Page 35 of Savage Little War

His man nods and heads inside.

“It’s nothing, Andrei,” I insist, even though my hands sting. We have far bigger issues to worry about than scuffed up hands.

Andrei merely shakes his head. He won’t argue. He’s doing this whether I want it or not. “Did Dmitri get hit?”

“God, I hope not,” I say quietly. “He used himself as bait to distract the shooter so that I could run here first. He should’ve made it here by now!”

Andrei frowns as he hears my voice waver. “Dmitri’s a tough bastard. He won’t go down easily.”

“I can’t lose him,” I reply, my throat aching.

Damien shows up with the shot of vodka and napkins, handing off the shot first.

“He’ll do everything in his power to get back to you,” Andrei assures me before guiding me to hold my hands out with my palms up. “This will burn.”

He wasn’t lying.

As soon as he pours the vodka on the tiny cuts and scrapes on my palms, burning pain sears all the way to my fingertips. I tighten my jaw to keep myself from hissing in pain, my hands threatening to shake as the vodka seeps into my wounds.

“There. No infection,” Andrei says as he dabs at my palms with a napkin until they’re dry. “If only we had some gauze.”

“Thank you,” I tell him. I think he’s just trying to keep himself busy, but I appreciate the thought and effort, regardless.

“Dmitri isn’t answering his phone,” Luca says as he walks back over to us with a grim expression on his face. “We should probably send some men looking for him in case he’s pinned down or injured.”

The thought of Dmitri stuck somewhere and hurt makes my heart rate spike in panic. I’m here getting scrapes tended to, and he could be dying right now.

“Send someone, and I⁠—”

“No, Cara,” Andrei cuts me off with a firm shake of his head. “You can’t go.”

I narrow my eyes at him. I’m tired of people telling me if I can or can’t do something. “Yes, I can.”

Andrei steps closer to me, easily towering over me. “Dmitri will kill me himself if I let you go.”

“Dmitri might be hurt,” I bite out, anger radiating through me as we stare at each other.

“Wait. There he is!”

My father’s words make me whip around, my eyes landing on Dmitri as he emerges from the crowd. He walks stiffly, like he’s hiding a limp, but he’s alive.

I finally feel like I can breathe again. I don’t hesitate. I launch myself into his arms.

11

Dmitri

“What the fuck took you so long?”

Despite how exhausted I am, I smirk at Andrei as I follow Cara to the table.

“The bastard kept firing at me. I had to take another route, and I got turned around.”

“You do have a terrible sense of direction,” Andrei replies amusement flashing in his eyes.

“Oh, fuck off,” I mutter with a tired chuckle. “We need to find shelter somewhere. And what the hell, Luca? How are we already compromised?”

Luca shakes his head. “I don’t know. They could’ve been monitoring the roads or even the airfield in Naples.”