Page 87 of Where the Wind Whispers

Three shots.

Three bullets.

She’d heard them.

They’d all hit their target.

The baby began to wail loudly, but Violet was already on her knees, leaning over Ruslan and trying to ignore the way his life source stained straight through the knees of her jeans.

Violet went numb all over.

There was a recognition in Ruslan’s gaze as his eyes flicked back and forth between Violet and then up at the bright, clear sky.

“S’okay,” he mumbled.

Blood coated his lips, and then he coughed hard, making more red-tinged spit dot his lips.

And when he moved from the cough …

Violet’s stomach twisted hard, her hands shaking as she grabbed Ruslan’s face to make him look at her.

When he moved, more blood began to run across the pavement in little lines.

She didn’t want to see where the blood was going, but she followed the tiny rivers to see them soaking into her daughter’s pink, white, and pastel yellow dresses.

“Ma’am, an ambulance is on the way,” someone said behind Violet.

She ignored them.

No one stepped forward to say they could help.

Someone tried to move over them to get to the baby in the SUV, and Violet’s control snapped.

“Don't touch my fucking child!” she screamed at the man.

The guy backed up, hands flying wide.

Ruslan was watching her in that way again, his face devoid of color and his lips slacker than before. “It’s okay, Violet.”

She was too focused on the blood gathering at the corner of his mouth.

Violet wiped it away with the pad of her thumb. “Sorry—I’m so sorry, Rus.”

“Shitty side of the business,” Rus told her softly. “Casualty of the job, yes?”

Violet shook her head.

She wasn’t a job—her baby wasn’t his job.

“Family isn’t business,” Violet whispered.

Rus chuckled but flinched at the action. “Still did my job.”

He looked away from her and back at the sky like he was somewhere else entirely. Maybe that was what helped to keep her calm, the fact that he seemed so relaxed even though he was bleeding out on a wet road and close to death.

“I love them,” Rus said, his voice lower and faint.

She thought he was talking to himself.