Page 129 of Wilder

“Hello?”

“Alexandra, Mikhail has been in a car accident.”

The words hit her hard in her half-dazed state. “What?”

“He was in a car accident and is in the hospital.”

“Is he okay?”

“I don’t know yet. They won’t tell me anything because I’m not family. His parents are on their way. They phoned them but couldn’t give them much information either. Just that he’d been taken to the hospital.”

Lexi sat up, running a hand through her hair and dragging the elastic out. Leaning forward, she said, “Are you at the hospital?”

“No. There’s no hospital here.”

“He’s in Coeur d’Alene?”

“Yes.”

Lexi wanted to pepper her with questions, but it seemed pretty clear that the woman didn’t know anything. “Do you need me to do anything?”

“Nyet.”

“Well, call me as soon as you have an update, please.”

“I will.” She paused, then said, “You made him very upset with your conversation earlier today.”

Irina’s words left her speechless. For a moment. “Are you telling me it’s my fault that Mik had an accident?”

The non-committal noise Irina made said more than any words could have what the woman thought.

“No, Irina,” Lexi said, coming wide awake. “I done taking responsibility for the actions of others. Not my father and not Mik. If Mik was upset, he had no one but himself to blame. He knew what we agreed to and shouldn’t have tried to convince me to change my mind.”

Rather than respond, Irina hung up, leaving Lexi to deal with a mixture of anger, frustration, and worry. She might not be getting along with Mik, but she didn’t wish him any ill will.

Lexi looked at the time on her phone. 11:04 She’d only been asleep for about an hour, but now she wasn’t sure she’d be able to fall back to sleep.

The urge to call Wilder was strong, and she knew without a doubt that he’d answer her, even though it was late. Just talking to him would make her feel better, she was sure of it.

She didn’t really know how she felt about the situation with Mik beyond worry, especially when she had no details. Was it a concussion? A broken arm? Bumps and bruises? Something worse? How had it happened?

Lexi hated questions with no answers.

She tapped the screen to bring up Wilder’s contact information. Taking a deep breath, she made the call.

“Hello?” His voice was rough, like he’d been asleep already.

“Wilder, it’s me. Lexi.”

“Lexi?” She could hear movement, and then he cleared his throat. “Is something wrong?”

How she wished that she could just call him because she wanted to talk to him. But they didn’t have that sort of relationship, so of course he’d know that her calling him meant something was wrong.

“Lexi?” he prompted.

“Sorry. Irina just called to let me know that Mik has been in a car accident.”

“Really? Is he okay?”

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