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“Why should I? I warned him to stay away from you. Clearly, he thinks he’s too good to obey my command. The way I see it, I’m doing him a favor to teach him a lesson instead of taking this to Otets.”
“Stop it!” I snap. “You don’t get to keep threatening me with telling Father. Okay? I’m not seven years old anymore. We’re adults. And I have a right to choose who I want to be with. I’m sorry if Mishka isn’t a good enough choice in your eyes, but you at least owe me a conversation. I’m your sister, for Christ’s sake, and whether you want to admit it or not, I deserve to be happy. Just like you do.”
Releasing a heavy sigh, Viktor turns and forces me to keep walking. “Fine. But we will talk about this.”
“I promise,” I assure him.
We reach the window outside Katie’s apartment, and I stop.
“This it?” he asks, and when I nod, he turns to leave without another word.
“Viktor, wait.” I grasp his elbow, and when he pauses, his sharp gray eyes meeting mine in silent question, I throw my arms around his neck.
“You know I love you, right?” I breathe, fighting the tears that threaten to spill over. Because I can’t stop this terrible feeling that something bad is going to happen.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t start acting all weepy on me. You sound like you think I’m gonna die or something.” And though his words are coarse, he gives me a quick squeeze before stepping out of my embrace.
“Come home safe,” I plead as he turns to go once more. “And, Viktor?”
Again, he pauses, one foot hovering to take the first step down the stairs as he glances back.
“Please bring Mishka back alive. He… means a lot to me.”
“I’ll see what I can do,” he says, his expression darkening. Then his feet pound down the steps, leaving me alone on the landing outside Katie’s window.
As he reaches the pavement below, the window slides open behind me, rasping softly against the frame as it goes.
“Was that Viktor I just saw?” Katie asks, leaning her upper body out the window in time to catch the Escalade vanishing around the corner.
“Yeah.” I watch until they’re gone from sight, my chest a hollow, gaping hole. I have a bad feeling about tonight. As I watch two people I care about more than anything driving away for possibly the last time, all I want to do is curl into a ball and cry.
“Okay, what the hell? You need to get your pretty butt in here and tell me what just happened,” Katie demands, slipping back inside so I can follow.
I do, my feet heavy and my stomach in knots. Right now, all I want to do is head home because I suspect that’s where they’ll go when the fight is over. But I can’t leave Katie without an explanation.
“Did you and Mishka talk?” she pounces as soon as I climb inside.
“Yeah, we talked—well… I kind of accidentally shouted at him about how I didn’t think I could ever trust him again. Then he gave me probably the best apology any man has given a woman since the beginning of mankind.”
Katie releases a low whistle of appreciation. “What does that sound like?”
“I mean, he got on his knees and begged me to forgive him and said he was willing to do anything to regain my trust. It was that kind of an apology.”
“He groveled?” she asks, her jaw hitting the floor.
I nod, my eyes dropping as a fresh wave of anxiety washes through me. I can’t stop thinking about how he’s going to risk his life for me right now when I spent the first part of our night together scolding him.
“And?” Katie grips my shoulders, giving me a gentle shake. “Did you tell him about the… baby?” She drops to a whisper on the last word, her eyes flicking toward the door, where my bodyguards are still stationed.
I nod, and before I can stop them, the tears start to fall.
Katie gasps, releasing my arms as she covers her mouth with her fingers. “Is that why Viktor brought you back? Mishka bailed when he found out?” She sounds on the brink of committing murder.
“No!” I choke through my tears. “He was s–s–so s–supportive!” I sob. “He w–wants the baby, and h–he asked me to m–marry him, and th–then Viktor just showed up out of nowhere, and n–now they’re both h–headed off to h–hunt down the men who took me, and I might never s–see either of them again!”
Hysteria sends me into convulsive sobs, and I collapse into Katie’s arms as my stress overcomes me completely. I can’t keep enduring this level of anxiety. It feels like I’ve faced a life-or-death situation almost every day for longer than I can remember, and I hate it.
“Okay, hold up. Did you just say Mishka proposed?” Katie asks incredulously, trying to calm me down as she strokes my hair.
