Page 172 of Silenced

“The office B4K targetedwasDmitri’s… Grigoriy is with him.” Iosif shakes his head. “Pakhan, he doesn’t think Dmitri’s going to make it.”

41

CASSIE

I’ve seenNikolai in a rage, seen him ice cold, seen him act like a king, seen him cut someone with a look and without a single word uttered.

I haven’t seen him like this.

When he dropped to his knees on the airfield, I’d nearly kicked Semion in the balls when he wouldn’t let me disembark. Unsure if Niko had been hit or if an injury had felled him, all I knew was that I had to get to him.

Semion predicted the threat to his manhood so he starts to open the door to release me before I can make impact, but by the time I’m ready to run to Niko’s side, he’s there, his face like a storm as he grabs me in a fierce embrace that doesn’t last long enough.

When he lets go of me, it’s because men are suddenly pouring onto the jet, one on a stretcher, one of them with a face I recognize from the photos in the safe room. There might be a decade or two between then and now, but the lines of his face are, quite frankly, beautiful.

But his handsomeness doesn’t hold my interest for long. Mostly, I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with Nikolai. He appears unharmed as he heads to the back of the jet, but he dropped to his knees like his world was ending...

I trail after him, needing to understand what’s going on. That’s when I hear the sound of fists slamming into static objects.

The noise is discomfiting.

A trigger to the past.

I distinctly remember Harvey punching the wall whenever his Viagra didn’t work. One time, he even headbutted the door to a kitchen cabinet.

But even if Nikolai is destroying a room, he won’t hurt me.

I know that.

Point blank.

So I suck in a breath, hop into my big girl panties, and tap on the door.

As I open it, Dominik, who I met for the first time today, calls out, “Takeoff in four minutes! I have an opening in the air space.”

Whether anyone’s listening to him is another matter entirely.

Nikolai’s growl of rage has me flinching, but I stride forward, pushing past the concern and closing the door behind me.

The damage he’s made in less than five minutes is impressive. I glance around the once-pristine bedroom for a split second, but he regains my focus almost immediately.

That’s when I see the tears in his eyes.

“What is it? What’s happened?” I demand, more scaredforhim than of him.

“Dmitri,” he signs, agony etched into his features.

I grab Niko, palms sliding about his jaw to stop him from evading my glance. “What’s wrong with Dmitri?”

“He’s dying.”

“What?!”

I could never have expected him to saythat.

His mouth works, eyes closing as he shakes his head. When he rocks forward, I have no alternative but to take his weight. His face finds my throat and he hides there.

I have no words, none at all. So I just hold him until Dominik gives the final order for everyone to take their seats.

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