I nod. “Then you understand I gotta make sure a lot of her demons hush down, too?”
She nods, then opens her arms and steps to me, wrapping her arms around my torso. Mine go around her shoulders as well, and she gives me a tight hug, the kind my baby sister Rory gives me. I kiss the top of her head. When she pulls away, she wipes away the remainder of her tears. “I’m glad… it’s… you.”
I put a hand on her shoulder and huff out a laugh. “I’m glad it’s me, too, sis. Give me a few hours and then you two can compare murder notes, okay?”
She tips her head back and laughs, throaty and almost giddy. I would say she’s demented, but then again, after what she went through, who wouldn’t be? She stops laughing abruptly and waggles her brows at me. “I’ll be w-waiting…” she singsongs creepily, turning to head out of the room, closing the door behind her.
“Christ,” I mutter, going back to the bathroom, grabbing the stuff from the counter and heading to the large clawfoot tub to get Sabrina’s oat milk bath ready. I turn the faucet on and start pouring in the oat milk whenit’s close to halfway. I hear the shower turn off behind me, and I turn in time to see Sabrina step out, flesh pink, and hair slicked back. “Christ.”
Jade eyes find mine, and it feels as though she’s tugging an invisible chain strapped around my heart, begging me to come closer, to never go away, to never leave her, and I silently make that promise. Every day I will make that promise. I go to her, uncaring that she’s wet and I still have yet to take my shower. I wrap my arms around her slippery waist, groaning when I cover her lips with mine, let my hands roam from her ass up to those dripping strands, and tangle my fingers in them. My heart expands and shudders with every beat, losing myself in the saltiness of her tears mingling with the taste of her lips and tongue on mine. I pull away only to tell her I love her, then kiss her deeper until the tension in her body slowly evaporates and she’s melting into my kiss.
When she’s pliable and shivering slightly, I move and tip my forehead against hers, cupping her face in my hands, rubbing my thumbs over her chin and under her jaw. “I love you so fucking much, Bri. Being away from you almost ripped me to fucking shreds. Having to leave you there—fuck—” I sniff— “I almost lost my goddamn mind. I tried to get back to you as fast as I could. The sadness in your eyes…” My lungs and heart collapse into themselves. “It hurt almost as much as having to give you away to Maksim.” I plant my lips on her forehead in a chaste kiss and shake my head. “I swear to god, Sabrina, if you ever fucking run away from me and into a warzone again, I’m gonna spank you so hard you won’t be able to sit for a month.”
Her exhale is slow, but then, “Do you promise?”
“Yes,” I growl a little too quickly. “Now get your ass in the fucking tub so you can start to heal.” The words cling to the air, sticky, thick, and completely necessary. She does as she’s told and hisses when the milky water touches her skin. “Let me shower and I’ll be right back to help you, okay? Just… rest.”
I move a few things around, grab a small hand towel, roll it up, and put it behind her neck. Tears start streaming down her face again, and I know she's processing everything she has to in her own way, but it doesn’t mean I need to leave her alone. She needs space, but not privacy. I can do that for her. I take my shower, letting today’s grime roll off my body along with every emotion I've been holding back for the past three weeks. I put my hands against the tiled wall and let the water run over me while I feel everything. Then, because I have to, I get myself right so I can tend to my girl.
I am alive. Though I've been through the valley of the shadow of Death, I have conquered evil and have no fear. Demons see me rise and seek refuge. Though I am but a man, I am greater than the shadows thatperch themselves above me. They do not have accessto my mind nor my soul.Iam the unconquerable.My demons fearme…
Chapter Thirty-One
Maksim.
I feel Sabrina’s green stare on me, but I stare at the frayed strings on the rug beneath my feet. I stopped talking as soon as I felt her presence. I once told her I feel her absence like a phantom limb, and that is true. What I didn’t tell her is that I can feel her presence like the crackle of electricity in the air before a storm—looming and wondrous. My wife is more than just a ray of sunshine warming your skin after a cold winter. My wife is a sip of my favorite brand of whiskey after a long day, she’s the rain after endless days of too much sun, and the quiet during a raging snowstorm in the penthouse. She is all of my favorite things wrapped into one.
Which is why I’m sitting in front of Damon.
He gets up from where he’s sitting and to my right, quietly shuts the door on my wife, then sits down again, placing his ankle on his knee and waits for me to speak. He’s been waiting for me to speak since the other doctor told me I was fine. Dehydrated and malnourished, but that’s as can be expected. But I haven’t said a word. What is there to say, exactly?
“You understand I don’t expect you to speak?”
My gaze shifts from my shoes to his silver irises. “You don’t?”
He shakes his head. “No, Maksim, I do not. You’ve been through something horrible, so what Idoexpect for you to do is process your thoughts and emotions at your own pace. Believe it or not, there is not a time limit on how you deal with your traumas even if you want to get past them as quickly as possible. But I am here to tell you thatday by dayis best. Everyone heals differently, and everyone moves past things at different paces. Your wife, for example, took years to be able to fully deal with what Kane did to her, and it sometimes may still be something she deals with in the aftermath of it all. With that being said, I am more than happy to simply sit here with you in complete silence. I have years worth of experience doingjust that.”
I snort at his joke and shake my head, knowing Raven was his patient before she was his wife. “I feel everything right now. Gratitude, anger, sadness… weak.”
Damon hikes a dark brow in question. “Weak?”
“Theytookme,” I growl.
“They did.” He answers a little too quickly with a singular copacetic dip of his chin.
“I’m a big motherfucker, and they got me.”
He looks to the side, then back to me, but stays awfully quiet.
“What?”
“They were men with guns. They tracked you down, chased you and not only attacked you but also Elio.Youwere the target, Maksim. While I accept this as fact, the other truth is that moment did not only happen to you.”
It’s my turn to blink while I wait for him to continue.
“Were you aware Parker was shot while defending your home from intruders and your wife tried to save him? Actually, she did save him. She was prompt in delivering immediate first aid. He died in her arms before Aleksi and Niko were able to resuscitate him.” I open my mouth to speak, but Damon holds up a hand. “I am not saying it’s a competition of Worse versus Worse. Speaking as someone who recently had the love of their life taken away, tied up and drugged, and then found her trying to stab her kidnapper with a needle, let’s just say I am speaking to you as afriendand not a therapist, yes?”
I nod.
