When we reach the landing, I stray my eyes to a door two spots down while digging my wallet out of my pocket. “Request for Dr. Laura to do a house call. Tell her it’s for me.”
“Alright.” Nero jerks up his chin before he finds a quiet spot to take his call. With most of P’s quarters occupied by Vladimir’s old crew, things got rowdy days ago. Anyone would swear they were celebrating instead of commiserating. If I find out that is the case, Nikolai’s crew will face a second slaughtering within hours of him being found.
After shaking off the funk coating my skin with sweat, I tap on the door of Nikolai’s childhood before pushing down on the handle. I’m not surprised to find Maddox standing to the left of the couch Justine is resting on. He’s presence has been noticeable the past three days even with him barely speaking a peep. His silence might have more to do with the fact he’s failed to tell me why he’s searching for his sister on this side of the country instead of the side she went missing from than an uncomfortableness for this lifestyle. He only got out of lockup a week ago, yet he’s already knee-deep in shit. Not even a low-ranked bottom-feeder wannabee gets himself in that much trouble in a week.
“Has she said anything?”
After taking in Justine’s sun-hardened skin and blood-tinged hair, Maddox shakes his head.
“Where’s the blood coming from?”
Not speaking a word, Maddox pulls back a chunk of Justine’s hair to reveal a large bump in the back of her head. Breathing out of my nose with the hope it will keep my head in the present, I crouch down in front of Justine to check her pulse. Her skin is as hot as fuck to touch, but her pulse is robust.
When Maddox snags a water bottle off the table next to him, Mikhail’s advice from nine months ago smacks back into me. “Don’t give her any water. You could fuck her over more. Nero is organizing a doctor to come check on her. She’ll be here in a few…” My words trail off when Justine groans. When it’s closely followed by a giggle, I crank my neck to Maddox. “Does she generally laugh in her sleep?”
“I wish.” He gives his jaw a good workover before adding, “I haven’t heard her giggle like that since she got them.” During the ‘them’ part of his comment, he nudges his head to the scars Nikolai’s slowly convincing Justine to be proud of. They’re bite marks from when she was mauled by a dog on the Petretti compound.
When Justine rolls over with a groan, I scoot closer to her. “Justine…” Her brows furrow as she stuffs a pillow between her legs. K has done similar the past three days, but I think it has more to do with Nikolai’s hard couch than our daughter’s demand for space. “Justine, can you open your eyes for me?” I get another groan but her eyes remain shut. “Justine…” My lips tug into a smirk when her eyes slowly flutter open this time around. “Hey.”
I give her a couple of seconds to scan my face. When recognition flares through her eyes, I help her to sit up. “W-w-what happened?” Anyone would think she’d drunk a gallon of whiskey for how slurred her words are.
Concern for his sister is seen all over Maddox’s face when he jumps into our conversation. “You don’t remember?” His worry lowers my suspicions by a smidge. Not a lot, but enough to realize he isn’t Justine’s enemy. Nikolai, on the other hand, I’ll save my verdict for a more appropriate time.
When Justine shakes her head, her eyes bulge out of her head as her throat works through a hard swallow. I’m about to catch her vomit in my hands, but Maddox saves the day by shoving a bucket between us.
While Justine brings up some funky smelling puke, Maddox asks me, “Where was she found again?”
I nudge my head to the left like the freeway can be seen from here. “By Interstate 95. One of our couriers thought he was seeing things.”
After scrubbing the back of her hand over her vomit smeared lips, Justine garbles out, “Hold on. I was found along a highway?”
I nod. “You were a few miles from the private airstrip you used last week. We figured that was the location Nikolai told you to use in case of an emergency.”
My reply seems to confuse her more. “Why was I on Interstate 95? Blaire and Rico’s apartment is miles from there.”
Shock is heard in my tone when I ask, “Blaire and Rico? What do they have to do with anything?”
Justine peers at me as if I’m slow. “We had dinner with them last night. You know this because Nikolai called you on our way.”
Before a single word can leave my lips, Maddox slots his ass into the spot next to Justine, then gathers her hands in his. “You had dinner with Rico and Blaire three nights ago. You’ve been missing ever since.” He waits for her to absorb that truth before hitting her with another. “You’re also in Vegas. Trey meant Interstate 95 on the California border, not the one in Florida.”
“That can’t be true.” Her wide and terrified eyes bounce between ours. “You don’t just lose three days of your life.” While straying her eyes over the room, she asks, “Where’s Nikolai? He’ll prove we were with Rico and Blaire last night.” When her hunt fails to find the man we’ve been searching for the past three days, she drops her eyes to the bucket of vomit. “That’s the rosemary chicken Blaire prepared for us. She used herbs that would help my queasy stomach…” Her words are stolen by the worry clutching her throat. With her breaths labored, she raises the hem of her shirt to peer down at her stomach. Although she’s not as far along as K, her stomach is more curved. Usually, most people would see that as a good thing. I don’t. Her stomach is covered with a massive bruise. It’s as mottled and damaged as K’s skin was when she was freed from hell twelve months ago.
When Justine jumps to her feet and races into the bathroom, I follow her retreat. She’s so confused by the disheveled redhead peering back at her in the mirror, she doesn’t notice I’m standing behind her until I say, “You truly don’t remember, do you?”
Tears well in her eyes when she shakes her head. “All I remember is having dinner. The rest is blank.”
When Maddox joins us in the bathroom, he has the audacity to wordlessly request for me to leave. I don’t know who he thinks is running the show around here, but it sure as fuck isn’t him. When I fold my arms in front of my chest and shake my head, air whizzes out of his nostrils.
After hitting me with a glare that’s too weak to respond to, he moves to the shower. He switches the faucet on full pelt before shifting on his feet to face Justine. “Why don’t you shower while I get you something to eat? Once you’ve filled your belly and taken a nap, your confusion may lift.” When Justine nods, Maddox runs his hand down her arm. “We’ll be just outside.”
He waits for Justine to nod again before he moves back into the main section of Nikolai’s room, closing the bathroom door on his way. “What the fuck do you think you’re playing at? She doesn’t have time to have a nap. If she’s concussed, the worst fucking thing she could do right now is sleep. Furthermore, she may be the only person who can tell us where Nikolai is.”
“That’s my sister in there. Her wellbeing comes before anything and anyone.”
The fact he’s playing the sibling card already gets my guard up, much less his lack of worry for Nikolai. “If you truly give a fuck about your ‘sister’” I air quote my last word like a soft cock. “You’d know that theonlyperson she needs right now is Nikolai.” My reply is the equivalent of jabbing a knife into my chest. I had no choice. I had to send K away. Doesn’t make it any easier to swallow, though. “Are you here for Justine, Maddox, or to claw your way into a sanction you have no right to be a part of?” When he scoffs like I’m being ridiculous, I hit him with enough facts to knock him on his ass. “Did you and Dimitri have conjugal visits during your four-year stint at Wallens Ridge State Prison? Or did he have you suck his cock in front of everyone so they knew whose bitch you were.”
I laugh in his face when he fists my shirt to bring me to within an inch of his face. “Shut your mouth before I shut it for you.”
