“Where are you now?” Mikhail asked.
“I’m on my way to Texas.”
There was a pause on the other end of the line. When he finally spoke, his voice was gruff. “Gabriel found them?”
“Could be. We don’t know yet. I’m going there to confirm.”
“How are you feeling about this?”
Numb.
I was feeling fucking numb. I didn’t say that, though. I didn’t want him to worry. Not when he had to worry about Catalina.
“How is she?” I asked instead of answering him.
“Nico.”
I shook my head, even if he couldn’t see me. “I’m serious, Mikhail. How is she?”
“She’s still not talking. I don’t know how to help her, Nico. And I don’t even know how she’s feeling right now because she’s so closed off to us. I don’t—”
He let out a small sigh, and I could hear the frustration bleeding into his voice. I closed my eyes.
“Let’s get Damien back. That will help. Everything will be okay as long as we get Damien back.”
“What if …” He trailed off, and I could hear him swallowing over the line. “What if we’re too late?”
“Don’t you fucking say that,” I said, letting my voice harden. “They won’t kill him. Not yet, at least. Either Luca wants to keep him alive for as long as possible to taunt us and to exact all the pain he had experienced onto him, or Leo will use Damien to get something out of the Bratva. He’s no good to them dead, so he’s alive.”
And if I fucking say that enough times, perhaps I wouldn’t have such a hard time believing it.
I closed my eyes.
“Okay,” Mikhail said softly, his voice gruff.
“Let me talk to Catalina.”
“You know she won’t answer you.”
I knew that. She was also angry at me. I knew that too.
“Then she’ll just listen to me talk. Mikki.Please.”
For a long moment, he said nothing. When he finally did, his voice came out stronger than before. “Okay. Hold on.”
I could hear rustling noises in the background and then silence.
A soft exhale came out, and I knew she was on the line.
“Hey, princess.”
She didn’t answer me, and I didn’t expect her to, but she didn’t hang up on me—at least not yet—and I called that progress.
“I miss you.”
A slight catch to her breathing told me she was listening.
“I know you're mad at me,” I continued. I ran my fingers through my hair. “I fucked up. I know that. But at the time, it was about keeping you safe. And instead, I made you helpless. I might as well have served you up on a silver platter to fucking Luca and Leo. And for that, I’m so sorry, baby.”