Not just them… we foundher.
She had to be there. There was no universe where I could believe Nikolai was meant to pine for his lost lover forever. Or that she was destined for the fatality the police tried to pass off.
I was moving before I realized it, passing through the safehouse.
The girls had all been keeping to themselves quietly now that it was our small group. The guards stayed at the old house with the rest, escorting them one by one once they found families, or at least getting them on the right flights where necessary.
I finally found Nikolai in the kitchen, hunched over an untouched plate, his eyes gazing at nothing.
He was a wreck, but I had just the thing to perk up his spirits.
“Nik.”
His head snapped up. Something in my tone must’ve given it away. I wasn’t able to hide my excitement. My brain was only half online.
“We’ve got coordinates.”
“Are you kidding me?” he said, letting out a whoop. It was the first genuine smile I’d seen on this man’s face since knowing him.
“Fuck. What do we do? Do we leave now?”
“It’s way too early to get going now. We need supplies, and we’re meeting them in two days’ time. For now, we make a list, gather supplies, rest, and then we go get our girl.”
“Fuck… what if it’s not her, Luca?”
The genuine fear on his face had my chest tightening for him. He’d already lost so much. I hated the idea of that outcome, and I refused to give it a voice.
“No,” I said firmly. “That’s not going to happen. This is her, Nik. I feel it. I’ve seen her picture. I know I don’t know her like you did, hell, you don’t even know her the same way anymore, but I can’t get her out of my head. I know it’s her.”
He looked relieved. I think he just needed someone to be on his side with this.
He wasn’t crazy. This had to be her.
Either way, we’d be finding out in a few short days.
“I know two days sounds like a long time, but we’ll be driving before you know it,” I said, gripping his shoulder and looking him in the eye, imploring him to understand. “You can’t lose it now. Not when we’re this close. Aries is going to want you at your best.”
“Did she even look for me?” he asked, scrubbing a hand over his stubble and shifting his glasses, the two nervous ticks he constantly did when he thought nobody was watching. Otherwise, his façade was impressive.
“I’m not sure. But it’s likely she’s gone through her own version of hell. Maybe she wasn’t ready, or couldn’t reach out. We don’t know what version of her we’re going to find. But whatever version it is, I assure you, we’ll be there for her. We can help her heal and give her what she needs.”
“We will,” he said, serious now. “I’m going to love her like she deserves.”
“And this time we have an entire pack to help protect her.”
He stared at me, as if testing how he felt about that fact. Finally, he let out a breath and nodded.
We were a pack, we’d face this together.
I just hoped like hell that she wasactuallythere.
Chapter
Eighteen
Nikolai
Iwas a fucking coward and that was a hard pill to swallow.
