I moved toward the door to check downstairs, but a quiet whimper stopped me. The sound came from deeper inside the suite, somewhere near the window.
I turned toward it.
The hammock beside the window hung lower than usual, a body’s shape visible. I moved closer and found Inna curled up in the hammock, her body making small, restless movements while her head shifted from side to side. Something left her mouth in a whisper too broken for me to understand. A tear slid from the corner of her eye into her hair.
My hand settled on her shoulder. “Inna.” She kept moving, another quiet whimper leaving her. “Inna.”
I ran my hand along her shoulder, smoothing over her skin. I caressed her until the tension in her body started easing little by little. The whimpering faded, and her breathing steadied. I kept the rhythm going until she finally relaxed beneath my hand.
I spent most of my life detached from other people’s pain. Men cried in front of me, and I felt nothing. I built my name taking lives, destroying organizations, and listening to grown men beg me for mercy I never intended to give them.
But nobody prepared me for this.
Watching Inna drift away from me, with no idea how to stop it, felt worse than any threat aimed at me.
If I pushed her to talk, she would shut down further. If I gave her space, she disappeared deeper into herself. There was no clear strategy for this kind of problem.
I looked down at the way she curled inward even in her sleep. Clearly, she was fighting something vicious inside her own head while smiling through it during the day.
The hammock shifted under the added weight when I climbed in beside her. Her body settled against mine as she moved in her sleep and wrapped her arm around my chest. She wouldn’t have done this awake. She would monitor herself around me, as if she no longer trusted where closeness with me could lead.
I held her, my fingers moving through her hair while the night stretched around us.
I stayed awake the entire time.
My thoughts moved between problems. Inna came first, then Cuba and Iker’s meeting that was waiting ahead.
Zachary didn’t concern me. I had already arranged everything necessary, since I was to leave for Cuba tomorrow. He required a personal visit before I destroyed him.
But leaving while things between Inna and me looked like this sat badly. Taking her with me wasn’t possible either. There were too many eyes.
Iker’s case was different. If he were simply another enemy, I would already know exactly how to deal with him. But he was tied to Inna by blood, and that complicated every move I intended to make. The strategy forming in my head required her involvement, whether I liked it or not.
So I stayed awake beside her, making plans while holding the woman who could dismantle my focus without even trying.
Hours moved too quickly when a man wanted them to slow down.
It had been a week since I held Inna like this, and I understood why weak men ruined empires over women. I could have stayed there forever without complaint.
But morning arrived anyway.
Birds began chirping outside just as the first pale light enteredthrough the windows.
Inna stirred against me. Her eyes opened, and she blinked in confusion as she looked around the room. When she realized her arm was wrapped around my chest, she started pulling away.
I tightened my arm around her waist and pulled her back against me before she could climb out of the hammock. “Just a moment.”
She stayed in the hammock but kept her hands carefully away from me, like touch itself had become something she needed to manage. The version of her that used to say and do whatever came to mind without hesitation felt further away than sleep.
“How long?” I asked.
The silence held for a moment before she answered. “What?”
“How long should I wait?”
“Wait for what?” Her brow drew together.
“For you.”
