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“I’m glad you feel that way. I think you’re smoking hot as well.” Sweat dripped from his brow, and there was a slight flush to his cheeks.
“Stop pretending you’re okay.”
“I’m fine. Let’s go for a walk and I’ll show you how well I am.” He started for the garage, gravel crunching below his feet on the path.
“I hope you mean a walk to our bedroom, where I can tuck you in.”
He gave me a cutting look. “I was thinking more of a hike in the woods.”
“Overcompensating much?” I asked sweetly. “Do you really think you’re up for that?”
He continued walking and ended up putting me in the passenger seat of his car.
Guess I had my answer. Somehow, I doubted this hike was going to end well. With Kristoff in this condition, a walk in the woods sounded ominous to me.
18.
KRISTOFF
I fucking hated being sick. I hated it even more when people fussed over me, and especially when it was Katya. It was my job to take care of her, not the other way around.
I took the interstate to shave off a few minutes.
“Where are we going?” she asked, with concern lingering on her pretty face.
I didn’t take her out too often, I had to admit. I was going to remedy that. I needed to give her reasons to stay. I needed her to crave me as much as I craved her until I became her obsession just like she was mine.
“We’re going to the twins’ place. One of their colts has had a foal.”
Her eyes lit up. Yeah, my woman was a sucker for animals. So much so that she even loved a cat that should have been called Satan instead of being named after a Roman general.
Also, I needed some fresh air, and the twins’ estate was surrounded by woods. I really did feel like crap. I felt like crap when I woke up, when I got out of the shower, and I still felt bad right fucking now.
Pain is for the weak. Push through it. Master your mind.
Sokolov’s mantra echoed through me and a vision of the icy Siberian winter popped into my head. I had hidden in the woods for three days to hunt for game. It was either that or go hungry. And he would have let me starve, I knew it. The only thing that pulled me through was sheer stubbornness and the fact that I knew Sokolov had gone through the same horrendous training. He never asked something of another that he hadn’t also done himself.
I took Katya in as she sat in the passenger seat. She’d closed her eyes and had a smile on her face. No matter how much I wanted to focus only on my revenge, she was the thing that occupied my mind the most. Some days I feared that if push came to shove, I would choose her and let my quest go. But then who would I be?
Sometimes I even dreamed of the life I could have with her, if I would let myself step into the light and shake off the darkness. During bad nights, I saw my mother staring down at me in disappointment. The rational part of my brain knew she would want me to be happy, but every part of my being longed for the senator’s demise. I needed to see, feel, and taste his downfall. All I could hope for was that by the end of it, I wouldn’t have lost too much of my humanity. Something I’d only aspired to since I’d met my woman. Whatever happened and came to be, I needed to keep her with me. For without her, there was only pitch-black darkness.
Katya sat up. “We’re almost there!” She sounded ecstatic.
I relaxed in my seat, keeping my eyes fixed on the road. I pushed everything that was on my endless to-do-list to the back of my mind and was determined to enjoy this day. Even if my feverish sweating drenched my clothes, and my cheeks felt flush from my high temperature.
Something hit the rear of the car and the vehicle jerked forward. I almost lost control of the steering wheel. Katya yelped, and I thanked the gods I was the one driving and she was buckled in safely.
One look in the rearview mirror told me we had a tail. A white SUV that again raced toward us and went for another collision. My foot hit the gas pedal and the car lurched forward.
I looked to my side as I dialed Damon. “You okay?”
Katya nodded, looking shaken.
I cursed. One day. I’d only wanted one freaking normal day with my woman, and some soon-to-be-dead asshole had taken that away from me.
“Glove compartment,” I said, keeping my voice calm.
Katya opened it and took out the gun I kept hidden. A determined look crossed her face as she turned to the backseat. Yeah, like that was ever gonna happen.
