Page 138 of Bleed with Me

“As I said, I don’t remember much,” he whispered, frowning. “Just a bloody knife in my hand, kicking and screaming, and…” His hooded eyes met mine. “A gunshot.”

He pulled away a little. “Malin shot the man who almost choked me to death. That’s the last thing I knew before waking up in the hospital.”

“Jesus Christ,” I whispered. “What about Zyon?”

“He was never there. When the first explosion occurred, his guard fled the scene.”

“Wonderful.” I reached for him, but he moved away.

“I’m a monster, Nina.” I opened my mouth to protest, but he didn’t let me. “And without Malin, I don’t know what would happen to me. I can’t function without my brothers.” He pressed his hands against the side of his head. “I just can’t.”

“Hey.” Tenderly, I held his wrists. “We’ll get through this.”

“We won’t…” he mumbled, but I refused to go down this path.

“We will,” I claimed with certainty dripping from my tongue. “You said it yourself, I’m the villain.” I smiled at him, brushing my thumbs soothingly over his skin. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere. No matter what monster lives inside you.”

“But—”

“Stop, Dorian.” I rested my forehead against his. “You won’t push me away.”

-56-

Dorian

Days passed in a blur. After the argument with Jessica, who refused to let me work, and the rough exchange with my mother, who left Malin’s side for only a few hours to shower and change, I decided to finally rest in my own bed. But not even Nina’s presence and a comfortable mattress were enough to drag me out of my misery.

I was restless. The demon went crazy in my head, only shutting up when Nina was close. Yet whenever she left my side, he returned with a vengeance. It took every ounce of self-control not to punch holes in the wall or pick fights with strangers. So when Zyon called in the middle of the night, saying he couldn’t sleep and suggesting a sparring session, I ran to our private gym like someone was chasing me.

“You’re out of shape,” Zyon mocked, poking my feet as I lay on the ground in the ring with a dizzy head and a bleeding nose. “You should start training more. A young wife is a demanding luxury.”

“A newborn is, too.” I grinned at him, a pleasant buzzing in my muscles successfully distracting me from a dreadful reality.

“That’s why I’m training twice as hard as before.” He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Valeria has insane cravings. I drove to buy lemon-filled donuts in Brooklyn the other night.”

“Why didn’t you jog there?” I asked, laughing when he shot me an “are you serious” look.

I propped up on my elbows, watching the happiness reflect on his face despite Malin’s situation. Zyon had dreamed about having kids since he was a teenager and had his first girlfriend.

A familiar sadness squeezed my chest at the thought of a baby. I immediately locked it away, focusing on him.

“When are you going to tell people about the pregnancy?” I stretched my legs, noticing a dark bruise on my thigh.

“We have the first check-up in a few days,” he answered, tossing me a bottle of water. I caught it and poured half of it over my head. “But I don’t want to tell anyone except family. If something goes wrong, Valeria will become an even more valuable target than she already is.” He exhaled heavily, shaking off the gloves, his eyes catching a murderous shine. “If someone touches a single hair on her head, they won’t live long enough to regret it.”

“That’s so romantic,” I sighed, my thoughts instantly jumping to my wife, who shared the same unhinged energy as my possessive brother.

“It won’t be romantic when you have to clean up the bodies,” he snorted into the towel as he wiped his sweaty face. I chuckled, too, dragging my heavy body up to my feet.

“It also won’t be any fun,” I mumbled, a memory attacking me unexpectedly. “Last time I buried a body with Malin, he fell into the grave.” Zyon cast me an incredulous look. “He tripped over his helmet and fell on top of the corpse. I laughed so hard I almost collapsed on them.”

“It was always dangerous to leave you two unsupervised.” Zyon snickered, staring at my bloody nose. “Are you okay? Need a hug or something?”

“Naaaah.” I waved my hand nonchalantly, ignoring the angry demon snarling in my head.

The idiot demanded another round, but I couldn’t beat Zyon even with an arm tied behind his back. It was more than ten years since the last title, and he was still the true champion. Precise, ruthless, and unforgiving. Every hit was more brutal than the one before. Every mistake could end in KO. He was incredible.

“Great, your copying mechanism improved.” He winked at me, sitting on the bench. “Anyway,” he said as he started untying his shoelaces, “I could use some help now when Malin…” He trailed off, lifting his gaze from his sneakers. “If you want some distraction.”