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The newcomer had said it in Russian, but it took me a minute to process the words. Long enough for Viktor to whip his head around and glare at the man.
“Watch it.”
He smirked and put his hands up in surrender. “Are we going or what?”
Viktor’s scowl deepened. He refused to leave before I’d finished my food, but once I was done, he took my hand and followed the man out. We made our way over to the elevator and while we were waiting for it to arrive, the man turned to me and offered me his hand.
“I am Ilya. One of Dmitriy’s many cousins.”
It took a lot to work up the nerve to shake his hand. I jerked away almost instantly, which was a little embarrassing. His eyebrows jumped up, but he didn’t mention it, looking at Viktor instead.
“So it is true? She is afraid of men?”
Viktor nodded. “Yes. She also understands Russian. She knows what you are saying.”
Ilya’s gaze jerked to me, and he shot me a sheepish grin. “Apologies, ???????. I meant no insult.”
The doors to the elevator slid open, and we climbed inside, sparing me from having to respond to him. It felt like all the words I wanted to say were caught in my throat and my tongue felt heavy. This was going to be harder than I thought.
We only rode the elevator one floor down, which I had to assume was for my comfort. Viktor kept a tight grip on my hand, silently supporting me as we made our way down the long hallway. The door to the apartment we went to was already open. I moved closer to Viktor automatically, clinging to his suit jacket.
The apartment was similar to the one I stayed in upstairs, just bigger. There was space enough between the living room and kitchen for a table, which a group of men I didn't know were sitting at. There was one familiar face, though, and I practically melted with relief when Britney glanced over her shoulder. Her eyes narrowed, and she growled low in Russian.
“If you forced her to be here…”
Viktor didn’t look phased, raising an eyebrow at her. “Ilya invited her. She accepted. It is good for her to meet them so that she feels safer.”
Britney snorted. “These clowns are supposed to make her feel safer?”
Viktor tugged me closer, sitting me in the chair beside Britney. He took the one on my other side while the rest of the men in the room complained about Britney’s comment. She just smirked, tossing a card onto the table and picking up a new one. They must have started earlier, since we were late. I didn’t actually know how to play, so I didn’t mind.
“You are being cruel, ???????. They were the ones who helped me save Amber.” Britney’s husband sat on her other side, looking amused. It was still really confusing to hear women being so blatantly outspoken, with no repercussions. I kept waiting for someone to lose their temper, but they treated her like an equal, joking with her and teasing her about her Russian accent.
Britney shot her husband a pointed look. I didn’t know what for until I saw her gaze flick to me. I ducked my head with a frown. I felt guilty for making them censor themselves.
“So, Rosie. Are you feeling any better?”
I started to nod, but Viktor answered for me. “She skipped her medicine today. We are late because I made her eat so she could take more.”
Startled, I jerked my head up. I didn't think he’d throw me under the bus like that, but when I shot him a confused look, he smirked and ran his knuckle down my cheek. The gesture made me blush and distracted me from the fact that he was going to make Britney mad at me.
“Let me guess. They make you tired and it freaks you out a little?”
Swinging my gaze to Britney, I nodded. She was incredibly intuitive, because I didn’t have to explain it to her. She bobbed her head in agreement.
“I figured. I mentioned to Sean that it might bother you, since you’ve been living on the streets. Unfortunately, until we can control your pain better, the heavy stuff is necessary. You won’t get any better by skipping it. You’ll only drag out the pain. If it helps, we can try a half dose, see if it makes you feel a little clearer.”
Ilya grinned at her. “Look at you. Nurse Britney to the rescue. Who would have thought you were such a caretaker.”
She shot him a dry look. “You’re just mad because I can out-drink you. Don’t be such a baby.”
That made the men chuckle, though Ilya looked scandalized.
I thought that tonight would be really hard. Just being around one man was hard, so the thought of groups of them had always made me nervous. But the guys here were really easy going. They drank and played cards and talked trash. No one was loud and all the threats they gave each other were playful. And no one seemed to mind that I wasn’t talkative like Britney. They stuck to yes or no questions. I had to assume that it had something to do with Ilya. Because when one of them started asking harder questions, he pulled out his phone and everyone at the table got a message a second later. He never admitted to it, and he winked at me when I frowned at him.
It took coaxing for them to get me to play. Viktor guessed without me telling him I didn’t know how, so he shared his cards with me instead, his arm around the back of my chair as he whispered what to do. I felt safe with him so close and when the meds started to make me drowsy, he took the cards from me and tucked me against his side, letting me rest against him.
* * *
