Page 80 of The Lies Between Lovers

Tipping his head to the side, he said, “The infection.”

Vera curled up her nose. “Stop saying that word.”

He did.

Not that her glare from the bed stopped him from adding, “You’ll be peeing every time now, no?”

“Oh, I hate you.”

She didn’t even say it like she meant it. Vaslav’s quiet laughter urged her own out before Vera grabbed one of the pillows behind her head and tossed it his way. Not with any malice, and he caught it easily, stuffing it in behind his back for the moment. He could use the cushion—the wooden rocking chair had not been a kind place to sleep, but this was the only hospital with a private room available that he was able to get Vera into yesterday after he arrived. The room was too small for a cot bed, not that he would have used one, anyway.

She’d quieted after her exclamation, and the shift of her gaze brought both of their attentions back to the newspaper on the rolling table.

“Did you have him kil—”

“Vera,” Vaslav interjected before she could ask him something he wouldn’t answer, “I only asked if that would solve a problem you had, not that I was open to discussing the headline or news.”

Sitting up on the bed, she’d pulled her legs into a crossed position with the stark white hospital blankets pooling around her waist while she fiddled with her hands in her lap. He knew the silence felt heavier because of her—it radiated off her, every wary, dark question she had in her mind that he wouldn’t allow her to ask.

“Your friend’s ex-husband won’t be showing up anywhere, anymore,” he told her. “And let it lie with that, yeah?”

Vera sighed, and turned her head to the side a bit where she could at least have him in her line of vision. “I hope you know Kiril is annoying. A little heads up about him would have been nice before he just inserted himself into my space.”

That almost earned her a smile.

“Why?”

“I already have a little brother; I didn’t need another.”

Vaslav did grin at that. “He can’t be that bad.”

“He woke me up yesterday—when I was sick, by the way—by climbing up on the awnings of my bedroom window where he knocked on the glass until I got up and opened it for him,” she replied.

Well ...

“I’d probably kill him if he did that to me,” Vas admitted.

It wasn’t a lie.

“I also slept past my alarm, so I wasn’t really mad,” she added after a second.

“Oh?”

“More annoyed.”

“Be annoyed,” he returned. “As long as the kid does his job.”

And he had.

Clearly.

The silence that followed the exchange left Vaslav wrapped in unease. He could tell by the way she continued fidgeting with her fingers and avoiding his gaze that there was still something else on her mind.

“Maybe I’m just surprised you’re here,” she said quietly.

Could the woman read his mind?

“Why wouldn’t I be? Who else is looking after you?” he asked.