Page 57 of Lethal Queen

“I heard you,” I told her as she sobbed, shuddering against me. “Before I passed out, I heard what you said, that I’m not allowed to leave you. I never would, my queen.”

I held her through every violent sob and repeated the vow. “I would never leave you.”

CHAPTER 28

VASILISA

“Istill think you should have stayed in the hospital another night. Willa said leaving was against her direct recommendation.”

“Willa should be glad I’m taking the rabble away,” Damien huffed, sinking onto our sofa as I stopped the door shutting on me with the tip of my shoe. It was a sign of how much pain he was still in—and how hazy the meds made him—that he forgot to take the bags I was laden with so I could close the door. I nudged it with my hip and used the tip of my pinky finger to engage the lock. It seemed every member of the family had given us something to take home, from food, medication, bottles of wine—for me, not the invalid—and I was pretty sure there was a bag of bullets here somewhere. Wyn gave me a Taser too, and offered no explanation for where she sourced it.

“Once Dad gets someone in his sights, he becomes obsessed,” Damien added in a murmur.

“That doesn’t remind me of anyone at all,” I said dryly, unloading the bags on the coffee table with a grunt. Someone had been in and returned the paintings to the galleries we’d borrowed them from. They’d cleaned up the blood, too. “What do you want to eat? Chinese food? Burritos? Pasta? I think Rae put a cinnamon roll in here somewhere.”

“Raeisa cinnamon roll,” he murmured.

“A spicy cinnamon roll,” I laughed, casting a look at Damien and feeling my heart physically soften at the sight of his closed eyes, lashes sweeping his cheeks and features gentled in near-sleep.

He’d spent six days complaining that all there was to do in hospital was lay in bed and sleep—despite the laptop he had Jonathan bring so he could monitor the business he’d neglected those first two days—and the moment he got home, he fell right back asleep.

I gently lifted his feet so I could slump onto the sofa, and helped myself to Lo Mein while I watched him sleep like a creeper. Losing him had made me every bit as obsessive over his safety as he’d become over mine, only without the panic because Finch was dead. I was sure Damien’s stress and trauma would rear its head now we were home, but every threat to my life was gone. We could begin to heal. And if every day was a struggle, well we had a therapist on speed dial.

I was sure it wouldn’t be the last time someone would point a gun at us, but no one else would shut down the electricity in our building just to hurt us.

It was over.

EPILOGUE

DAMIEN

“Ilove to be woken with a kiss, but this isn’t quite what I was picturing,” I said, squinting my eyes open to see Serenity leaning over me where I’d fallen asleep on the sofa last night, Vasya sprawled across my chest and breathing deeply. Serenity gave me another long, fragrant lick with her flat tongue before I wrinkled my nose, pushing her head away. “I know. I missed you too, baby, but no kisses okay?”

Her tail wagged like crazy when I stroked her head, looking over her broad shoulders to see Jonathan setting my laptop on the coffee table. My whole body ached, worse where I’d been shot and stabbed, but I gritted my teeth and raised an eyebrow at my best mate.

“Am I your fucking secretary now?” he muttered, quiet enough to not wake Vasya. “You left your laptop at the hospital, along with this.” He held up his finger, crowned with a gold star sticker that saidI’m so braveon it. One word—Raegan.

“Dick,” I muttered, letting my eyes shut again and wrapping my arms around my wife.

Proving how much of a dick he was, Jonathan leaned over the table and pressed the damn sticker to my forehead. I flipped him off without opening my eyes.

“Sweet dreams, princess,” he snarked. “I’ll let myself out.”

“Oh sure, come and go as you please.”

“I will.”

I waited for the sound of the door opening and closing and when it didn’t come, I cracked my eyes open. “What is it?”

“Since we had the cleaners out for this place, we got them to wipe everything from the Gent’s flat, too.”

“You found something,” I realised, expecting his excitement and disconcerted by the hesitation in his expression.

“That file you wanted on Henrik.”

I stiffened, tightening my arms around Vasya on instinct. Samuel Henrik was the bastard who traumatised Rose. And Eli. That file was the reason I was at Ivanov Manor, the only reason I was in a position to save Vasilisa. “You found it.”

Jonathan jerked his head in a nod. “I didn’t read it. Didn’t want to, honestly. But it’s there.” He flapped a hand at the coffee table, where brown paper was visible under my laptop. “I don’t know what you’ll get out of it. Isn’t Henrik dead?”

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