Page 94 of Then We Shatter

When Mace speaks, he’s talking to Ash through the microphone fitted to his helmet. “He’s doing the old you can’t touch my woman, routine.” There’s a pause, then, “No, he copied it from me… Sure, whatever… Yeah, I’ll tell him.”

“Tell me what?” I demand. There’s less boat and more ocean by the second.

“Ash says they can lift all three of us together if it’s going to stop you bawling your eyes out again.”

“I wasn’t bawling my eyes out,” I say as I slip into the harness and secure my hold on Katarina. She’s so fucking pale. “My eyes were stinging with the smoke.”

“He was crying,” Katarina pipes up.

It was ridiculous to ever think my woman would go quietly.

Mace gives Ash and Simon a thumbs up and the cable attached to his harness pulls taut. He’s the first to rise off the boat, and with a tug, Katarina and I quickly follow.

Mace and I are tethered so that I’m staring at his chest, Katarina wedged between us. The full weight of her limp body has my arm muscles screaming, and I pretend not to notice when Mace takes some of the strain.

“We need to get her to hospital fast,” I say as we watch the blood oozing from Katarina’s stomach wound.

“We have medics on standby, plus we have Simon,” Mace says, shouting at the top of his voice as we get closer to the helicopter. “He was a bouncer for years and he’s dealt with plenty of knife wounds. He’ll look after her.”

He rolls his eyes when he sees me bristle. “Do we need to sedate you before we lay hands on her?”

“As long as everyone treats her with the respect she deserves, we’re good.”

Mace maneuvers us past the feet of the helicopter and Simon reaches for us with his bear-like hands.

As we clamber aboard, Simon helps us set Katarina down. We know each other, but I don’t know him well enough to hand my woman over to his care without some push back.

“If you let her die, I’ll kill you.”

Simon glances at Mace. “Can we throw him back?”

“I’d let you, but Ash has a soft spot for him for some reason.”

Simon’s paws are surprisingly gentle as he examines Katarina’s wound and sets about staunching the bleeding and administering fluids through an IV.

The helicopter sweeps over the wreck as it’s disappearing beneath the waves, and Mace hands me a set of earphones.

“Glad to have you on board,” Ash says without turning around.

“Be sure to make it a smooth ride, we’re carrying precious cargo,” I tell him because a simple thank you would have my emotions bubbling to the surface again and I’ve made enough of a fool of myself for one day.

“Did you kill Vasili?” Ash asks.

“No,” I reply. I leave a pregnant pause before I add. “She did.”

Mace slaps my shoulder. “Who knew Katarina would turn out to be a goddamn legend.”

I elbow him sharply. “I did.”

Chapter 36

Rick

Three months later

My cheeks sting as the relative warmth of the underground parking garage thaws my face. The Bratva stronghold might be impenetrable, but who the fuck chooses to live in Siberia? And not to split hairs, but technically it isn’t impenetrable because I’m here.

Swapping my gloves and ski jacket for a Kevlar vest, I stroll over to a black sedan that’s identical to the one I’ve just climbed out of. The back seats have been kicked out to reveal a false compartment, but it’s empty. I stretch my shoulders, releasing a long groan. It’s the only sound in the vast and dimly-lit space that currently houses maybe twenty vehicles at most. Six of those have melting snow on their roofs.