Page 85 of Solemn Vow

“Viktor, you can’t—I mean, are you going to kill him?” I ask.

He looks down at me, but there’s a coldness there. It shakes me, the immense severity of his stare. There’s a weight to it; I can feel his anger, his rage.

“Don’t ask me to let him go,moy sladkiy voin. He hurt you. He touched you.” His voice is low and raw, like the words themselves scratch along his throat as he says them. If I ask him to let Jimmy go, he will. I can sense it just as much as I can feel the hurt inside him at seeing the injuries on my face.

“I just…” I let the words fade because I have none.

I know how this works. Michael will do it himself if Viktor doesn’t. He’s giving Viktor a chance to get revenge for what Jimmy did to me.

He carries me to the last SUV sitting in the driveway, carefully puts me in the backseat, and straps me in. I wince but try to relax against the cool leather. My heart continues to hammer in my chest and the adrenaline from the past hours drains from my system.

“I don’t want to go to a hospital,” I say as I roll my head back and close my eyes. “I just want to go home.”

“I’m taking you home. Don’t worry,moy sladkiy voin. I’m taking you home.”

“I don’t understandwhy you didn’t tell me all of this sooner.” Izzy brings a cup of coffee to the small table beside the wingback chair I’m curled up in, staring out the window in Viktor’s bedroom.

I let go of the drapes, letting them fall back over the window. The sun’s out and the city has come to life. For a Sunday afternoon, it’s pretty busy.

“I was handling it.” I turn around in the chair and fold my legs beneath me, wincing slightly at the pain in my ribs.

Just bruised, not broken, according to the doctor Viktor dragged over in the middle of the night. There’s not much to do, other than to be cautious. The doctor made sure Viktor understood that making me lie in bed could cause other issues or infections. I think he knows the Petrov men well enough to know Viktor would tie me to the bed to ensure I rested.

Izzy sits on the bed and swings her legs.

“I know how independent you are, but I should have been pushier about finding out what was going on with you. I think Iwanted you to find some happiness with Viktor, so I didn’t dig too far into it.” She frowns. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Pfft. You have nothing to be sorry about. I do. I brought all this drama with me and now your husband is going to have issues with these Italian families. All because of me.” I pick up the coffee she brought and take a sip.

She waves a hand through the air. “Don’t worry about that. They’ll handle it,” she says confidently. “But, uh, what are you going to do about Viktor?” She eases into the subject I’ve been forcing my mind to stay away from.

“I don’t know.” I slowly lower my feet to the floor and roll my shoulders back. So many muscles ache. “I want to trust him. I thought I could, but he went to Michael behind my back, Izzy.”

“You don’t know what happened exactly. I think you should wait until you talk to him.” Just as she says this, the door creaks open and Viktor enters in his black button-down shirt, sleeves rolled up to his elbows and his hair combed back. His dark eyes meet mine from across the room, and it’s too much. I look away.

“Izzy, Andrei is ready. He’s waiting for you downstairs.” He lets go of the door handle and moves further into the room, never taking his eyes off me. The heat of his stare warms my face.

“All right.” She slides off the bed and comes over to me. “I thought he would have dragged me home last night after the doctor said you were all right. I’ll be back tomorrow.” She squeezes my hand.

“I’ll text you. I have a shift tomorrow, but I’m going to look at my schedule and see what I have. I’m not sure I can lift my arms up to do hair for eight hours.” If I even have a job still. Nicole hasn’t called or texted me, but Jimmy said he’d sent the photo to her. She might be waiting for me to show up tomorrow so she can have me perp walked out of the salon.

“Uh. Okay.” Izzy looks over her shoulder at Viktor, then back at me with a smile. “Just call me later. We can talk then.”

She pats Viktor on his arm as she passes him and closes the bedroom door softly behind herself when she leaves.

“You can’t think I’m going to let you go to work.” His voice is hard, but gentle at the same time.

I bring my eyes up to his. “No. I think you’ll try to fight me on it.” I take another sip of my coffee, which he frowns at.

“You should be drinking water,moy sladkiy voin,” he says, glaring at the coffee mug in my hand.

“I will. After coffee.” I put the mug down with a clank. “The doctor didn’t say I couldn’t have coffee, that’s your rule.” I gently push up from the chair to my feet, and he’s at my side in a flash, holding his arms out like I’m a baby taking her first steps.

I laugh and then wince at the pain it causes.

“You’re hurting.”

“Of course I am. I have bruised ribs, a concussion, and the cut on my head is throbbing.” I reach up to touch the three stitches the doctor put in. He’d wanted to shave some of the hair out of the way, but Viktor threatened his life when I objected.

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