Page 151 of Fractured Ties

“Kolya!”

“Quiet,” he rumbled, tucking her against him before kissing the top of her head. “Enough of this, dushka. It’s over.”

Maya let out a shaky breath.

It was over.

She was still pissed, but not at him. Not really.

There was nothing she could do about it, either.

She knew he was still in pain. She could feel it in the way a tremor skipped over his skin with every movement he made. And still, he dragged her closer to his side, and held her there with one arm like he wasn’t ever going to let her go.

“The IV stays,” he said.

“Good.”

“No narcotics.”

Maya sighed.

Win some, lose some.

She had a feeling that was going to be the story of her life with this man.

• • •

Ballet.

That was the first thing Kolya wanted to do when he was given the okay to leave their house for the first time in a month. Maya was stuck between being concerned because he was nowhere near being healed, and also adoring him so fucking much because it was obvious he hated ballet, but he saw her reading a review of one in the Tribune.

In the private booth, the rest of the crowd watching the ballet couldn’t see them. Maya wasn’t concerned about them and she wasn’t even watching the show anymore, either. She was a little distracted by the man next to her.

Kolya hid it well, but she could see it. Beneath the fitted tux he wore, he was in pain. Maybe from sitting up so long. Maybe from the tight fit of his shirt. It could have been a lot of things, but he was hurting.

“You know,” Maya said, “I think when the doctor gave you the okay, it was with the intention of getting you out for a walk, and out of bed.”

The edge of Kolya’s lips quirked upward. “You think?”

“One to ten?”

Kolya didn’t even ask what she meant. “Eight right now.”

At least he was below ten.

That was good.

Maya still sighed. “I knew this was going to be too much.”

For a whole month, all he’d done was stay in bed and rest. The longest walk he’d made was to the goddamn bathroom and back. He’d gone downstairs once, and almost passed out after getting so winded from the pain.

But they weren’t supposed to talk about that.

“Dushka,” he murmured.

Maya tipped her head sideways to stare at him. “What?”

“I’m fine.”