Page 87 of Warlord’s Empire

Saskia sat with her arms crossed, staring out the window.

“You’ll remember to take your vitamins?” It was about the stupidest thing he could say, but he was having trouble thinking past the panic bubbling up inside him. He was about to lose the one person he couldn’t lose. How was he supposed to survive? It was like losing oxygen, he couldn’t live without her. Didn’t want to.

“Fuck vitamins,” she said in an acid tone.

“Hate me if you must,” he said in a hard voice. “But you will take care of yourself while in Prague.”

She glared at him, her brows low and angry. “Why do you care? You’ll have nothing to do with me once I’m gone.”

That wasn’t true. Of course he’d monitor her and do his best to keep her safe from a distance. It was why he was sending Shola. She would be his eyes and ears.

As if reading his mind, Saskia said, “Don’t count on accurate reports from my bodyguard. She’s just as pissed at you as I am.”

Shola was angry with him, but it wouldn’t affect her professionalism. He was paying her and she would report to him. Besides, as mad as she was, she knew he had Saskia’s best interests at heart.

“Please try to understand,” he started, but she held up a hand, cutting him off.

“I understand perfectly, Muhammed, and that’s the problem.” She turned in her seat to face him. “You’re freaked out because you don’t have your PTSD under control and you think you could do something to me while I’m pregnant. You’re afraid this baby could do something to me too. You’re also afraid of what you could do to the baby after it’s born.”

They hadn’t spoken about his feelings since finding out about her pregnancy, yet she did understand. She understood without a word ever passing between them because she understood him.

He hit the brakes, stopping the car abruptly.

She reached for the dash and stared at him in surprise. “What’s wrong?”

What was wrong was he was torn. He hadn’t questioned this decision once since making it, but now he wasn’t so sure. Was he really willing to push away the one person who could help him? Who could make him feel joy, an emotion he never expected to experience?

“Are we… going?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, her eyes wide. She knew what was going on in his head, he could tell. She was waiting to find out if he changed his mind. It was almost too much, that spark of hope in her eyes.

But he didn’t turn around. Instead, he turned the vehicle toward the airfield. He did it because he wasn’t sending her away for him, he was doing it for her. Yes, she could save him, but who would save her?

Him. He would save her by sending her away.

“You’re a coward.” It was the third time she’d said it to him and it stung as much as the first two times. “We could have been great, Muhammed.”

When he stopped the car, she shoved her door open and got out without a word. She stalked away and climbed the stairs into the airplane without a backward glance.

“Radik,” Nonna said, coming to stand next to him. “You take care of yourself until I come back.” She hesitated, then hugged him. Maybe she sensed he needed it. “I left some goat stew in the fridge for you and several frozen meals in the freezer.”

He accepted a hug from Nikka too before she excitedly ran up the stairs and onto the plane.

“General,” Shola said, stopping in front of him.

Despite her anger, she was looking at him with something approaching pity.

“Don’t let anything happen to her,” he said, his voice hard.

She pursed her lips, then followed the others.

Fifteen minutes later, the plane was in the sky, taking his heart away with it.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

It had been nearly six months since Saskia last stepped foot in her home country. The weather had turned cold and the wind cut through her thin clothes as she stepped off the plane.

“Saskia!”

Leeza was waving at her from the ground and holding up what looked to be a heavy winter coat. As Saskia approached, she wrapped it around her shoulders. “We’re having a brutal cold snap. Winter is coming early to this part of the world.”