Page 262 of Ruins
“Safe.”
I hesitate. “Vincenzo?”
“Safe.”
Relief floods through me, loosening the tight coil in my chest.They’re okay.
I swallow hard, then whisper, “Will you please be careful?”
Santo finishes tying his boot and stands, striding toward me. His hand slips into my hair, fingers threading through the strands in a gesture so tender, so at odds with the storm brewing behind his eyes.
“I’ll be careful.” His lips brush against mine, soft, fleeting, before he steps back. Then he reaches for something on the nightstand. “Here. For the pain”
I blink as he hands me a pill and a glass of water I hadn’t even noticed was there. I take the pill, washing it down with a slow sip, my eyes never leaving him, before I can say anything else; he’s gone.
***
When I wake, the room is pitch black.
The last time I checked, it was four in the afternoon. I reach blindly for my phone, the screen glowing harshly in the dark.
2:00 AM.
There’s no way I slept for ten hours.
My body feels heavy, sluggish, my stomach twisting with hunger. I need to use the bathroom. Maybe even grab a snack cake, something simple to ease the weight of the day pressing down on me. I slip out of bed, padding toward the bathroom. When I flick the light on, I freeze.
I gasp.
The mirror reflects someone I barely recognize.
A shadow of a bruise blooms high on my cheekbone, the faint mark of a backhand that shouldn’t have landed. My arm is marred with deep, purple fingerprints.Hisfingerprints.
I lift a trembling hand, brushing my fingers over the bruises. The moment I press against my skin, a sharp sting shoots through me. I hiss in pain. My breath comes shallow, uneven.
Jude.
Jude did this to me.
Chapter 52
Santo
Druggingmywifeisnot something I ever thought I would have to do, but it’s a necessary evil. She needs to rest, and I need to keep Scythe far away from her.
Finding her on the ground, bleeding and bruised, almost made me kill Jude Olsen right there, but Icouldn’t. I had to focus on her. I had to take her home, hold her in my arms. I had to make sure she was calm, safe—clean.
Clean from that motherfucker’s hands on her.
I thought about what I’d do to him—each step, every excruciating moment—while I held my wife in the tub and washed her. Her scent was the only thing keeping me from completely losing control.
I didn’t lie to her when I said we had work to do. I met up with Angelo and Maksim—Jude’s story is that Miroslav sent him to get Vasilisa, to bring her to him, to “keep her safe.” I didn’t believe that shit for a second.
I had the syringe that fucker dropped in the bathroom tested. When Luca came to give me the results, I could tell from the fury in his eyes that it wasn’t just a sedative.
Potassium fucking chloride.
That bastard was going to kill my wife.
