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The searing kiss of tears running down my cheeks and drenching my hair made me squirm in my place. Rather, the fluid was cold while my skin felt like it was on fire. Everything was on fire.
Eventually, the paramedics pulled my stretcher out of the ambulance, rocking slightly until I reached the ground. There was a flurry of movement as people ran around, and more hands reached for me.
Nikolai disappeared out of my sight, and my heart clenched.
I believed that Nikolai meant what he said, but he didn’t know my father. Not really. He had no idea what he was capable of—even after seeing what my own father had done to me.
It was only the beginning.
Opening my mouth to cry out to Nikolai, to warn him, I was silenced the moment something pricked my arm. Glancing over, I tried to get a look at the syringe in my arm, but my vision blurred.
I was raced inside, and the ceiling above me streaked into odd shapes of tiles and lights. Then, the pain melted away, and so did everything else.
The black curtain over my eyes peeled back slowly. Hesitantly. Warm light flooded the space around me as I peered through my lashes until I could finally see again.
Confused, I looked around the room carefully to try and piece everything together. But it didn’t look like a hospital. The ceiling was carved with care and detail, the expensive curtains floated with the breeze, and ocean air drifted inside. It was far too luxurious.
Heaviness filled my head, along with the fog that kept me subdued. But above all, the pain wasn’t blinding anymore.
Glancing down at my hand, I found a tube attached there that ran up to an IV bag. It dripped slowly, reminding me that I was indeed injured. But I wasn’t at the hospital—that was evident.
Focusing beyond the IV, I spotted someone sitting in an armchair not far from me. Blinking, I realized it was one of Nikolai’s brothers. His head was in his hands, and I couldn’t tell whether he was upset or sleeping.
“Aleksei,” I mumbled, feeling like I was fully coming back to reality. “Where am I?”
Aleksei jerked to attention, meeting my eye somewhat frantically. Then, he released a calming breath and leaned forward in his chair. “You’re at Ivan’s house, Mila. There’s a doctor on call, and you’ll be safer here.”
Taking a deep breath, I nodded and sat up, comfortable against the pillows.
“I’m sorry this happened to you.”
Meeting his gaze again, I waited for him to tell me more good news. That Nikolai had gotten to the bottom of it and Kat was fine, playing somewhere in the house.
But Aleksei shook his head, already aware of what I was about to ask. “We haven’t found Kat or your father.”
Panic filled my system then, pulsing with each rapid beat of my heart. Tears welled in my eyes, afraid for my little girl.
How could he do that? Why would he take my daughter after not showing an ounce of care toward her?
Anger swelled somewhere in the background, mingling with the fear to produce a confusing combination inside me.
Aleksei’s eyes were still on me, visibly torn as if he were looking for a proper way to put something into words. He sighed. “Did you find a way to ask your father to meet at the condo?”
Narrowing my eyes at him in confusion, I rubbed at my eye. “What?”
“Did you arrange the confrontation with your father?”
Recoiling at his words, I struggled to form a sentence that would suitably articulate how absurd his question was. Shaking my head, I looked at him in disbelief. “No, of course not.”
Aleksei’s eyes filled with pity then, and he sat at the end of his seat. “Why did you want to see your father then? Why did you ask Nikolai?”
A noxious cloud of anger filled my head then, and I reached for the IV, tearing it out with a wince. Shaking my head, I refused to truly hear whatever Aleksei had to say. Struggling, I tried my hardest to get out of the bed. “Does Nikolai think I set this up?”
Pain struck my heart at the thought, and it wasn’t from my injury.
My feet tentatively landed on the floor, but the rush of exhaustion cloaked me and blurred my vision.
Aleksei was standing within a moment’s notice, reaching out to steady me. I caught a quick look of his worried features. “No, Mila. Nobody thinks that.”
