for a few of the men that worked the tech side of everything here and gets them to go with him to look for a good place to bury Alice. We make our way past the other people standing around, waiting to be seen by the doctor. It’s when we pass the study that Sabrina pauses briefly and I stop too. Damon casually gets up from where he’s sitting, strides toward us, and with a curt nod and a flex of his jaw, closes the door on us. But not before we see Maksim sitting on the couch opposite of his chair, face in his hands, hair wild, and falling over his fingers in greasy, inky strands.
Sabrina inhales sharply just as theclickof the door sounds. The small whimper gets caught in her throat, trapped there along with her sob. I know how much she wants to run to him, but her shoulders straighten and her back stiffens just the same. I grab onto her elbow, check the rest of the corridor for anyone lingering, then tug her. Because I felt it, too. It’s small, but it is a divide. I know the thought ruminating in her mind is that Maks chose to speak to Damon instead of her—his wife. “C’mon, Bri, whatever he’s doing in there, I bet he’s doing his best to prove to Damon he’s fit to come home with us.”
I feel the tremble in her body radiating just from her elbow alone, containing it. Fuck. I really hope we’re not back to that. I yank her to me to pull her out of whatever other thoughts or insecurities are running in that pretty head of hers. The last thing she needs is for it to get muddied with a barrage of lies her mind wants to tell her.
I just really fucking hope I’m right.
After removing my soiled shirt, shoes, and socks, I undress Sabrina slowly, wishing I could wipe away the stream of steady tears flowing out of her that hasn’t stopped since I closed our bedroom door. “What do you need from me, baby?” I pull her hair out of her ponytail as softly as I can, that mane of hers cascading like a glorious champagne waterfall over her shoulders and around her breasts.
She briefly shakes her head. “I don’t even know.”
“Fuck, Bri,” I hiss when I see the hives all over her body running from her mid-thigh up to her shoulders and out to her forearms. Some aren’t just red; they’re irritated, angry. And scabbed over, obviously having been clawed to hell. “Baby, this isbad. What happened to not breaking?”
She scoffs and more tears pour out of her, making me feel worse. “It was either scratch at them or break completely. This is how I contained it, Savage. This is how I coped.”
I’m a fucking asshole. “Okay, baby. Let’s get you in the shower, and then I’ll run you a bath, alright? Let’s get these situated and have them start healing before they get worse.”
I open the door to the stand-in shower I’ve turned on as soon as we get in the bathroom and test the water that’s at her preferred boiling temperature, then add more cold water to make sure it’s lukewarm. I send out a text to Raven and let her know the items I need that I made sure Tildy had stocked in the fridge before the massacre took place. I guide her inside, ignoring the soft groan when she turns around and the water hits the back of her head. Through the steam rising, I can see her skin flushing a glorious pink shade already. If we were home, if our husband were not sitting with a psychiatrist right now, if she had not just killed her rapist, if I had not just had to consistently remind myself I was in a different kind of warzone—the kind where I had to beg the demons on my back to stop writhing—I would ravage her, just like I did the day I woke up.
But as the blood and grime sliding off her beautiful body swirls and seeps down the drain, I know she’s not ready. Not right now. Besides, what she needs is Maks, then us, then me. In that order. She’s processing too much, and it’s all leaking out of her eyeballs.
The tiny knock comes through. I open the door to find Raven and Jonas there, holding two bags each of everything I had Tildy stock in the fridge. Quarts of oat milk, cooled extra-strength calamine lotion. I grab what I need and have Jonas take the rest back down with a thank you.Raven lingers for a tad, brown eyes big and bug-eyed. I sigh, “Just give me a few hours with her, okay Karma?”
She lifts her hands and signsI can help.
“I know you can, and I'm asking you not to. What you’ve done, bringing this stuff up, isplenty.” Her brows shoot up to her hairline, and I can see the fury she wants to lash out at me, but I put a hand up. “It ain’t because I don't want you to, it’s becausethisis what I’m good at. Who takes care of you?”
She makes Damon’s name sign.
“Exactly. I’mherDamon. Not saying Maks doesn’t help; I’ve just done this longer than he has, alright? I’m an expert at all things Sabrina.”
Again, fury crosses her face.
“I’m an expert at all things Sabrinapost-Kane.”
Her hands fall to her sides, and she lets out a sigh so deep it ends with an annoyed groan. She closes her eyes and a lone tear falls. More tears well into her eyes as she raises her hands between us.I hate this for her. I really was trying to kill Kane for her. I would have. I hate that I wasn't there for her. I hate that she was alone with him for so long.
I chuckle at that. “Oh, but you were, little night raider, giving her your lucky balaclava. I hope you know you’re probably never getting that back?”
She grins sheepishly and lifts a shoulder, letting it drop.I don’t need it anymore. Sofia is gone. Dust. I believe the rest of my demons will slowly but surely disappear, too.
