Page 55 of The Payback

CHAPTERTWENTY-ONE

Nikita

Ellie is wrapped around me,far different from how she was in the kitchen earlier, but I’m soaking in every moment, regardless.

“Shh,” I murmur against her forehead. “It’ll be fine. You’re okay.”

I close the panel behind me, hiding the room from view and blocking the sounds from travelling through the apartment. Ellie shakes in my arms; her chattering teeth become the soundtrack as we cross the office, her legs barely holding her up as we move.

Impatient with her slow and unsteady gait, I scoop her up, and her arms wind their way around my neck as she presses her face into my chest.

She’s going into shock, and it’s everything I can do to keep moving. Alexei, someone who came up in the Bratva the same way Dimitri and I did, sold his soul for a slice of cash and put Dimitri and Ellie at risk. I want to rip his head from his body for his betrayal, but I know Dimitri will do it for both of us. I fight my instincts to return and exact my own punishment on the man.

I gingerly carry Ellie upstairs, curious why this, of all things, pushes her over the edge. She’s seen worse in our old job. Hell, we’ve witnessed horrible things in the name of evidence, and she’s not reacted like this. Is it because it’s Dimitri wielding the knife this time?

Pausing at the landing, I look from my door to their suite, and when I step towards the space she shares with Dimitri, she lets go of my neck and puts her clammy palms on my cheeks. “Not there. Please, not there.”

Her voice is nothing more than a hoarse whisper, and the sound cracks something inside of me. I unlock my door and carry her inside, the darkness of the space envelopes me and creeps over the thoughts of violence as I enter my sanctuary.

I stride over to the bed, holding Ellie in my arms. Something about her brings a wave of calm over me, and the raring need to help Dimitri washes away. Inhaling deeply, I let her scent comfort me.

“Nik?” she whispers.

“Yeah, Ellie?”

“Is it always this bad?”

I cock my head at her question. “Iswhatalways this bad?”

“This life? The violence in it...” She shakes her head as the words die on her lips.

Honestly, this has been a pretty tame week, but I don’t think that answer would bring her much comfort. “Sometimes,” I say, dodging the truth.

“I... We...” Her words tumble out without thought, and she gathers herself before trying again. “He looked nothing like the man I’ve come to know.”

“Is that what scared you? Dimitri?”

She hums and redirects. “Are you okay?”

I tilt my head to look down at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

This a dangerous question when I feel like a live wire is flailing around in my chest.

After the kitchen, the night in my bathroom where I stitched her arm, and the bloodbath happening downstairs, she could be referring to anything. The longing I feel for her in my chest is the loudest, but I doubt, with recent events, that’s what she’s talking about. My confessional in the kitchen should be long forgotten by now.

She chooses not to answer, instead seeking comfort against my body and metaphorically clawing her way into my chest. Her arms wrap around me like she’s using me as an anchor as she works out her feelings from the past few hours. Anya, the kitchen, torture, Dimitri...

Or she could be thinking about none of those things, and instead, I’m projecting.

I run a soothing hand down her spine. Up and down. Up and down.

My eyes have adjusted to the dim lighting, and I open the blackout curtains to let the lights of New York better illuminate the woman in my arms. Minutes later, she lifts her head from my chest and peers at me.

Then, her lids drift closed, and she lays her head on my shoulder again. She’s close enough to feel the stutter of her breathing along my jaw. “Tell me about Alexei. Did he say anything before I got there?”

I huff, and she touches my chest, calming the anger. “The twins followed the van, using someone we paid off for the traffic cam footage. There are a couple of safe houses upstate, and the assholes who shot at us were dumb enough to use one. Alexei’s idea.”

Ellie chuckles, but it’s a hollow sound, and the vibration works its way under my skin.

---