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“Yes. Obviously. Gather everything you can. I want to know where he is going, who he is meeting with, and what he is planning,” I tell him. “If he so much as pisses the wrong way, I want to know about it.”
Isay assures me he’ll gather everything he can and report back as soon as possible.
But when I climb in my car, I don’t drive home. I drive to the garage where Akim kept Luna. I park down the street and watch the shattered windows, waiting for movement. For some sign that the Gustev Bratva is planning something.
After a few hours, I make the rounds, driving past Gustev-owned clubs and bars. I look for Pavel. If I could take him out now—a quick hit-and-run—it would save a lot of trouble down the road. Maybe it would finally be the end of this feud.
But I don’t see him. I don’t see anything.
It’s after ten when I get back. Luna is still sitting up in bed when I walk through the door.
“You’re still up,” I observe, closing the door behind me.
“It’s hard to sleep when…” She looks at my side of the bed. “I just couldn’t sleep.”
I stayed away on purpose. Seeing Nik and talking to Dr. Tung didn’t exactly put a spring in my step. As much as I wish I did, I don’t trust Isay the way I trust Nik. Luna has been through enough that I didn’t want to bring her down with all of my shit.
Not that it isn’t already too late for that. I’ve already brought her down. Akim kidnapped her because of me. Now, she’s traumatized and can’t sleep without me next to her.
“I should have come back sooner.” I pull my shirt over my head and ball it in my fists before chucking it into the closet.
“No, I’m fine. I’m okay. You were with Nik, right?” she asks. “How is he?”
“Same. Critical, but stable.”
She sighs. “I’m sorry.”
“Why? None of this is your fault.”
“I know. It’s not your fault, either.” She pushes the blankets down and shifts to the edge of the bed. She presses her hand flat to my bare chest. “You didn’t cause any of this. And you know that Nik wouldn’t change anything about that night.”
She’s right. I know she is. My brother was stubborn. He liked to play the hero. Some petty part of him would love to know he’s in a coma for backing me up and following me loyally into gunfire.
None of that helps me, though. It doesn’t change a single fucking thing.
“That’s good, because he can’t. Neither can I. We can’t go back and fix it. I can’t fix it now, either. There isn’t a damn thing I can do to make any of this better.”
She rises on her knees and pulls me closer. Her hand is over my heart. “You’re making things better for me. You being here… it helps. When I’m alone or asleep, my brain goes right back to that cell. But I can’t think about any of that when you’re in front of me. You help me relax.”
Her eyes are hooded and I’m hard. Instantly.
I want her. Of course I do. But she was in the hospital only a few days ago. She was kidnapped and imprisoned before that. I found her with a half-naked man straddling her in a cell. I’m not going to push her.
“How about a bath?” I ask instead of ravishing her the way every cell in my body wants to do. “That would help you relax.”
That’s something I can do. A way I can help.
Luna licks her bottom lip. Then she leans forward until her full mouth presses softly to mine. My hand tightens on her waist. It takes every ounce of self-control I possess not to throw her back on the bed and taste every inch of her.
She pulls back slowly. “A bath would actually be amazing.”
How about a cold shower? I could go for one of those.
17
YAKOV
“This is a shitty joke, Isay.” I kick my feet up on my desk.
