No.
No.
I collapse to my knees beside Blake’s lifeless form.
Blood. There’s so much blood.
“Fuck. Fuck!” I tear off my shirt and press it hard against the wound in her abdomen. The fabric is soaked through instantly.
Alessio appears across from me, his hand reaching out—
“DON’T TOUCH HER!” I roar.
His gray eyes lock onto mine. “I’m going to check her pulse. Keep the pressure on the wound.”
I’m trembling, my breath coming in harsh, uneven gasps. How did it come to this? How did I let this happen? My mind is racing, spiraling with guilt and helplessness. I should have been here. I should have protected her like I swore to her I would.
Alessio’s fingers press against her neck, his expression unreadable as he waits for something—anything.
“Her pulse is there, but it’s weak. We need to get her help now.” He digs inside his jacket for his phone, and his voice is clipped as he makes the call. “We need the medical team here, immediately.”
I can’t tear my eyes away from Blake. She’s so still, so pale. I can feel her slipping away, and no matter how hard I press against the wound, the blood keeps coming, seeping through my fingers like sand slipping through an hourglass.
I’m the one who dragged her into this. I failed her. She needed me, and I wasn’t here.
Alessio barks more orders into the phone, but his voice fades into the background. All I can hear is the pounding of my own heart, the echo of my failure, and the shallow, fragile breaths coming from the woman I love.
“Nero, you need to calm down,”Alessio snaps, pulling me away from the wide-eyed medic, who doesn’t waste a second beforebolting down the hall. “They’re going to kick you out if you keep harassing everyone who comes out that door.”
“It’s been two hours.”
Two hours of not knowing if Blake is alive or dead. Two hours of replaying everything that happened, trying to pinpoint where I went wrong.
I can’t stand this. I’m going to go insane.
“They’re still operating on her—”
I shove Alessio against the nearest wall, pressing my forearm against his neck. “I need to see her. I need to know she’s alive.”
His jaw clenches, but he doesn’t push back. Just stares at me with an emotion I didn’t think he had the capacity to feel—pity.
I let go of him. “Gino never should have sent his team in.”
Alessio lowers his voice. “If he hadn’t, the pakhan might’ve killed you the moment he got what he wanted. That’s why we were prepared to move on him as soon as you arrived at his location in the original plan. But then it all went sideways. If Blake hadn’t called us, you might be dead right now.”
“Do you think I—”
“And then they would have killed her too.”
I squeeze my fists tightly. He’s right, but I still want to argue and scream.
I’ve never felt so out of control, so beyond patience and reason.
“I know you want to blame someone, but sometimes, shit just happens. You know that as well as I do.”
Blake shot Ekaterina eight times. The cleanup crew told Alessio it looked like Ekaterina had been hit on the back of the head too, meaning she and Blake fought.
How scared was my beautiful wife in that moment? How scared and how fucking brave?
