Page 71 of Bought By Sin

I’d willed it before, but now I knew that I could.

So long as Lev held me in his arms, I would survive and get through this pain from the beating.

New scars would cover my skin. Bruises would linger and remind me of how treacherous it was to be caught in that camp of misfits.

Grounding myself on the security of him holding me, I would get through this.

I focused on the hard press of his strong body against mine, the bulges of his muscles bracketing me. The crispness of his shirt as I laid my cheek against his chest. The slippery softness of the leather seat that my hand dropped against. The rough friction of his beard catching on my hair.

Then the smoothing, comforting stroke of his callused hand over my arm as he clutched me.

I will survive this.

I had gotten out. He’d come to find me, to rescue me, and even though I kept my eyes closed with how sleepy and sluggish I was from fighting to stay strong, I knew that he was taking me away from danger once again.

The rev of the engine rumbled, proving to my ears that I was in the car as it swayed and sped, the momentum rocking me as I sat on Lev’s lap.

The sound of him speaking to Alexei droned on, letting me know that it wasn’t just Lev risking himself to extract me from that spying mission that had ended so suddenly. His brother was here, Nikolai, too, and other Bratva men.

But it wasn’t until I was carried out from the car that I realized I was lagging to keep up with the activity. He’d brought me out of the car and into a building. Then the sounds of a doctor and nurse asking me questions.

The smell of antiseptic and then soap as I was taken into a shower and cleaned off. Lev stood with me and held me up under the water’s spray. Back to the nurses and doctors, checking me over while Lev sat with me.

Hours passed in such a dizzying blur, but as I finally came to more consciousness and woken up fully, I realized one thing remained true.

I had survived.

I was alive.

And Lev was with me.

He sat on the side of a large bed. Not the one I’d been sleeping in at the safe house, but a bigger, softer one, placed in the center of a dark-hued suite. Rich brown accents dominated the masculine space, and I knew without any delay that I was in his bed.

In his room.

In his house.

It risked the trick of assuming that I could really be in his life to this intimate degree.

Selma entered as I woke up more, but she narrowed her one eye at me and shushed me as she brought a tray toward me. “Let him rest.”

I swallowed hard and zeroed in on the water she was bringing. I was parched, but I did as she told me to. I didn’t jostle the bed. Disturbing Lev as he sat there with his head slumped down would be a crime. He’d dozed off, clearly, and I didn’t want to be greedy to pull him out of resting when it seemed like that was all I’d been doing for a month.

Sluggish yet, I didn’t balk when Selma held the glass to my lips. I drank and cleared my throat, and again, she gave me a scolding look not to wake Lev.

“He hasn’t left your side,” she muttered quietly.

I didn’t know what to say to that.

“It’s about time you just stay here, anyway.” She harrumphed, almost as though she was amused, before leaving. The click of the door from her closing it was all it took to make Lev stir. He flinched, jarred out of his rest, and blinked his eyes open.

He turned, seeking me out. The worry on his face faded as he took in the sight of me awake, straining to sit up.

“Easy. Take it easy,” he urged.

“What… what happened?” I asked. I knew from the flashes of nightmares that accosted my mind, but I needed to hear how bad it was. I felt like I’d been destroyed physically, struck and then run over again. My muscles ached. My skin stung. Breathing deeply had me wincing more.

“They found you and⁠—”