Page 190 of Diamond Kisses

Both men glared at me.

“Thirty-four?” Peter choked.

Henri frowned. “Was it? That’s not as many as I hoped.”

“Not that many?” I shook my head. “Henri, that’s…you saved so many people.”

“But there’s so many still out there.”

“Yes but—”

“You can keep going,” Peter muttered under his breath. “We could exterminate all of them.”

Henri’s grey gaze sparked. “You know, that’s not a bad idea.”

“Whoa, wait a minute.” I jumped in. “You’re barely out of bandages, and Paavak’s still in them. Let’s focus on living before we talk about dying again, shall we?”

Henri gave Peter a look. Peter returned it.

Laughing softly, Peter rested against his pillows. “Turns out everything fell apart without me, huh?”

Henri burst out laughing. “Yeah, you could say that.”

Leaning over him, I kissed Peter on the cheek. “Are you going to finish your story? You got shot in the shoulder and lung. You suffocated. That doesn’t explain how you’re here.”

Taking my hand again, he shrugged. “I don’t really know the full tale. From what the doctors said—doctors on your brother’s payroll, Ri—they said that the response team who joined the fight on Joyero stabilised me. They said one of them stabbed me in the chest again—glad I didn’t feel that—and released the pressure. I had a pneumothorax I think it’s called. The bleeding came from the bullet tearing through my muscle and shoulder blade.” He sighed and rolled his slung arm. “I’ll admit it hurts like a bitch. It’ll take time to use that arm again, but they sewed me up and fixed me. I remember the sensation of not being able to move when I landed on you, Ily. I was shit terrified that the bullet had torn through my spine, but it didn’t. I’m all good. I guess it was just shock that shut me down. Obviously, the doctors have their many rules so I heal properly. They’ve given me a bunch of precautions and other medical nonsense on rehab and how lucky I was, but…I’m here. I’m alive. And that’s all that matters.” He sighed. “I’m just incredibly grateful. It could’ve gone the other way so easily, so yeah…I’m just thankful.”

“And you’ve been awake this whole time?” Henri asked quietly. “Why didn’t you tell them who you were? Why have you waited weeks—”

“I wasn’t awake.” He shook his head. “I told you. I’ve been in some stupid coma—waste of bloody time that was. I only came to a few days ago, and it took a while for my memories to come back. Like I said, I was amnesic for a bit. Completely lost and had no idea where I was. But then things started coming back in pieces. And then this morning I woke and remembered everything. I asked for you. I used your last name, Henri. You should’ve seen how fast they bolted and now…here you are.”

Peter sniffed. “Anyway, I’ve gone on far too much about me. What about the others? Is Rach okay? Mollie? Did Kirk survive? Is Victor dead? Areyouokay? Why the fuck did your heart stop,jaanu? Was I too late in protecting you?” Squeezing my fingers, he looked me over as if assessing every inch. Still protective of me. Responsible for me. “The last I saw of you, you were dying beneath me. So much blood. That thing I tied around your neck did nothing. I truly thought…”

I squeezed him right back. Pulling down my lemon-coloured jumper, I revealed the small mark on my sternum. “You saved my life, Paavak. Truly. I passed out from blood loss but thanks to my collar, Victor wasn’t able to cut my jugular. I’d been feeling woozy for a while. If you hadn’t spun me around, I would’ve died. I don’t…” Tears prickled. “I don’t know how I’ll ever be able to thank you. I feel absolutely awful that we didn’t know you were here. That we didn’t try to find you.”

“Yeah well, you thought I was dead,” Peter whispered. “It’s okay, Ily. I’d do it all over again if needed. You know that…right?”

“I know.”

“In answer to your questions,” Henri said. “Mollie unfortunately died, Kirk didn’t make it, and my brother has been keeping a list of the jewels he’s sent home. Rachel is okay and about to pop. She’s living in Spain with her uncle.” Clearing his throat, he rolled his shoulders. “None of that would’ve been possible without you. You’re the reason I didn’t die because you didn’t let Ily die. And for that…I owe you every euro that doesn’t belong to me. How can I ever repay you for protecting her?”

“You already said you’d take a bullet for me too. That’s what friends do.” Peter smirked although a small flash of pain sparked in his eyes. “I love her. And she loves you. What was I supposed to do? Let her be shot?”

“She loves you too.” Henri braced his shoulders. “And after what you’ve done? Fuck.” Grabbing Peter’s shoulder again, he cleared his throat. “You’re not just a good friend, Paavak. You’re a brother.”

Peter actually blushed. “Yeah well, after a month of sharing that dungeon with you all broken and pathetic, I kinda started to like you.”

Henri snickered. “You just liked being the one not bleeding for a change.”

Peter laughed. “Was it that obvious?” His fingers strayed to his neck. “By the way, who…who cut my collar and cuffs off?”

“Not sure. My brother said he’d removed all the jewels he had in his house. And he mentioned some had to go to the hospital as their injuries exceeded his in-house care, but…I asked him if he knew where you were. He said he didn’t. No one knew.” His sterling gaze snapped to mine before returning to Peter. “You have to believe us, Pete, we would’ve searched high and low for you if we thought you’d survived.”

“It’s fine.” Peter rolled his wrists, no doubt marvelling that the cuffs that’d imprisoned him for five and a half years were gone. A hospital band had replaced them. “Even the doctors didn’t know. I’ve been called John Doe before I remembered my name this morning. They’ve had their hands full by the sounds of it. Everything was crazy that night. I…I’d like to hear what happened, though. How I ended up here. Victor better have got the end he deserved. I’m pissed off I didn’t get to kill him myself.” Tapping his forehead with the heel of his hand, he exhaled. “Holy shit, I need to call my parents!” His eyes widened. “I’m so used to not thinking about them. Fuck, someone get me a phone.”

I froze.

Fresh panic filled me.

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