“Sasha.” My name on his lips is a whispered prayer, his hand reaching out for mine. “You’re okay–”
“You’realive–” I blurt out the words, pushing myself up against the pillows as his hand tightens around mine. “How…I saw you…you were dead–”
“Not dead. Close to it, though,” he says wryly. “It was a very near thing. If not for Tommas, I wouldn’t have made it out. He managed to make it seem like he was just moving my body out of the room when he was actually getting me out.”
“That’s where you went?” I feel a small laugh of disbelief bubble up inside of me. “And Art didn’t find you?”
Max shakes his head. “Giana and Tommas had another house, one out of the way that Art would never have bothered to find out about.” He pauses, his lips pressed together for a moment. “I know that he was working to kill me,” he says quietly, his voice tightening with hurt. “But you–what happened? All I remember was seeing you dragged away and then–”
I can hear the guilt and regret in his voice, thick and heavy, and I thread my fingers through his, clinging to his hand like a lifeline. “He took me,” I tell Max softly, feeling my chest tighten all over again at the memory of the time in Edo’s house. “To Edo Casciani’s estate.”
Max’s face goes dark, a flare of frightening anger passing through his expression. “I’ll fucking kill Edo,” he snarls, in a voice like nothing I’ve ever heard from him before. “For laying so much as one finger on you–”
“No, you won’t.”
Levin’s voice comes from the door as he steps inside, his hair still wet from the shower. “I know how you feel, Max, but we can’t go back there now. We need to get far away from Moscow and to someplace that Obelensky’s associates won’t think of looking, andfast, while the heat dies down.” He glances at me. “We were just waiting for you to wake up. Now that you’re awake, if you think you can manage it, we need to go.”
I look between him and Max, feeling the cold fear creep over my skin again. I’m glad to be free, but naively, I hadn’t expected to be on the run.
As long as Max is coming with us, I don’t care.
There’s a bitter irony to the fact that Max had tried for so long to keep exactly this from happening–to push me further and further from the world of mafias and mobs and Bratvas, fearing that if he let himself love me, if we were together, that we’d never be safe. That we’d be on the run forever.
For all that trying and all that pain, it happened anyway. And now, even with Max sitting here with his hand in mine, I have no idea what comes next for us.
I have no idea what he wants now or how he feels. I have no idea what this means for his vows and his devotion to trying to keep them.
“I can manage it,” I say carefully, sitting up a little more. My head swims, and I feel a little nauseous, but even just the short rest in an actual bed made me feel better than I have in a while. “I’m not feverish, am I?”
Max frowns, leaning forward to press his other hand against my forehead. The touch sends a shiver through me, making my entire body tighten with need, and I can tell from the way that his mouth twitches that he can feel it.
“You just wanted me to touch you,” he says in a low, wry voice, his hazel eyes meeting mine. “Still my little temptress.”
The rush that goes through me at hearing Max call mehiscatches me off guard, my breath hitching in my throat and making it impossible for me to speak for a moment. “I really did wonder,” I say softly, when I can speak again. “I was really sick in that cell. Natalia brought me antibiotics. But–” I swallow hard, very aware of the fact that his hand is still pressed against my forehead. “I did want you to touch me.”
He’s so close to me, almost close enough to kiss, leaning over me. His hand in mine tightens, and the hand on my forehead slides down, cupping my cheek as his eyes darken. “Sasha–”
Levin clears his throat in the doorway. “We need to go–”
“Oh, stop it.”
A familiar, feminine voice comes from behind him. I’m so startled to hear it that it momentarily drags my attention away from Max. In my disoriented state after the rescue, I’d forgotten that I’d seen Natalia getting into the car. Now it feels like some kind of hallucination as I see her push around Levin, stepping into the room with her hands on her hips. Even still dressed in her rumpled, dirty clothes, she still looks effortlessly gorgeous, graceful, and poised.
“You’re ruining the romantic reunion,” she tells him playfully, punching Levin lightly in one arm. “They both thought the other was dead. It’s so sweet.”
“It won’t be very romantic if they do end up dead because we dally here, and us with them,” Levin says grimly. “Sasha, can you get up?”
I don’t want to. I want to stay in this comfortable bed forever, for everyone but Max to leave the room and pull him down into the bed with me until I’m beyond confident that we’re both alive. But I can hear the urgency in Levin’s voice, and I know he’s telling the truth, despite Natalia’s levity.
“I can.” I give Max’s hand one more squeeze before slowly moving, careful not to go too fast in case there’s some vertigo left from my fainting spell. He moves to one side, clearly ready to catch me if need be, as I swing my legs over the bed and slowly stand.
“Are you alright?” Max’s voice is full of worry as he stands up, too, his hand touching the small of my back.
I feel like I am, but I almost don’t want to say so, if only so that he’ll keep touching me. Levin is starting to look impatient, though, so I nod slowly, looking up and giving Max a small smile.
“I’m fine. I can walk. A little shaky and dizzy still, but I’ll be fine.”
“I brought a change of clothes for you.” Natalia steps forward, handing me a small bag. “I think we should be close to the same size. When you get where you’re going, I’m sure you can get more. But for now, you can at least get out of what you were wearing in that cell.”