“I’m—”
“Pull the fucking car over, Lev.”
I do.
She’s quiet as she opens the glove compartment, pulling out the medical kit stashed there and sorting through supplies. “Take off your jacket.” Carina spritzes some sanitizing spray on her hands, then rubs them together.
“I’ll have the doctor look when we get back.”
“I thought we had another stop?”
I study her. “I thought you might want to skip it. Go back sooner after …” I clear my throat, debating what else to say. “I don’t know if he was acting alone. They might try again tonight.”
“That would be very bad—for them.” She continues without waiting for a response, “I don’t want to skip whatever it is.”
I nod once, my throat too thick to speak. I’ve always enjoyed being seen as superior. It’s human nature to seek success and appreciate admiration. But Carina’s total faith I’ll keep her safe? I don’t know what to do with it. How to absorb or process her certainty in me.
I shake my head once. Before tonight blew up, I was excited about her reaction.
“Take your jacket off,” she tells me again.
I reach for the bandage she’s holding, ignoring the fresh twinge in my shoulder. “I can?—”
“This isexactlywhat you did last time.I’m fine, I can handle it, blah, blah, blah. Remember how that ended?”
I hold her gaze. “Yes. You sucked my cock, and then I fucked you from behind.”
The car’s interior lights are bright enough for me to see her blush.
Carina leans over again, carefully peeling my suit jacket off one shoulder and then starting on the buttons of my black shirt underneath. “Before that.”
“You stole my vodka.”
She shakes her head, but doesn’t respond. She’s focused on peeling my shirt away from the bloody bandage. Once the gauze is off, she wraps it in one of the kit’s waste bags, then pulls out a pack of wipes.
I sit perfectly still as she cleans the blood off my chest, then covers the stitched stab wound with a fresh bandage.
“This was why you were gone for so long?” Carina asks.
“Yes.” I lost a lot of blood and had to be pumped with antibiotics. Don’t mention any of those details.
“So, when I called?—”
“It was already over,” I say quickly.
“What did you do the rest of the day, then?”
“You do not want details.”
“Yes, I do.”
I yank my shirt back on, aiming an incredulous look her way. “Five minutes ago, you were mad I shot?—”
“That was before I knew …” She exhales. “I know what you do. I just—I’m not used to seeing it. It’s hard for me to reconcile the man who saved me with the man who can do that without hesitating.”
I begin buttoning. “I didn’t save you, Carina.”
“Yes, you did. And you got nothing out of it, which is why … did you go see someone? Is that why you won’t tell me anything else?”
