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Sergey sighed and stood with one hand crossed over his chest and his elbow propped up to support his chin. “Speculations, brothers. That’s all there is,” he dropped his arms. “If we are going to do this, we have to do this well. We have to be practical.”
“I agree,” I nodded and returned the bottle to the table. “What do you propose?”
“Yes, brother,” Vlad teased, and Sergey rolled his eyes. “What are our options?”
Sergey made a dramatic pause, and then exhaled. “We have a captive.”
I snapped and hunched forward. “And you’re only saying this now?”
“You’re only hearing this now, Nikolai,” Maxim pointed out, and Vlad’s snicker drew a sharp, disapproving look from me.
“I wonder how you manage to derive pleasure in dire situations, Vlad.”
He responded with a casual shrug. “Life’s short, brother. Enjoy every single moment while you still can.”
I flashed a smile and flipped him the bird. “And why am I only hearing this now?” I directed my question at Maxim, but Vlad laughed even louder.
Sergey apparently had enough of our goofing around. He fixed an intense, hostile stare at Vlad, which shut him up. He shifted his gaze to me. “The only reason you’re hearing this now, Niko, is because you were unconscious for almost twenty-four hours.”
“That’s what I would have said,” Vlad snorted.
“So, let’s go talk to him then,” I rose from the chair, but Sergey held out a hand.
“No need. He’s unconscious. That makes him useless. We can’t do anything,” he said. “That’s why, before you came in, we were thinking of other ways to discover who’s really running these attacks.”
“He’ll wake up, and when he does, we’ll put him where he belongs,” I winced with a grunt and headed back to the stairs. Unknown to me, my mischievous little brother noticed my struggle.
“Where are you going, Niko?” He asked.
I didn’t turn around when I said, “I’m going upstairs to rest beside my wife, Vlad.”
“Mm-hmm,” he didn’t say anymore, and I thought that was all, until I heard him say, “I thought you were sane, fueled, and ready to destroy every single one of those pricks? What happened to the fire?”
Maxim laughed and, knowing Sergey so well, I knew he had the ghost of a smile playing on his lips.
“Honestly, I thought we were going to burn candles all night or hold lanterns over a dusty brown map to strategize,” Vlad taunted, and I heard a smack on someone’s arm. “Ow?”
“Shut up, Vlad.”
“Goodnight, brothers. You both should stop by tomorrow for more talk. Except you, Vlad,” I said and flashed Vlad the middle finger.
I went to the bedroom, feeling more worn out than I expected. They were all right, I probably shouldn’t have adopted the superhero style when I got out of bed. I opened the door and locked it behind me as I stepped into the room.
Giselle was seated at the foot of the bed with her arms wrapped around her body and her lips stuck out in a pout. When she met my gaze, I recognized the look in her eyes. It was boiling rage.
I lifted my hands, bracing myself for impact. “Okay, what’s my offense this time around?”
She shot to her feet. “This time around?” She laughed, but it lacked humor. “It’s the way you say it so casually, Nikolai.”
I felt like a child being scolded by his mother. The feeling didn’t settle, but it was endearing. That was until I spotted the shimmering tears in her eyes. “Giselle, what’s wrong?”
I moved closer to her, but she took a step back. The tears wouldn’t stop running down her face.
“What’s wrong, Niko? Have you taken a fucking look at your chest or your face perhaps? Did you watch yourself fall flat on the ground after you got shot? No, you didn’t. You didn’t because you got shot. A bullet pierces through your chest. You didn’t see how worried everyone was—how worried I was because you were the one lying unconscious on the fucking bed.”
I reached forward to hold her, but she swatted my hands away, crying uncontrollably. “Get the fuck away from me. I stayed by your fucking side all night, waiting for you to wake up...” Her shoulders trembled, and I couldn’t hold it anymore.
I scooped her up in my arms, and she melted in my embrace. She hit her fist against my chest and sniffled on my shirt.
