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No one responds, and I gently bang my head back against the wall of the panic room. The pain is better than feeling unmoored. It’s better than floating through a river of muddled memories.
“Timofey. Please.” I swallow back a sob.
There’s a soft bang and a hissing noise. The world seems to split and crack wide, light pouring into the dark. I blink against the brightness with tears in my eyes, struggling to see.
“Piper.” His voice is dry land after years at sea. He’s the lighthouse in the storm, and I throw myself forward and into the warmth.
He wraps strong arms around both of us and nuzzles my head under his chin. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”
“Sorry for what?” I hiccup. “You saved me.”
90
PIPER
I take another drink of ice water and then fold my hands around the glass. The night is warm and condensation drips down the cup, pooling in my palms. But I don’t mind. I’d dive headfirst into the pond behind me if I thought Timofey wouldn’t have me committed to an insane asylum for it.
“Take another drink,” he orders, nudging my hands. “You look pale.”
I listen. Drinking is easier than arguing, and I barely have the energy for either as it is.
“You were right,” I tell him, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand. “Fresh air is helping. I can breathe out here.”
Even the mention of breathing makes my chest seize up. The fear is wound so deeply inside of me that I’m not sure I’ll ever disentangle it.
“Security is everywhere,” he assures me. “You’re safe, inside or out.”
He’s already explained it twice, but I still want to hear what happened again.
“Everyone from the party was okay?”
“Shaken up, but alive,” he confirms. “Arber was here looking for me, no one else. I got you out of the room so fast that Arber never even saw us.”
“I’m not surprised. I mean, I didn’t even have time to react before you were dragging me out of the room.” I can still feel his arm around my back. The pounding of his heart against my rib cage.
He shrugs. “Yeah, well, it was a Bratva rehearsal dinner. A gun had to come out at some point.”
I frown. “You don’t mean that, do you? This isn’t… Stuff like this doesn’t always happen, does it?”
His warm hand wraps around my knee and squeezes. “No. It’s been a long time since anyone dared to challenge me at my own home.”
“Rodion tried, too.” Then an idea hits me. I turn to Timofey. “Do you think Rodion—”
“No.” He drags a hand through his hair, pushing the silky strands into wild disarray on top of his head. “Rodion showed up tonight just before the attack, but it doesn’t make any sense. What would be the point of getting me alone and then sending men in to attack the entire party?”
“If Rodion was involved, why not attack us when we were in your office?” I say, thinking out loud.
“Exactly.” He nods and then curses under his breath. “I shouldn’t have taken you to that meeting. I should have left you—”
“Alone in the ballroom where gunmen entered three minutes later?” I arch a brow, challenging him. “If you hadn’t been there with me, I’d be dead, Timofey.”
His jaw clenches. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s true.”
“No. No, it’s—” His knuckles go white on my knee and he lets go quickly before he crushes my leg. “You would have gotten out. I’ll make sure you know the codes to the safe rooms so if anything like this happens again, you can get Benjamin and yourself to safety.”
I’m in the middle of a garden with no walls in sight, but I feel the air around me condense and press from all sides. Quickly, I take a sip of water to try and clear my airway.
