Page 132 of Lethal Alliance

Then, like the Spanish sun after London rain, the full beauty of Ofelia’s smile bursts into life.

“You’ll never leave.” Her voice chokes. For the first time since she left that horrible room in the basement of the compound, tears start to well up in her eyes. “You’re going to stay with us forever.”

Darya’s face crumples, and she pushes me aside, wrapping her arms around my daughter and burying Ofelia’s head into her shoulder. “Of course I won’t ever leave,” she says, her voice muffled in Ofelia’s hair. “I’ll always be here, darling. No matter what. I promise you that.”

I rest my hand on Ofelia’s shoulder briefly, just long enough for her to know I’m there. But then Darya gives me a fierce look, and I take the hint.

I pluck Masha off the bed and nod to Mickey.

Ofelia manages to hold on until we file out of the room.

I hear her first choked sob as the door swings closed. Then, through the narrow door window, I see her slump in Darya’s arms, shuddering with the force of her tears.

I sigh with relief.

The storm has finally broken.

40

DARYA

It’s late that night when Roman and I finally take the elevator to our suite on the floor above the children.

“You had a chance to talk to your mother?” I say as he closes the door behind us.

“Yes.” He nods, rubbing a hand over his face. “We’ll be okay. It’s just going to take time to get to know one another again, I guess. I spoke to your father, too.” He gives me a small smile. “I’m beginning to think Sergei will outlive the damned apocalypse.”

I don’t miss the reluctant admiration in his voice. I’m glad; after all we’ve been through, the only thing that matters to me now is that everyone I love is still alive.

“I should probably have checked on him again.” I frown, glancing at the clock on the desk.

“Rosa is with him. And the hospital has a direct line to the suite.” Roman walks toward me, his eyes roaming over my body. I feel the familiar thrill of his nearness. “They’ll call us if anything changes. It’s only one floor below us, Darya, and I have guards posted everywhere.”

His arms snake around me, and I fall against him, clutching the hard wall of his body to reassure myself that it’s real.

“I know we’re safe.” My words are muffled against his chest. “But I don’t like the children being anywhere I can’t see or touch them right now.”

His stubble scrapes my temple as he nods. “I get it, believe me.” He tilts my head up, his thumb stroking my cheek. “But right now, I’m far more concerned about seeing and touchingyou.Without clothes on, preferably.”

I give a small, choked laugh. “I’m surprised you can even think of that, given how badly you’ve been hurt.” I touch the sling holding his arm, and he moves swiftly sideways, keeping his injured shoulder and side away from me while still holding me firm with the other.

“Even half dead and with no heartbeat, I’d still be thinking about getting naked with you,milaia. Give me your mouth.”

He takes it without waiting for an answer, and I close my eyes and lose myself in it, because I need this every bit as much as he does. I need the vital reassurance that we are both still here, that despite it all, we have survived. Given the hell we’ve all just lived through, that in itself seems nothing short of a miracle.

“Christ, I need you.” He pulls impatiently at the buttons of his shirt with his good hand.

“Let me.” I push his hand away and undo the buttons, easing the shirt over his injured shoulder. I can’t help sucking in my breath when I see the state of the body I love so much. Apart from the two bullet wounds, one in his shoulder and one through his side—perilously close to a whole host of vital organs, according to the doctor—Roman’s torso is a mass of blooming bruises and open cuts. His face is little better.

“I’ve had worse,milaia.” He captures my hand as it roams over the expanse of his chest, his dark eyes on mine reassuring. “I’m fine.”

“You nearly weren’t.” My hand stops just beside the wide bandage on his side. “Any of these could have taken you from us forever.”

“But they didn’t.” He cups my face, his eyes searching mine. “You know what this life is, Darya. No matter what we do, it won’t ever change. There will always be blood and bullets. We will always have enemies. Men who want what we have and who are prepared to kill to get it.”

My hands roam his body, the heat of his bare flesh beneath my fingertips, the lethal force of him hard against me. He shivers faintly beneath my touch, but he doesn’t move. It’s like he knows I need this, to touch him, to know he’s here, that he’s real.

That he’s survived.

---