“Hey, you’re awake,” she murmured, reaching for his hand.
Then she paused, as if she wondered if it was a bad idea. Maxim clasped her fingers. Lev excused himself from the room, shutting the door quietly behind him.
Maxim had a private suite all to himself. He was one of the hospital’s most generous donors. Hospitals were good investments, especially when one was in a dangerous line of work like Maxim’s family was. His father had told him that once.
“I’m glad you’re here,” he told her.
“When Yuri told me you were taken to the hospital after getting shot, I was so scared,” she whispered. Unshed tears lingered in her eyes.
“Why?” Maxim asked her. “You should know by now, wife, that I’m not an easy man to kill.”
“If another person I care about dies in front of my eyes, I don’t think my mind could survive it,” she confessed.
“You care about me?” Maxim asked, amused.
“Of course. Don’t joke like that,” she said, suddenly angry.
Maxim sobered up. He felt like utter shit, like his body was falling to pieces, but Sofia’s presence comforted him. “I’m sorry,” he said.
Sofia raised her brows.
“What?”
“It’s just, I never thought Maxim Semenov would apologize to anyone,” she said.
“You’re not just anyone, Sofia. You’re my wife,” Maxim said. “We need to talk about your little trip yesterday.”
She groaned, wrenching her hand from his, but when he tightened his hold, she gave up. “I won’t apologize for my actions,” she said. Determination filled her eyes.
“Then tell me why you would risk your life as well as Alex’s,” Maxim said.
She flushed. Reminding her that if anything went wrong, it wasn’t just her life that would be ruined but also another’s—seemed to fill her with guilt.
“Maybe I could have done it differently,” she admitted. “But I can’t change anything now. Maxim, I was just so angry at my father and how poorly he handled the investigation of Aurora’s death.”
“So you decided to play spy? Sofia, this is not a game,” Maxim reminded her.
“I know it isn’t,” she blurted. “I let my emotions drive me, I understand that now.”
“This can’t ever happen again. At least let me know beforehand what you’re planning. We’re a team, Sofia. You can be honest with me,” Maxim said.
“I will,” she said. “But the trip wasn’t a complete loss.”
“Tell me everything you found out,” Maxim said, and she did.
After she was done, Maxim was surprised by how much information she managed to uncover. Of course, he would still need his men to verify the information, but it seemed solid.
The Rossis were working with the Fedorovs. Lev and he should’ve seen it earlier because it was a brilliant move on their part. Both groups had a common agenda. They wanted to get rid of the Semenov Bratva and Sofia’s family, but their alliance would be paper thin at best.
Maxim suddenly had a brilliant idea, one he couldn’t wait to share with Lev, but first, he wanted to enjoy this tender moment with his wife. “I can’t help but notice. Does that plastic bag contain pasta?” Maxim asked.
“Oh, yes, but it’s probably cold by now. I made dinner yesterday, thinking it would soften the blow of me making that trip to the bar,” Sofia admitted.
“Hand it over. I’m hungry. The food here sucks,” Maxim said.
“One sec. Maybe I could ask a nurse if there’s a nearby microwave I can use,” Sofia said. She left with the food and returned ten minutes later.
“Careful, it’s hot,” Sofia said, handing him one container along with a metal fork.
Maxim slowly sat up in bed. Using his free hand, he dug into the pasta his wife made. He widened his eyes after a couple of bites. “Sofia, this is wonderful. I didn’t know you can cook.”
“The pasta would taste better fresh,” she pointed out, beginning to eat her own food. “Maybe next time we can tell the chef to take an early night off so I could be in charge of dinner?”
“I would love that,” he told her, smiling.
Sofia hesitantly returned the smile. If there was one good thing that came out of Maxim getting shot, it was Sofia and Maxim becoming one step closer.