“Not at all.”
“My cousins?”
“They know more than your parents.”
That made sense and still made me angry.
“Of course,” I said bitterly.
“I told the people who needed to help keep you safe. I'm sure they told their wives. Ain't nobody fucking up their marriage for me.”
“You should take notes,” I spat.
I stood so fast my head spun. He rose, too, but slowly, watching me like he knew his life was probably in more danger than it had ever been in Siberia.
“You can hit me later,” he joked.
“Don’t tempt me.”
I looked past him at the fucked-up trucks and bodies, then back at him.
“I don't want to be a fucking Bratva bride. You think this is gon’ be my life now?”
His answer came without hesitation. “No.”
I blinked, thrown off my argument. “No?”
“No. This,” he said, gesturing toward the aftermath of the attack, “is the part I’m trying to keep from becoming your life.”
Something in me softened despite my best efforts. Sighing, my chin dropped. “I don’t know how to do this. I don't want to do this, Targen.”
His expression warmed, and I saw the man who had held my hand through panic attacks, the man who kissed me so reverently.
“You don’t have to figure it out today. You definitely don’t have to figure it out by yourself.”
That did it. The tears spilled.
I turned away immediately because I was not trying to have a full-on cry beside a murder scene. But Targen was there a second later, stopping just short of touching me. I didn't want him to stop. I sniffed.
“You can hold me if you don’t say nothing stupid,” I mumbled.
He chuckled. “Ahh, Theory Grace,moya milaya.”His laugh was soft.
Then, he stepped in and wrapped his arms around me tight. He was warm and solid and for one weak, exhausted moment, I let myself fold into him. My face pressed against his chest. His hands spread over my back. I could hear his heart, rhythmic and steady. And then, I heard cars approaching. He didn't move, so I knew it must be safe, the Russian Calvary here to rescue us.
“I assume there’s more?” I asked into his shirt after a minute.
“Yeah.”
I sniffed. “A lot more?”
“Yeah.”
I pulled back enough to look up at him. “Then this evening, when we get back, you gon’ tell me the rest.”
His thumb brushed under one of my eyes, catching a tear before it fell. “Okay.”
“All of it.”
