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“If anything happens, call us.”
“I know that,” he says with a note of frustration.
“Make sure your phone is on you the whole time.”
“What the fuck, Lipovsky? Did you get your head hit in there?” He pauses as if he doesn’t want to say the next words, but then he speaks in a lower tone, “Worry about yourself first.”
And then he’s also gone. Soon after, the car that Damien, Kirill, Viktor, and Vladislav are in leaves the premises, followed by a few others.
I instinctively walk for a few paces as if I could run after them or something, which is entirely impossible, considering how weak I am. The fact that I’m standing upright is a feat in and of itself.
A familiar, safe arm holds my shoulders and pulls me into a headlock. Maksim ruffles my hair. “You scared us, you little shit.”
I tap his arm, wheezing. “I can’t breathe—”
Yuri pushes him with a surprisingly strong shove, and once Maksim releases me, he kicks him in the back of his knees. Then Yuri wraps his arm around my shoulder. “The fuck, Maks? Can’t you see he’s been drugged?”
“Oh, right.” Maksim scratches the back of his neck, looking apologetic. “My bad, Sash. Should’ve thought of that.”
“I’m completely fine. Look.” I duck from under Yuri’s arm, spin around, and punch the air. The moment I do, the whole world turns blurry.
I’m about to hit the ground when Yuri catches me, holds me upright, and says in a soft voice, “Don’t push it.”
“Yeah.” Maksim hugs my shoulder. “Take it easy. And I swear to fuck, if you scare us like that again, I’ll kill you.”
I can’t control the smile that lifts my lips. It’s hard to imagine that I only met these guys a year and a half ago. It feels like I’ve known them forever, but I guess that’s what true friendship should feel like.
“You did scare us,” Yuri offers.
“Even Boss lost his shit,” Maksim says.
I swear my heart is about to jump out of my chest and flounder on the ground. “He…what?”
“Fucking lost it, Sasha,” Maksim repeats slowly as if he thinks I didn’t hear him the first time.
“What did he do?” I really, really hope the heat rising to my cheeks isn’t externally visible.
“Let me see.” Maksim releases me, jumps in front of me, and starts to count on his hand. “He ran in your direction when you were knocked out and would have gotten himself killed if it weren’t for Viktor, who jumped on top of him and protected him with his body. Then Boss punched him for it. Can you believe that?”
“Kirill punched Viktor?” I ask, looking between my two friends.
Yuri nods. “I know. I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it myself.”
“But why? He protected him, no?”
“Yes,” Yuri says. “But Boss said that if it weren’t for Viktor meddling in the situation, he could’ve gotten to you before they took you away. So in a way, he blamed Viktor for that.”
My lips part. “But…that’s not true. Viktor was only doing his job.”
“I agree.” Maksim nods. “I don’t like that dick most of the time, but Boss’s actions were uncalled for. But listen, listen! That’s not half of it. We managed to capture a few Albanians alive. We tortured them on the spot, but when they didn’t answer Boss about where they took you, he killed them. It was like a mass execution in some concentration camp. Of course, Damien was mad about not being allowed to participate in the action. We were close to losing our last chance at getting a lead, but thankfully, Kyle managed to use a different tactic and got the location from the last one alive. It didn’t end there, though. Oh, no, it didn’t. Did you notice that he brought almost all of our guards, even those who are supposed to remain in reserve? He only left a few behind to protect the house and Miss Karina.”
My jaw nearly hits the ground. Did Kirill really do all of that?
For me?
No, he must’ve been under some sort of order from the Pakhan to save Rai.
But there’s only one problem with that logic—the Kirill I know wouldn’t put all his resources into saving someone he dislikes, even if he were ordered by the leader himself.
It takes me a few moments to compose myself and be able to speak in a moderately normal tone. “Did he explain why he was doing that?”
“Seriously, Sasha? Do you know Boss to be the type who explains himself?”
“Oh, right.” He’s definitely not.
“It’s obvious why he did it,” Yuri tells me in a strangely agitated tone. “He was worried about you.”
“No…” I laugh it off, but neither of them is joining me. So I clear my throat. “I’m not important enough in the grand scheme of things for him to do all of that.”
