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“It’s nothing.” I tried to push his hand away. “I’ve been hit by the real thing. This is just a kiss from a bullet. If you’d warned me literally one second later, he might’ve put it through my heart. And then⁠—”

Stas’s fingers dug into my upper arm in a bruising grip.

I groaned.

“—then you finally could’ve let someone else kill me. Missed opportunity, huh?”

Still nothing.

Fuck. I couldn’t read him like this. Not even my sarcastic comments were getting through to him.

His jaw worked—tic, tic, tic.

“You’re really going to pretend,” I drawled softly, “that isn’t your dream scenario? You’ve wanted to kill me for years now.”

Still no answer.

He shoved past me to the glove compartment, ripped it open, and searched through it. He returned to me with a pack of wipes, took my shoulder in a firm grip, and cleaned the wound with short, angry motions.

Was he really regretting not letting that asshole kill me? So many of his problems would have been resolved.

“You’re supposed to dab,” I said. “Not scrub off what’s left of my skin.”

“Shut up.”

“Thank god, you’re talking again.” I leaned closer, practically purring. “I find that I miss the grumpy Stas.”

“Yuriy.” His voice cracked like old wood. “Silence.”

“Why?” I smiled up at him, letting my lashes lower just a bit. “Does the truth bother you?”

“I’m not bothered. Just cleaning your wound.”

“But you are.” I tipped my head, watching him, my favorite bad decision. “And you still haven’t answered my question.”

He froze.

Perfect.

“So,” I said, deliberately softening my tone, “one second later and the bullet goes right through my chest. Boom. No more Yuriy to be a pain in your ass.” I paused. “That would have made your week, right? Your Christmas wish to Santa would come true.”

His breath gusted out, harsh, fogging the air between us.

“Yes,” he bit out. “I should’ve let them kill you. Yes, I should’ve sat there and watched you bleed out. But I didn’t because⁠—”

He stopped.

His throat bobbed.

A spark went off low in my stomach.

“Because?” I coaxed.

He clenched his jaw, glared at me like he wanted to break me in half. “Because I didn’t want to ruin Yelena’s Christmas.”

A laugh slipped out of me, deep, dark, and delighted. He wasn’t even aware of the fact that he went to so much trouble to lie showed he cared way more than he wanted me to know.

“Liar.”