Hearing the panic in her voice, I hush her. “I think you’ll need antibiotics. It’s already showing pink streaks around the wound site.”
Bowing her head, she closes her eyes.
Watching her cry over those assholes has me releasing a pained breath.
I want to fix this for her. But I can’t. This is what she needs to do and I won’t stop her, not when the world would be a lesser place for not experiencing her fire.
“Sorry for being a baby,” she whispers a few minutes later, swiping at both cheeks with her good hand.
“You’re not being a baby. I’m being the baby. I want to castrate that fucker who branded you and then feed him his cock.” At her snuffled giggle, I continue, “One of those pricks texted you last night.”
Her brow furrows. “How do you know?”
“I read your phone screen.”
She rolls her eyes. “Can I read yours?”
“No. I’m smart enough to make my screen private,” I tease, happy when she sticks out her tongue at me.
“Pass it to me, please?”
Obeying the regal declaration, I watch as she purses her lips. “They want the hostages freed.”
“Tell them they can have them back, just not in one piece.”
I move so that I read her message as she types.
Victoria: Maxim warns you they won’t be in one piece
Unknown Number: His restraint is appreciated
Her brow lifts.“Restraint? When have you ever been known for that?”
“You wound me,kroshka.”
“Yeah. Yeah.”
“The fact they’re alive is a gift they don’t deserve. I only didn’t dispose of them because I figured it’d give you leverage. Seems I was correct.”
She pats my abdomen. “There, there.”
“I suffered not killing them.”
“I’ll stroke your… ego another day.”
“I’ll consider that adequate compensation for the emotional damage. Right, next move?”
She doesn’t answer me, but asks them:
Victoria: And what will you give him for their freedom?
“Interesting. Aggressive. I like it.” Settling amid the thousands of blankets, I take a seat beside her, sighing when she leans against me.
“Are you okay with me brokering this deal?”
“If you didn't have an injury, I’d fuck you.”
She snorts. “Maxim!”
