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“Is Luca aware?”
“Not yet, that I know of. I wanted to tell you first and find out your orders,pakhan.”
Levin is rarely so formal with me—he’s been my right hand since we were young men. The fact that he is now is just another nod to the seriousness of the situation, and I straighten, squaring my shoulders.
“I know you need to worry about your wife right now, but—”
“I have other responsibilities, too.” I cut him off, nodding. “Keep me informed. I’m going to call Luca now and have him send men to the house to watch the girls.”
What I want to do is go back down the hall and sit at Caterina’s bedside, holding her hand and watching her breathe until I’m certain that she’ll keep breathing. But she’s not all that I have, and she’s not all that I’m responsible for.
The time difference is considerable, but Luca answers the phone on the third ring. “Yes?” he asks sharply, as if he’s suspicious of why I’ve called. “I haven’t heard from you, Viktor, but I know you’ve taken Caterina to Russia with you. I expect that you have your reasons?”
My jaw tenses. “I don’t need your permission to take mywifeanywhere. I’ve called you about a more serious matter.”
He pauses for a moment on the other end, as if considering debating the first point, but finally lets out a breath. “Go ahead.”
I’d been hesitant to tell Luca about Caterina’s kidnapping, but if I need him to hold up his end of our bargain, he’ll need to be fully in the loop. I explain everything in as little detail as possible, from the business trip I’d insisted Caterina accompany me on to her kidnapping and Alexei’s mutiny.
“You’re in Russia, still?”
“In a safe house with Caterina until I can extract the information about who abducted her. I can’t come back to New York just now, and Levin is with me. Mikhail is headed to my home to protect my children and household, but he’ll need help. Alexei killed several of my remaining loyal men.” I pause, taking a breath. “We have a bargain, Luca—”
“I don’t need you to remind me of our bargain,” he cuts me off. “I’ll go there myself with some of my men as soon as I make sure that Sofia and Ana have protection.”
Shit.I hadn’t thought of Ana, who I know Alexei hates deeply for what she did on behalf of Sofia. I’ve been willing to overlook it in the interest of the truce I’d formed with Luca, but Alexei will have no such intentions.
“Let me know as soon as the girls are safe,” I say sharply. “Levin is trying to get ahold of Mikhail again now.”
I curse aloud as soon as I hang up, my hand clenching around the phone. It takes everything in me not to throw it against the wall, but instead, I set it down, clenching my fist so tightly that I can feel my short nails biting into my palm.
And then I leave the room, heading back down to the bedroom where Caterina is sleeping.
Right now, the only place I want to be is at her side.
Tomorrow, I’ll get answers.
CATERINA
The first time I wake up feeling more like myself, Viktor is sitting at my bedside.
It’s almost unbelievable. I open my eyes slowly, feeling for the first time in I don’t know how long like I’m not freezing to the bone, my skin a mass of pain with every touch and movement. I can feel that I’m sore in every inch, exhausted despite how much sleep I’ve had, but the pain is the least it’s been. I don’t know if that’s because I’m healing or because I’m medicated, but there’s no bolt of pain through my skull when I turn my head towards Viktor, and my throat doesn’t scream at me when I part my lips and murmur his name.
His head shoots up the moment he hears the sound, and I see that relief again, as if my waking up mattered to him. He’s on his feet in a second, moving to sit on the edge of my bed as he reaches for my hand.
“You’re awake,” he says, looking down at me with those blue eyes that I’ve seen in so many different moods, despite how briefly we’ve been married. I’ve seen them carefully blank, I’ve seen them burning with anger, I’ve seen them dark with passion, frustrated and happy, and everything in between. But right now, all I can see in them is worry.
Worry for me?
“I am,” I say slowly, hearing my voice creak. “I think—I don’t feel like I have a fever now?”
Viktor reaches out, touching my forehead, and the gentleness of the touch startles me. “I think it’s broken,” he says, relief coloring his tone.
The sheets around me feel clammy, which is a good enough indication that he’s right. “I’ll call the doctor in,” he says quickly, standing up. “He should look at you. Try not to talk too much. You don’t want to strain your throat.”
The old me might have made a comment about how men like him prefer it when women like me don’t talk too much, but I can’t seem to manage it just now. Even those few words felt difficult, and I just nod, closing my eyes again briefly while I wait for the doctor to come in.
I get a better look at him this time—a man easily in his fifties or older, with a lined and craggy face and deep blue eyes set well back in his head. He gives me a reassuring smile as he approaches the bed, reaching out to touch my forehead with a more practiced motion than Viktor as he slips a thermometer into my mouth.
