Page 69 of The Den of Sin
I rushed after him, trying to keep up. Vasili carried his brother up the marble stairs, then down a long hallway before stopping in front of a large door. I quickly opened the door, leaving blood marks on the handles.
He entered the room and laid Sasha on the hospital bed. I took a quick moment to glance around the room to see what I had to work with. The room was large, with a hospital bed in the center and all kinds of high-tech medical machines. The stainless-steel cabinets with glass doors displayed a full supply of medical accessories, medication, and anything else you could possibly need to save a life.
“Tell me what you need,” Vasili’s voice was firm, his eyes on me looking for guidance.
“He needs a blood transfusion to start with,” I told him, heading to the sink in the corner of the room. I scrubbed my hands, sanitized them, grabbed a pair of gloves, and went to my patient.
Vasili handed me blood bags of O negative and I pulled the IV pole, hanging one. “IV kit.”
He went to the nearest cabinet and handed me the supplies. Taking it out of his hands, I searched out the vein in his arm and started the IV. Next, I cleaned out his wound and without any time to waste, I focused on the task at hand.
Vasili was forgotten next to me, as I went to work on his brother. First, I numbed the area with lidocaine. Then, I cut through Sasha’s flesh with the scalpel I found on the tray that had miraculously shown up next to me. I made the incision just big enough to allow me to grip the bullet with a pair of forceps and pull it from the hole. I placed it in the stainless-steel bowl and cleaned out the wound. I looked to see if I could tell where all the blood had come from, but it seemed to have stopped so I relaxed. After stitching him up, I reached for the sterile gauze, placing it over the wound and wrapping it up.
I swapped the empty blood bag with another full unit and added another bag of fluid. Eyeing him, I felt he would be fine. We just had to make sure his wound didn’t get infected. Sasha’s pulse was getting stronger and his skin, although still pale, wasn’t clammy and sickly.
I glanced at Vasili who remained with me the entire time, the worry edged on his face.
“All done,” I told him, the exhaustion I’d fought the entire night finally creeping in.
There was awe on his face and something else, but I was too tired to ponder on it. This night had been an unexpected, front row, eye opener to Vasili’s world. Despite the violence witnessed, he didn’t scare me. He felt safe.
He took my face with both of his palms and pressed a kiss onto my nose.
“Thank you, malyshka,” he murmured. “You saved him.”
The gesture was simple but loving. I had so many questions about what happened tonight, who was that guy and why didn't the police come, but wasn’t sure where to even start. The man was the same one I ran into earlier today when I bought the painting. I had a feeling everything about tonight would change things between us.
“Don’t thank me yet. Let’s see how tonight goes.” My eyes darted to Sasha’s sleeping form. “I’ll watch him throughout the night.”
“I can have one of my men watch him.”
I shook my head. “No, I want to do it. Just let me take a shower and get out of these bloody clothes.”
His hand brushed around the skin on my neck, and I couldn’t control a slight wince. His expression darkened, fury and fear in his eyes. The fear surprised me. He struck me as someone that wasn’t afraid of anyone.
“I want to kill him for hurting you,” he growled in a low voice, anger simmering with each and every word.
“It’s just bruised,” I murmured softly. God, his protectiveness made me love him even more. “Are you okay?”
He chuckled. “He hurt you and you are asking me if I’m okay.” He shook his head, disbelief written on his features. “You are too soft, malyshka. Too good for me.” His words were low, his accent thick. I didn’t understand what he meant, but before I could ponder on it, he continued, “Let me take care of you,” he retorted in a soft voice. His lips placed a softest of kisses on my bruised neck. “Stay with me. It is the only way I’ll be okay.” When he spoke like that, I could almost convince myself that he cared deeply about me. “I won’t let those men hurt you. I’ll protect you, I promise. Better than I’ve done tonight.”
I believed him, and oddly, he made me feel physically safe. Vasili’s world was vastly different from mine. Tonight made it plenty obvious. This lifestyle that Vasili led was similar to my father’s and what my mom had tried to keep me out of. I was blind to the mafia violence until tonight. Or maybe I didn’t want to see it before. But with him by my side, I didn’t fear that world.
Entirely different fears plagued me.
There was a fear of letting go, having him breach the walls of my heart only to shatter it again. The first time, it was painful. And this time around there was a secret I kept. Could I forgive him? Would he forgive me? Even assuming we got past all that, I wasn’t sure if I could survive it if he decided to throw away my love again.
I wanted to be all in, but Vasili’s battles in his mafia world crossed paths with my father who happened to be his enemy. My mother’s journal highlighted how merciless Nikolaev could be and her betrayal could easily become my sin to pay for again.
I nodded, despite the warnings and fear of getting hurt. A relief washed over his face, and it made me wonder how much he exactly cared. Because I cared for him too much. He wrapped his hands around me, and I realized both of our shirts were soaked with blood.
“You don’t have any injuries, right?” I murmured, lifting onto my toes and burying my head into his neck. I had to push all the worries out of my mind for tonight. I would cherish that I was alive and with this man. Everything else I’d worry about with the next dawn.
“No. The blood is Sasha’s.” Inhaling deeply, I savored his scent. That uniquely wonderful scent that was always Vasili. “Let’s go get cleaned up. I’ll have someone bring in a couch here, and I’ll stay here with you.”
“You don’t-”
He cut me off with a kiss onto my mouth. “I’m staying wherever you are. No sense in arguing.”
