Page 129 of Lethal Alliance

I nod. Vera has not only lost both of her sons, but she was also forced to shoot Inger, the only member of the family she ever showed any real affection toward. I feel sympathy for her, but no guilt.

Sooner or later, I will have to tell both Vera and Yuri that it was my bullet that took Nikolai’s life.

But for now, their grief is the least of my troubles.

“My mother?”

“At the hospital with Sergei.”

Interesting.I put aside the question of why my mother accompanied that prick to the hospital, for now, at least.

“He’s a tough old bastard.” The guard smiles admiringly. “Took a hell of a beating before he managed to escape his ties. Gave Fedorov as good as he’d gotten, then killed him with his own pistol, despite having several broken bones. If Inger hadn’t turned up and knocked Sergei out from behind, I reckon he’d have taken on the rest of them single-handed.”

“Hmph.” I pull the door closed without answering. I might have made my peace with Alexei, but I’m still on the fence when it comes to his father.

“Is there any word about Abby?” Darya looks up at me worriedly.

“Your friend is remarkably bulletproof.” I pull her close against my side. “Fedorov hit Pillars hard. We lost half a dozen good men. It might have been all of them, if Abby and Gregor hadn’t managed to get the rest of the staff out of there. According to Gregor, Abby took one look at the men coming through the door and started throwing Molotov cocktails.”

Darya gives a choked laugh. “That sounds like Abby. Where is she now?”

“She and Gregor got the staff safely to our dockside warehouse, but they didn’t have their phones with them. Some of our men found them while I was on the plane. Dimitry is on his way to Malaga now with a full crew. They’ll tidy up any loose ends.”

“This is all my fault.” She covers her eyes with one hand. “I should have made sure Abby was kept away from all this.”

“She knows what kind of life she’s in, Darya.” I gently pull her hand away and turn her head so she’s looking at me. “This isn’t your fault, any more than it’s Abby’s first rodeo.” I shake my head. “That girl could find trouble in the middle of a church choir.”

“But she’s okay?” Darya presses.

“She’s fine, though she might not be after Dimitry gets hold of her. His nerves are shot to hell.”I pour a Scotch from the limo bar and surreptitiously swallow two pills with it, closing my eyes briefly at the satisfying burn in my throat as the spirit slips down. I caught a few hours of sleep on the plane after Ofelia had dropped off, Masha curled into a little ball against my chest. The doctor worked around her sleeping form to sew me up. He took one look at my face and knew there was no point arguing.

Mickey spent the entire flight holding Ofelia’s hand, his face pale and set. He slept barely any more than I did.

“What about Inger?” Darya searches my face. “Have you told the children their mother is dead?”

I nod. “I thought it was better they knew immediately. I didn’t tell them all of it, though, just that she died in the attack.”

She nods. “Good.”

I don’t add that I didn’t tell them more because I don’t entirely understand it all yet myself. There’s something I’m not quite seeing, like sensing a figure in a darkened room.

Darya is already pulling the limo door open before we halt outside the hospital. It’s a discreet building set between Harley Street and Marylebone and feels more like a boutique hotel than a hospital. I’ve booked two entire floors and paid for more than just care. Bryce’s bullet wounds won’t be disclosed to the authorities, any more than Sergei’s bruises will. Nor will there be any record of us having stayed here.

We take the elevator to the children’s floor. “Ofelia has had stitches in her face,” I warn Darya. “A wound that happened in the blast.”

She shakes her head, her mouth tight with pain and anger. “I hate that they had to go through this.”

I squeeze her hand. “Me, too.”

We step out. There’s more security up here than for a royal fucking birth. Until every part of this thing is sewn up, nobody is getting anywhere near my family.

I push open the door to Ofelia’s suite. Masha is curled up on the bed next to her sister, Mickey sitting in the chair beside them.

“Oh!” Darya rushes forward, and Masha leaps up from the bed and into her arms, burying her face in Darya’s shoulder. Ofelia opens her eyes, then closes them in relief as Darya leans over, hugging her around Masha’s body. Darya turns her head to kiss Mickey’s cheek, and he settles on Ofelia’s other side. All four of them stay on the bed for a long time, a tangled mess of limbs and love, and while I watch them, my whole world here in one room, all my pain is gone.

It’s sometime later,after the doctors have done with their fussing, that I finally let the children tell Darya the entire story.

The truth is that what I really want is to take her upstairs to the suite I’ve reserved for our sole use and lose myself in her naked body. But I know Darya, and I know there’s no chance in hell she will relax until she knows it all.

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