Page 89 of Heritage of Blood

The door shutting catches my attention and I open the bathroom door to see my mom glaring at the empty bed.

“Honey, why are you not in bed? Here let me help you.” Her hair is frazzled, and she’s probably had one too many cups of coffee.

“I’m okay, Mom. I’m stretching my legs. I actually feel pretty good.” I move to give her a hug. “It’s good to see you.” And it is. So good. The memories of Antonio, in my house, touching my mom, using her, grapple for real estate in my mind, but I push them away. I’m thankful she is okay.

“Oh! I brought you a change of clothes and some stuff to clean up. I wasn’t sure what you’d want, so I grabbed a bunch of stuff at the store and—”

A smile tugs at my lips and I pull her in for another hug. “This is great, Mom. Thank you.”

“You suffered a mild concussion.”The young doctor rustles through paperwork, his black hair falling into his face. He hands me a single sheet,When It’s Not Just a Bump on the Head. I blink at it. Twice. Nope, I’m reading that right. “Rest and over-the-counter pain meds should do the trick.”

“The trick?” My mom scoffs. Nik chuckles from the corner of the room and I narrow my eyes at him.

The doctor continues, “Your stitches will need to be removed in about seven days. We’ll see you back then.” He signs a piece of paper and sets it on the hospital tray next to him.

“Thank you,” I say, and he nods and turns, heading out the door.

“Want me to give you a ride home?” My mom glances between me and Nik. After she helped me get dressed, we had a conversation about what happened. Dragging her into the story with Antonio especially with him dead, wasn’t the best option. I simply told her the guy I was seeing and I went to an event and there was an accident. Nik had given me a nod when I told her, and I assumed that meant he approved of giving her the half-truth.

“Actually, Mom, I want to go see Luka.” I eye Nik still huddled in the corner. “I’ll catch a ride with Nik. I’ll call you tomorrow if that’s okay.”

My mom peeks at Nik and he gives her a staple grin, she sighs.

“Okay, yes. Let me know when you get home tonight okay?”

The sun had comeup a few hours ago, casting rays in the hospital room that catch the dancing dust suspended in the air. Nik explained that we had been taken from the limo at 11 p.m. last night and they found us five hours later. Thankfully Nik had a way to track Luka. They were able to deploy a team to overtake the facility we were held in, some abandoned warehouse near one of his restaurants that Antonio was trying to outfit. By the time we got to the hospital, it was almost morning.

I fall back to the hospital bed, snatching the discharge paper. I hold it eye level but don’t read it. Polished shoes enter my vision and Nik’s hand reaches out toward me.

“Ready?”

I place my hand in his and he pulls me to stand. “Yes.”

Nik leads me to another floor. Since Luka had some worse injuries, he was taken to another wing. Approaching his door, Igor and Ivan stand patiently outside. Raised voices come from inside the room, and I turn to Nik but he shrugs. Ivan gives me a warm smile.

“Ms. Castile.” Igor nods in my direction.

This floor is much quieter, with fewer visitors and nurses wandering the halls. A small nurse’s station is situated right outside the few doors in this section of the hospital.

“You eat soup Mr. Morozov, or I quit!” My eyebrows raise at Ilena’s voice booming from the room. Nik smirks and Igor presses his lips together trying to avoid the inevitable. A laugh bubbles out anyway. Nik raps his knuckles three times against the door, before Luka’s voice filters out.

“Then you’re fired. Come in.”

I push through the door beaming a smile when I see Luka sitting up in bed with Ilena standing on the far side. Her finger is pointing to a bowl of soup. She must’ve made some at home to bring, forever taking care of the Morozov family.

Luka’s hair is untidy, the dark locks normally slicked back, out of place. A black and blue hue surrounds his stern eyes, as they peer back at me, and I take in his bare chest, a belt-like bandage wrapping around most of it.

“Kate.” His voice snaps my eyes to his.

“Hi.” I worry with my bottom lip, fighting the tears. Ilena chimes in slicing through the uncertainty.

“I make soup for him, and he won’t eat it. You can get him to, yeah?” A shaky laugh falls out of my mouth as the thought of me trying to convince Luka to do anything festers. “Da.I know you can. I am glad you are okay Kate.”

She rounds the bed and opens her arms to me. I slump into them and give her a squeeze. The soup scent clings to her clothes and my stomach rumbles. “Ah, maybe he share soup with you.” She laughs at herself, that raspy timbre sounding like home. She releases me but holds my arms. “I see you back home, yeah?” Two pats on my shoulders, then she turns to leave pointing her finger to Nik. “That soup for Mr. Morozov, don’t touch it.”

Nik holds up both hands. “Wouldn’t dream of it.

Chapter54

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