Page 89 of Devotion

A slight queasy feeling has me heading to the kitchen to wash up. I’ve never really been squeamish about wounds and blood, but Adriano or the Diamante squad doctor Julian usually handled the bulk of the “hands-on” or in this case “hands-in-guts” work.

Pinching together Fyodor’s meat will be a lovely nighttime dream companion for me for a while.

That came out wrong. I didn’t pinch his meat.

Dude is HUNG, though.

Boiling water for some tea feels like the right thing to do next. It’s something Aunt Eva would always do in these sorts of situations. She was such a warm, matronly lady.

At the same time, that woman had ice in her veins when it came to saving her family.

I once saw Aunt Eva stone-faced amputate one of our guy’s feet to save his life. Two of Giancarlo’s bodyguards puked.

Vanya reminds me of her in so many ways.

Sitting across from her at the small table, she glances up after a long while.

“Thank you, Shakal.”

“For what?”

“It’s Fyodor.” She shrugs.

“Just cause I don’t like the guy, doesn’t mean I want him dead. Much. And he means a lot to you.”

“Da. Not in the way he says, though. You know this, correct?” Her eyes belie her hesitance.

What the ever-loving shit? Just when I think there are no more layers, she goes and shows me more strength. More vulnerability.

“Van, you don’t owe me any explanation.”

“He’s like…brother to me. We grew up together. He was always there for us, watching out for me and Matvey.”

“Yeah.”

“He’s always been anchor. Steadfast. He does not change. Reliable. You know?”

“My oldest brother was a lot like that.”

“I wish I could be like him in many ways. Fyo never becomes overwhelmed. He never hesitates.”

I nearly do a double take at her words. “Vanya, you are…”

All I can do is shake my head.

“What?”

“Let’s just say I’ve only ever met one person who handles life-threatening situations as well as you. And she was a refugee from Italy in World War II.”

“This story I will hear sometime. In detail. For now, I am, how you say, bushy.”

My snort makes me check to see if I woke up Fyodor. “Bushed. You mean bushed.”

“Da. Now we wait to see ifKapitanwakes up. Without blood transfusion, I worry.”

“He has to pull through. Fuck, he’ll do it just to spite me. And to tell you what happened to Pyotr and the other council members.”

Vanya nods, her eyes red.

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