Page 107 of Dark Truths

The sound of a bullet cracks through the air, and Sergei goes limp behind me. The knife falls from my throat as he collapses to the ground. I twist to see him lying dead from a gunshot wound to the head just inches away from where he had been using me as a shield. But it wasn’t Michael who pulled the trigger.

“I need a fucking vacation away from all you DiAngelos,” Enzo declares when he emerges from the treeline, slinging his rifle over his shoulder. “Your family will be the death of me.”

“Enzo,” I breathe out his name.

“Hey you.” He pulls me in for a one-armed hug. “Isn’t it your husband’s job to protect you?”

“You could have killed me, you know.”

“Never.”

He’s right. He has the eyes of a hawk and impeccable aim.

“A little help over here, please?” Michael calls out. “Said husband is bleeding all over me.”

I hurry over and slip under Dimitri’s other arm, taking some of the weight off of Michael long enough for Enzo to take his place.

“Hi…angel,” Dimitri whispers. His voice is hoarse, his face dirty, and his eyes bloodshot, but when he smiles, all is okay in my world. “Love…you.”

“I love you, too.”

41

Dimitri

Ifeel a gentle buzz on my necklace, and a smile spreads across my face before I press back. Gabriella hasn’t left my side, not since I came home from the hospital a couple of days ago. She even went as far as to set up a mini hospital in the bedroom of her beachfront cottage. It’s only when Enzo offered to stay and keep me company and safe, did she finally return to school. She graduates in a couple months, and I refuse to be the reason why she doesn’t.

All in all, I got lucky. The bullet wound to my arm was a little deeper than a scratch and was finally professionally stitched. By some miracle, the stab wound barely missed my vital organs. But the worst injury isn’t visible. My throat and lungs took a beating from severe smoke inhalation, which has forced me to rely on supplemental oxygen for a little while.

“Hey.” Enzo pokes his head out the door. “You up for company?”

I’m sitting outside on the balcony, enjoying the fresh air and sunshine while listening to the crashing waves along the shore below. It's oddly peaceful and brings back memories of my old wish to live on a tranquil island, where I could listen to this sound every day.

“Sure.”

Enzo steps back and Jacob limps past him, using a cane for support. He claims the seat in front of me, and carefully sits down, being mindful of his injured leg. He got off lucky, too. Bullet was a clean shot through-and-through, leaving only soft tissue damage behind. He’s on medical leave from the bureau right now but has plans to head back home to his family tonight.

“I’m glad you could stop by before you leave.”

I haven’t had a chance to really talk to him since I was discharged from the hospital. All I know is that he and Enzo collaborated to cover up Director Ford's murder, pinning everything on Sergei. They crafted a narrative that portrayed the two as having killed each other over a dispute in their partnership, and that the house had caught fire during their altercation.

As for me? I’m dead. To the Bratva and to the government, I drowned when I went over the bridge railing. Enzo came across a John Doe who drowned. He was so unrecognizable from the water exposure that Enzo used him as a substitute for me, making the situation more authentic.

It’s weird…being dead. But also incredibly freeing. I can be whoever I want to be now. I can go wherever I want. And yet, I’m perfectly content to sit right here with no urge to leave.

“Had to see my dead friend one more time.”

“Are you sure you’re okay with all this?”

Jacob shrugs. “Not really. I mean, I'm glad you're okay but this goes against everything I know.”

“I thought so too for a while, but then I met Gabriella and what started out as a mission turned into something more.”

“Love blinds even the best men,” Jacob jokes.

“I won’t deny it.” I sigh and smile softly at the mere thought of Gabriella. “She saved me, you know that? Without her to show me that the world is more than just black and white, that there are shades of gray also, I’m pretty sure I would have lost myself to the Bratva. Maybe not then, but eventually. And the only way out would have been death.”

“I’m happy for you. She’s good for you.” He returns my smile. “Despite who her family is,” he adds at the end.

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