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He came for me.
That’s the last thought I have before darkness takes me under.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
I slowly open my eyes due to the continuous sound near my head. For a moment, I think I’m in a nightmare, but then a very familiar room comes into focus.
The same room I was kicked out of not too long ago.
I stumble to get out of bed but pause when a tube pulls at my wrist. The reason for the dripping is an IV stuck in the back of my hand. I start to inspect it, but a deep, authoritative voice stops me in my tracks.
“Don’t move until it’s finished.”
Slowly, almost as if I’m scared, I lift my eyes to where Kirill is.
Earlier, when he caught me in the rain, I thought maybe I was dreaming. Kirill wouldn’t go that far for someone he considers untrustworthy. But I was right, after all. He was there and chose to help me.
He’s sitting on the sofa opposite the bed, legs spread wide, one hand holding the back of the sofa and a tablet in his other. The intense color of his eyes isn’t dimmed by the glasses. In fact, they appear more sinister now.
“I…uh…thank you,” I stutter like an idiot.
He tilts the tablet to the side so that his complete attention is on me. “For what?”
“Saving me earlier.”
“I didn’t save you.”
“But you prevented me from falling.”
“Only so you didn’t crack your head on my doorstep.”
Ouch.
Okay.
My teeth sink into my lower lip, stopping me from blurting out something that will definitely not play in my favor. He’s probably being mean on purpose, and if I rise to his provocations, that’s no different from letting him into my head.
“Why did you bring me to your room then?”
“You needed to get nutrients in you.”
“You could’ve had the doctor do that in the clinic or the annex. Why your room, Kirill?”
“Because it’s closer. And it’s Boss, not Kirill.”
My hands fist on my lap as I try but fail to breathe properly. Every inhale is filled with his scent—cedar, woods, and passionate animalistic memories from on this very bed.
That’s the wrong thought to have. Wrong thought—
“What are you playing at now?” His question drags me back to the present.
“I’m not playing at anything. I told you I won’t stop until you give me my old post back.”
“Are you threatening me with your life, Lipovsky? Does it hold so little meaning for you?”
“It’s not that it holds so little meaning, and it’s not easy to do this, but I refuse to be pushed aside by you.”
A silent moment falls between us before he abruptly stands and heads in my direction. I instinctively push back against the headboard before realizing I’m cowering away. What the hell?
Kirill stops by the side of the bed and stares at me with those cold eyes that could be mistaken for a weapon. “You should’ve left while you had the chance.”
“I don’t want to leave,” I murmur. “But I also don’t want to be allocated to other departments. I came here to be your bodyguard, and my place is by your side.”
“After everything that’s happened, you have the audacity to say your place is by my side?”
“It is. I know you don’t trust me, but I’m ready to prove my loyalty. Just give me one last chance, Ki…Sir.”
I bite my lower lip. I really hate calling him that. It’s like I’m rebuilding the wall between us brick by brick.
“You lost my trust, and, therefore, I will only see you as a potential enemy.”
My chin trembles, but I lift it. “I’ll gain it back.”
“Doubt it. So why don’t you leave? Be my enemy for real, so we can fight properly.”
“I’m not your enemy, and I refuse to leave. If you still insist on throwing me in the weapon vault, I’ll stay outside again and starve to death. I’d hate to waste your time if you have to carry me and nurse me back to health every time…wait, did you carry me? How is your injury—” I start to reach a hand for him, but he slaps it away.
My heart squeezes. It wouldn’t have hurt this bad if he’d punched me in the face.
“Don’t even try to act worried.”
But that’s the thing. I wish I were acting, but I’m genuinely worried about him, so I’m rethinking the whole scene of him carrying me. Was he exerting himself while holding my dead weight? I really hope he got someone else to take me inside and change me into dry clothes…shit. My bandages are gone, so that means he did it himself.
Now, I’m mad at myself for not being awake during that time.
But then again, if I were, I probably wouldn’t have woken up here.
He adjusts his glasses with his middle finger. “You want your job back?”
I nod frantically.
“You got it.”
Before I can grin and do a celebratory dance in my head, Kirill grasps my chin with two harsh fingers. “But you’re no longer my trusted person, Lipovsky. You’re nothing more than a stranger that I’m keeping for information. You want to prove you’re loyal to me? That won’t be possible when I already consider you my fucking enemy.”
