Page 153 of Bratva's Vow
My blood turned to ice.
Leo didn’t say the worddeliberate, but it clung to the space between us.
“I need to confirm it through blood and urine,” he said. “We’re starting chelation therapy immediately, just in case. If we wait and I’m right, we risk permanent nerve damage or worse. You did the right thing getting him here quickly. Given the symptoms take a few days to manifest, he would have come in contact with the substance almost two weeks ago.”
I sank back into the chair, my body suddenly hollow. I didn’t trust myself to speak. My thoughts spun like tires inmud, gripping nothing, going nowhere. Two weeks ago. But what had changed?
He’d gone back to classes. We ate dinner together every night. Pilar always had something warm waiting for us for dinner. She packed his breakfast, bottled his tea, and fussed if he skipped a meal. She did the shopping. Cooked everything.
Pilar.
The name bloomed like rot in my chest.
Could she have…?
No. It didn’t make sense. I ate the same food. She always labeled our meals. Wren thought it was cute and said it made him feel spoiled. I’d chalked it up to her being particular. Organized. Nurturing.
But what if it wasn’t about keeping things tidy?
What if it was about keeping things separate?
What if she was feeding him somethingonlymeant for him?
Fuck.
My heart skipped a beat as I gazed down at Wren. For days, I struggled to understand why Stone was shot that night instead of me.
I wasn’t the target.
Wren was.
“Mr. Morozov?” Leo’s voice prompted me out of my thoughts. “I know this is… complicated.”
I looked at him. Really looked. What was he blathering about?
He exhaled slowly. “I wanted to say this has nothing to do with Bradley. What he did—how he behaved—was his choice. I didn’t condone it. I didn’t know he was being so brazen at work and still going after Wren. He mentioned Wren to me a lot, and I should have realized he’d developed an obsession, but I thought it was just a silly crush.”
What the hell? He thought I gave a fuck about Bradleywhen Wren might have been poisoned? And by someone whom I’d invited into our home. Our home, which should have been a safe place for him. Instead, I’d let my guard down.
“Maybe we should get another doctor to care for Wren,” I said. “I won’t tolerate anything going wrong while he’s here.”
“I understand, but this is my job. And Wren is my patient. If you think I’ll give him anything less than my best, you’re wrong. I took an oath to protect and care for everyone regardless of who they are. I will do everything to ensure Wren receives the best possible care.”
I stared directly into his eyes. “You should know that I won’t tolerate mistakes in taking care of him, but you make sure he’s okay, and you’ll never have to worry about anything for the rest of your life.”
“As generous as that offer sounds, Mr. Morozov, I am quite happy doing my job.” He walked to the door. “I’ll send a nurse in to collect the hair sample for the lab, and we’ll speak again once the toxicology comes in.”
The door closed behind him with a soft click. Wren and I were alone again in the silence, the hum of machines the only sound.
Seconds bled into minutes. I was too numb to move as thoughts flooded my mind. Anger seethed in my veins and churned in my gut. Wren’s openmouthed breathing was the only sign of life, accompanied by the beep-beep-beep of the monitor.
“Pilar.” I whispered the name like a curse, each syllable a twist of a knife in my heart.
The tightness in my throat made it difficult to breathe. Pilar hadn’t entered our lives by chance. Archie had hired her. Archie, who was so close to me he knew my every move. No wonder someone was always ahead of me.
But Archie?
I rose to my feet and kissed Wren’s forehead. “I’ll be back soon, kroshka.”
