Page 96 of Redemption

No!If she’d killed Ivan, new girls wouldn’t have been abducted. “Yeah.”

That sin, letting Ivan Mikhailov live, would haunt her forever.

Ryder stood. “You’re looking pale.”

“My stomach’s bothering me.” At least that wasn’t a lie. “I think I need to sit down.”

“C’mere.” Ryder tugged her onto the couch, and she pulled the blanket around her.

“Do you remember when you had that nightmare? And I walked into your room?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“What was it about?”

He sucked in a deep breath, holding her to his chest and groaning a little.

“Are you okay?”

He nodded. “I got a couple bruises at work the other day, and when I forget about them, they remind me they’re still healing.”

“What happened?”

“Wild animal tried to blow me up with a landmine.” He laughed.

“Ha, ha, ha.” She teased. “I’m sure.”

“It’s a crazy world out there. Someone’s got to have the jobs like that.”

Like her going after Vashchenko? She could help stop the gun running, and then she could save a woman or two… “True.”

“That sounded deep,” he said.

“Like your nightmare,” Victoria pivoted away from that conversation and back to him. “Do you remember it?”

“It was about you, actually,” he admitted. “In a way.”

“Oh, great. I’m terrorizing you in your sleep.” She dropped her head back, and Ryder stroked her hair, helping her relax.

“My arms and legs were heavy. I couldn’t get to you—”

“We were in Russia?”

“Yes. You were going to shoot Mikhailov…”

“Which meant Locke too,” she whispered.

“Yeah, that’s what it meant.” He paused. “But I couldn’t stop you. I didn’t want to stop you. I wanted Mikhailov to suffer.”

“But Locke…”

“See why it was a nightmare? And…”

They sat there in their own thoughts for what felt like forever until she realized he’d never finished. “And what?”

“And I kept seeing Zoe too.” Ryder shifted to see Victoria’s face. “Is that weird to tell you?”

She searched his expression. “You didn’t say her name before. Zoe was the one who died? What happened? If you want to tell me. You don’t have to.”

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