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I laughed sardonically. “I’ve got a lot to be sorry for,” I told him.
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he said to me. “Especially not this.”
“I should have known about Nikolai.”
I’d been beating myself up for the past three days. There had been so many clues that I had chosen to miss, so many times when I could have spoken out, but I didn’t, and so many people had died because of it.
“No one could have known,” Dom said.
“You did,” I told him. I hadn’t forgotten how unsurprised he’d seemed when he saw my brother. I was hoping that he would explain that to me, but I knew that there was time.
“What happened with your brother?” he asked.
I sighed as my mind flashed back to what had happened. Nikolai shot Dom. I’d screamed as he hit the ground, and he’d tried to grab me.
“Nikolai tried to pull me away from your body,” I said, shivering as I recalled how much blood had streamed out of the wound in Dom’s chest. I had been sure that he was dead, and my mind hadn’t been able to handle it. “Marco must have heard me screaming because he intercepted us at the bottom of the stairs.”
I shivered slightly as I recalled that terrible moment.
“I thought Marco was going to shoot, but the cops busted through the door before we could do anything.”
“Cops?”
I nodded. “They arrested all of us. Held me for twenty-four hours, but I guess everyone’s story aligned, at least, as it pertained to my part of things.”
“And Marco? Nikolai? Your mother?”
I swallowed. I didn’t want to discuss any of this, but I knew that I didn’t have a choice. Dom deserved to know what happened.
“Marco is out on bail. Nikolai and Katarina are being held on multiple charges. The lawyer is pretty sure that neither of them are going to be seeing the light of day anytime soon.” To be honest, it hurt to say. I wasn’t particularly close with my mother, but I always thought that my brother cared about me.
He’d been ready to murder me just to get at Dom.
“Hey,” Dom reached out. There was an IV in his hand, a reminder of what had happened. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I blinked away the tears. I needed to be strong. After all, I wasn’t the one sitting in a hospital bed with a chest wound.
“I’ll let your brother update you on the situation with the Bratva. With my father dead, there’s a power vacuum…” I trailed off. I didn’t want to discuss the Bratva. Thinking about my family was exhausting enough. Adding the Bratva element made my head hurt. “I’ll go get the doctor,” I said. I stood up from the bed, but Dom’s hand around my wrist tightened.
“Wait,” he said. “Stop trying to run away from me.”
I looked down out our joined hands. “Running away is what we do best,” I reminded him. I didn’t know what to say. Dom and I had gotten closer after the shooting, but things felt tainted by my family.
Dom closed his eyes, and I felt myself taking a deep, calming breathe. I didn’t know what was coming next. I couldn’t blame Dom if he decided this marriage wasn’t worth it to him. The Bratva was in pieces, so who knew what was coming next in the war between our families. My immediate family was dead, so I had no power in the organization.
“I don’t have anything to offer you,” I said finally. I wasn’t able to take the silence for much longer.
“What?” Dom exclaimed. He tried to sit up, but I noticed him wincing.
“Be careful,” I admonished. “You don’t want to pull out any stiches.”
Dom ignored me, and repositioned himself in the bed. Even in the hospital, there was something about him that oozed power. Dom was the type of man who commanded respect. I couldn’t imagine him as anything other than a mafia don.
“Why would you say that?” he asked. “Why would you think I cared about what you have to offer.”
I chuckled. “Let’s not pretend,” I said. I was so sick of pretending. I was sick of being miserable. I didn’t want to end up like my mother in thirty years. Twisted and dark. “We got married to joining together our families and bring peace. That’s no longer an option for us.”
Dom’s eyes narrowed. I could tell he didn’t like what I was saying, but I forged ahead anyway.
