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I nod. “Okay.”
He lowers me to the floor and we take off at a jog, side by side.
“Do you know who is responsible?”
“Arber Kreshnik.” The way he growls the name makes me feel bad for the owner of it. Clearly, the man is in for a brutal death.
“Does he know the bride and groom? Is he here for them or is this about—”
“He’s here for you,” Timofey says.
I must have misunderstood him. I shake my head. “No, he’s not here for me. I don’t even know him.”
Timofey stops outside of Benjamin’s room, his hand on the doorknob. When he looks back at me, there’s something vulnerable in his eyes. It’s a sliver of his soul I’ve never seen before. It’s tender and warm, and I want to curl up there and hide away from every dark thing in his life.
“Arber is here to destroy me, Piper,” Timofey explains. “What better way to do that than to destroy you first?”
I’m not sure what killing me has to do with hurting Timofey, but he says it with enough sincerity that I believe him.
Timofey pushes open Benjamin’s door. I almost cry with relief when I see him sleeping in his crib, still swaddled and perfect like we left him.
The night nurse Timofey hired for the event stands up, surprised by our intrusion. But before the woman can get a word out, Timofey orders her out. “Get to the basement and hide there. We’re under attack.”
The woman, to her credit, isn’t half as confused as I am. She nods and leaves the room at a brisk pace.
“Should I go with her?” I ask. “Benjamin and I can go with her while you—”
I can’t finish that sentence.
While you walk into a gunfight that you might not walk out of again.
Timofey pulls Benjamin out of his crib with gentle hands, presses a kiss to his little head, and then hands him to me. Benjamin’s eyelids flutter, but he quickly settles back into his deep, even breathing.
“You’re not going to the basement with my staff.” Timofey spins towards the closet and wrenches the doors open. He slides all of the infant-sized hangers to each side of the closet, and for the first time, I notice a panel built into the back wall of the closet.
Just looking at the narrow door, my claustrophobia rears its ugly head.
“Wh-where are we going?” I stammer.
He opens a hidden panel that is flush with the drywall and punches in a number. There is the hiss of some kind of hydraulic hinge, and then a door swings open, revealing a closet within a closet.
Timofey steps to the side and ushers me in. “It’s a safe room. Each bedroom is equipped with one. It has its own ducts that don’t connect to the rest of the house and it’s resistant to fire, bullets, and just about anything else someone might try to throw at it.”
“Air?” I rasp. “Is there air in there? It looks small. Maybe the Albanians are gone already. I haven’t heard anything. Maybe I’ll stay in the closet and go in there if I see anyone coming. Maybe we don’t have to go—”
“Piper.” Timofey draws close and grips my chin. His nose brushes against the tip of mine, and my eyes flutter closed of their own accord. “I need you to do this for me. I know,I fucking know, it’s going to be hard for you. But this is the only way I’ll know you’re safe.”
“We haven’t seen anyone on this side of the house. Maybe Benjamin and I will be fine if we turn off the lights and—”
“‘Maybe’ isn’t good enough for me,” he says. “I won’t be able to focus if I’m not sure you’re safe. And I need to be focused. I need to go.”
I shake my head, terror choking me out. “Stay with me, Timofey. Don’t go. You have soldiers. Let them handle it.”
“If my men are willing to die for me, I have to be willing to fight for them.” He shakes his head gently. “I’ll force you in there if I have to, but I want you to choose it. Please, Piper. For me.”
Distantly, I hear another gunshot.
The threat is still here. It might even be moving closer. Benjamin is nestled in my arms, safe for the moment. But I have to do what’s best for him. What’s best for Timofey. What’s best for myself.
